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High-pile carpets made on the Alpha 360
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Two significant breakthroughs in carpet construction have been announced by Schönherr for its Alpha 360 weaving machine.
Launched publicly at the 2003 ITMA in the UK, the Alpha 360 is a double-carpet gripper system able to produce loop-pile, cut-pile, face-to-face and any combination of these styles. This year, Schönherr, part of the Stäubli Group, has broadened the scope of the machine still further by developing and demonstrating its capability for:
High-pile carpets and rugs, with up to 30 mm of pile in either the top or bottom carpet.
Reversible carpets, in which both sides of both top and bottom carpets can be used as the face.
First samples of these new constructions appeared at the 2005 Domotex fair in Hannover, when Schönherr claimed that "these new carpet qualities show again that the Alpha 360 is the most flexible double-carpet weaving machine in the world." More different carpet qualities can be woven on the same machine than on any other comparable technology, the company stated.
The machine can produce extra-high-pile carpets with up to 8 colours of polypropylene, heat set or frisé yarns. Said a spokesman: "The application range of such carpets manufactured using the double-face method is virtually unlimited - including area rugs, bedroom rugs, bathroom rugs, imitation fur rugs, long-pile shaggy rugs and many others."
The weaving of reversible carpets further extends the scope of the Alpha 360. As the name implies, both sides of these carpets can be used. The machine has a pile of 2 x 4 colours and allows different designs and colours not only on the front and rear side of the carpet but also both the top and bottom carpets.
The fact that both these new carpet qualities - high pile and reversible - can be produced on the same machine is seen as proof of the flexibility of the Schönherr double-face, double-gripper concept. With a nominal width of 4,270 mm, the machine in standard configuration has the electronically controlled Stäubli 2685 dobby and the LX 2490 double-lift open-shed jacquard machine.
Schönherr, based in Chemnitz, Germany, joined the Stäubli Group in 1998 and launched the Alpha 300 double-carpet weaving machine a year later. The Alpha 320, introduced in 2003, brought the facility for both cut- and loop-pile carpets to be woven on the same machine, while the Alpha 360 embodied dramatic improvements in productivity, efficiency and versatility.
Innovations and weaver benefits designed into the Alpha 360 include:
- Greater efficiency of weft insertion.
- Improved cutting, using a new servo-controlled system and more durable knives.
- Lowered thread tension, though reduced friction on the pile yarns, automatic warp tension adjustment and reduced weft tension.
- Problem weft yarns are handled better, even at high speed; with fewer thread breakages.
- Easier maintenance, with automatic exhaust system and dust removal; water- cooled motors without air filter; simpler and less frequent oil changes; remote diagnostics, maintenance and error correction via internet or modem; and internet spare parts ordering.
- User-friendly handling, with automatic setting of weaving data and weaving parameters; control panel with colour pictograms; optional electronic display on warp beam stand; and simple pile height adjustment for top and bottom carpet.
Conceived for automation in carpet mills, the Alpha 360 is built for easy operation by means of a central microprocessor control and CAN-Bus data transfer which links the weaving machine, jacquard, dobby and warp beam stand and allows process data to be fed to a standard interface. A touchscreen terminal with menu-driven operation simplifies and supports quick changes of article or weave compositions.
Shed formation of the pile warp is effected by an electronically controlled Stäubli LX 2490 three-position jacquard, with up to 16,128 pile threads, while ground warp shedding is through the Stäubli 2685 rotary dobby with 12 harness frames, or a cam motion with six frames.
The machine has a nominal width of 4270 mm, and a pile drawing-in width of up to 4200 mm, with a reduction of weaving width to 3000 mm also possible.
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Alpha 360 weaving machine
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