GTP - Steel Heddle offers unique heddle
eye design for lowest warp yarn friction
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With 110 years of experience in
producing heddles, Steel Heddle® has always strived to
improve the weaving performance of its weaving
accessories. This makes GTP - Steel Heddle the largest
heddle manufacturer in America and one of the largest in
the world. Steel Heddle® recognizes the importance of
lowest friction between warp yarn and heddles. The
Jet-Eye® is the key element to reduce this friction and to
help the weaving performance. |
Influence of friction with warp yarns
As weaving speeds have increased significantly, warp yarns
are getting finer and more delicate, densities are increasing,
the fabric quality has to be optimum. These higher performance
requirements demand the reliable quality of Jet-Eye® heddles
from GTP – Steel Heddle.
Every millimeter of warp yarn comes in contact with heddles.
This contact has a strong influence on the heddle life and the
warp yarn itself. It is commonly known that in order to
optimize the quality of the fabric, warp yarns should have
minimal friction. Friction can damage the warp yarn, resulting
in damaged yarn, filamentation and overall the final quality of
the fabric.
Jet-eye® - Dramatic reduction of friction
In 1994, Steel Heddle® created the first perfect heddle eye
to reduce dramatically the friction of warp yarn with heddle:
the Jet-Eye®. This unique eye shape has been patented and
incorporates the following distinctive features:
Heddle eye is 100% parallel to the warp yarn
The Jet-Eye® design provides full opening to the extreme
upper and lower ends of the eye to prevent pinching the yarn and
to reduce the heddle eye cutting. This causes the least friction
of warp yarn with heddle eye inside, as well as outside (fig. 1.
and fig. 2.).
Smooth heddle formation at the heddle opening
The outside design of the heddle, where the heddle eye is
located, has been further optimized: the heddle is curved into a
very smooth form (see fig. 3.). This provides less abrasion
between warp yarn and the outside of the heddle as the adjacent
warp yarns are gliding smoothly along the heddle sides.
Because of the slimmer design of the Jet-Eye® heddle
compared with standard heddles, higher weaving densities (up to
32%) can be achieved.
Additionally, independents tests with spun yarns show
improvements in both warp and filling stops because Jet-Eye®
heddles increase the air space in the harness area which
provides a cleaner, more responsive shed opening.
The only heddle eye design that works
Today, the Jet-Eye® heddles are used around the world giving
clear advantage over heddles with standard eye shape or
‘special’ heddles from competition. Analysis have been done on
the performance of the Jet-Eye and standard eyes. Below, these
images demonstrate the heat that is causes in the heddle eye by
the friction of warp yarn and heddle.
The above heat images confirm that Jet-Eye® reduces friction
with the warp yarn. As a result, warp yarn filamentation,
damage and heddle cutting are reduced significantly; providing
best fabric quality and extended heddle life time.
Therefore, Jet-Eye® heddles are recommended for both delicate
and aggressive yarns such as filament yarns, silk, coated yarns,
aramide, glass, and other critical applications.
At ITME INDIA 2008,
the GTP specialists of weaving accessories will provide the
visitors first-class advice to achieve better weaving
performance. The right selection of GTP weaving accessories
guarantee better fabric quality, higher productivity and
significant cost savings. GTP will
also celebrate the 110th anniversary of Steel Heddle® at GTP
booth (Hall 2, Booth C109).
More information on the
complete GTP product range is available on
www.globaltextilepartner.com.
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