As one door close, another opens – and this also applies to the control system for the pattern bars on the raschel machines developed by KARL MAYER Textilmaschinenfabrik GmbH, a company which has introduced a completely new generation of machines and equipment since ITMA 2003 in Birmingham.

The latest models of the multibar raschel machines, as well as the Textronic^® Jaquardtronic^® and Fascination^® Lace machines are using a completely new system for patterning, and are setting completely new standards in terms of flexibility and efficiency.

This success is based on the clever interactions between the servo-drives, the strings and the gas-pressure springs. This innovative concept has been extremely successful in practice, and has made the system used until now, the SU drive, redundant.

This patented control system, which is based on the concept of summation control elements, was unveiled for the first time at ITMA 1979 in Hanover. This controlled the lateral shog movement of the pattern bars by a combination of several control elements, which were selected by the pattern control system. It replaced the chain links previously used, and increased efficiency when producing lace. Companies could save the cost of buying or renting and grinding the pattern chains, and the fact that the chain tracks were no longer needed reduced the amount of space taken up in the production hall. Above all, however, it was no longer necessary to carry out the long and painstaking work of exchanging the pattern chains when changing over to another design. The patterns could be changed easily at any time and with minimal setting-up procedures. It was simply a question of changing the data carrier for the same guide set-up, to produce stripes instead of dots and geometric patterns instead of flowers. Repeat orders could be processed very quickly, and companies could react quickly to changes on the market.

At the beginning of the 21^st century, these changes have become much more dramatic and difficult to predict, and have redefined the concept of ‘flexibility’ in the textile sector. High speeds have become the norm in every commercial manufacturing operation, but they must also offer greater flexibily in view of the increasingly specific demands of product design. It must therefore be possible to produce the widest possible variety of patterns. Over the years, the summation drive has finally reached the limits of its capabilities, and a new solution is now needed. The result was that, in January 2006, the last two MRPJ 43/1 multibar raschel machines equipped with SU-drives arrived in the works of KARL MAYER’s Chinese client, YIWU BALI LI SHI LACE. They were assembled in the plant and are now reliably producing high-quality lace. And purely by chance, one of the machines carries the ‘lucky number’13!