Low-Tension Yarn Winding × Knitting Process: Smoother Production Connection
2025-09-29
As someone who works with yarn winding machines and knitting equipment every day, you must know how important "smooth connection" is in the production process. Especially when yarn transitions from the winding stage to the knitting stage, even a small mistake can affect the quality of the final fabric and even slow down the entire production rhythm.
The coordination between low-tension yarn winding and knitting process is exactly the key to solving this problem—it allows the yarn to maintain a stable state in both stages, reducing losses and failures. Next, we will talk about how to do this "coordination work" well, starting from the control of low-tension yarn winding to the cooperation with the knitting process.
I. Low-Tension Yarn Winding: Laying a Solid Foundation for the Knitting Process
Low-tension yarn winding is not simply reducing the tension value during winding, but finding a balance between "low tension" and "yarn winding quality" so that the wound cheese yarn can be directly adapted to the subsequent knitting process.
After all, if the tension is not properly controlled during winding, either the yarn will be overstretched and its elasticity will be affected, or the winding will be loose and cause problems in subsequent unwinding—both will lay hidden dangers for the knitting stage.
1.1 Mastering the Core Parameters of Low-Tension Yarn Winding
To achieve good low-tension yarn winding, you first need to adjust the key parameters properly. The parameters mentioned here mainly include winding speed, tension value and winding density. For knitting yarns, the winding speed should not be too fast—excessively fast speed will easily cause additional tension on the yarn during operation and may damage the yarn fibers due to frictional heat generation. You can adjust it according to the thickness and material of the yarn.
For example, for fine-count yarns or yarns with good elasticity, the speed can be appropriately reduced to prevent the yarn from being stretched and deformed.
The setting of tension value is even more crucial. Low tension does not mean "no tension", but that the tension should be just enough to ensure the smooth winding of the yarn without damaging its original physical properties.
Different materials of yarns have different tension tolerances. For example, natural fiber yarns such as cotton and wool are prone to breakage or permanent stretching if the tension is too high; although chemical fiber yarns have higher strength, improper tension will also affect their elastic recovery. You can refer to the yarn's factory instructions and make fine adjustments based on the actual unwinding situation in production until there is no obvious stretching or jamming when the cheese yarn is unwound.
The winding density also needs to match the requirements of the knitting process. In the knitting stage, the yarn needs to be smoothly unwound from the cheese.
If the winding is too dense, the yarns are easy to stick together, which may cause yarn breakage during unwinding; if the winding is too loose, the cheese yarn is easy to deform, affecting the stability during machine operation. Generally speaking, the winding density of cheese yarn for knitting is slightly lower than that for weaving. The specific value can be adjusted according to the type of subsequent knitting equipment (such as circular knitting machines and flat knitting machines).
1.2 Operational Precautions for Low-Tension Yarn Winding
In addition to parameter adjustment, details in daily operations will also affect the effect of low-tension yarn winding. For example, regarding the yarn guide path, you need to regularly check whether components such as yarn guides and tensioners are clean—if these components are attached with yarn debris or oil stains, it will increase the resistance of the yarn during operation and indirectly increase the tension.
In addition, the yarn guide path should be kept smooth to avoid unnecessary bending of the yarn during operation. Especially at the corners of the yarn winding machine, it is necessary to ensure that the yarn is evenly stressed when passing through.
The clamping and replacement of cheeses should also not be ignored. When clamping a cheese, it is necessary to ensure that the bobbin is concentric with the main shaft. If the clamping is skewed, the wound cheese yarn will have the problem of "uneven taper", and the tension will fluctuate greatly during subsequent unwinding.
When replacing cheeses, try to reduce the number of yarn joints, and the tension at the joint should be consistent with the normal winding tension—if the tension at the joint is too high, it is easy to have yarn breakage or fabric defects at the joint during knitting.
1.3 Quality Inspection Points for Low-Tension Yarn Winding
You must conduct quality inspection on the wound cheese yarn before delivering it to the knitting stage. First, check the appearance. A high-quality low-tension cheese yarn should have a smooth surface without obvious yarn overlap or depression, and no "edge bulging" at both ends of the cheese. If you find an increase in hairiness on the surface, it may be caused by excessive tension during winding or wear of the yarn guide components. In this case, you need to adjust the parameters or replace the components in time.
Second, conduct an unwinding test. You can take several randomly inspected cheese yarns and test them at the unwinding speed of a simulated knitting machine to observe the tension fluctuation of the yarn during unwinding. If the tension is stable during unwinding, with no sudden tension peaks, no yarn breakage or yarn slack, it indicates that the effect of low-tension yarn winding meets the standard. If there is a problem of large tension fluctuation, you need to go back to check the parameter settings or equipment status during winding and troubleshoot in time.
II. Coordination between Low-Tension Yarn Winding and Knitting Process: Making Production More Efficient
Doing a good job in low-tension yarn winding is only the first step. What's more important is to achieve seamless connection between it and the knitting process. After all, the ultimate purpose of winding is to serve knitting. Only when the two are properly coordinated can the problems in production be reduced and the fabric quality and production efficiency be improved.
2.1 Adjusting the Winding Strategy According to the Knitting Process Requirements
Different knitting processes have different requirements for cheese yarns. You need to adjust the low-tension yarn winding strategy according to the actual knitting needs. For example, when making thin knitted fabrics, the yarn used is usually fine, and there are high requirements for the elasticity and hand feel of the fabric. At this time, the tension during winding should be adjusted to be lower to prevent the yarn from being stretched and affecting the elastic recovery of the fabric; when making thick knitted fabrics, the yarn is thicker, and the tension can be increased appropriately, but the core principle of "low tension" should still be maintained to prevent yarn damage.
In addition, the type of knitting equipment will also affect the winding strategy. During circular knitting machine operation, yarns need to be unwound from multiple cheeses at the same time, and the unwinding speed is relatively fast. This requires that the winding quality and tension state of each cheese yarn are consistent—if some cheese yarns have high tension and others have low tension, uneven yarn feeding will occur during knitting, leading to inconsistent fabric density. At this time, when winding, you must strictly control the parameters of each cheese yarn to ensure the consistent quality of the batch-produced cheese yarns.
2.2 Tension Matching and Adjustment in the Knitting Stage
In the knitting stage, you also need to adjust the tension parameters of the equipment according to the characteristics of the low-tension cheese yarn to achieve tension connection between "winding and knitting". For example, in the yarn feeding system of the knitting machine, the setting of the tensioner should match the tension during winding—if the tension during winding is very low, but the tension is suddenly adjusted to be very high during knitting, the large tension difference between the two stages will easily cause yarn breakage or yarn stretching deformation.
You can find the appropriate knitting tension through trial weaving. First, take several low-tension wound cheese yarns, set an initial tension value on the knitting machine for trial weaving, and then observe the quality of the woven grey fabric: if the surface of the grey fabric is smooth, with no obvious uneven loops or yarn breakage marks, it indicates that the tension matching is proper; if there is a problem of uneven loop tightness, it may be that the knitting tension is too high or too low, and you need to make gradual fine adjustments until the grey fabric quality meets the standard.
2.3 Reducing Losses in the Connection between "Winding and Knitting"
Losses in the connection between the two stages are often a major problem affecting production efficiency, and good coordination can effectively reduce these losses. For example, in the transportation and storage stages of cheese yarns, you need to avoid squeezing or colliding the cheese yarns—the winding density of low-tension wound cheese yarns is relatively low. If they are squeezed by external forces, they are easy to deform, leading to poor unwinding and thus increasing the yarn breakage rate during knitting. Therefore, special cheese racks should be used for transportation, and the cheese yarns should be placed in layers during storage to avoid excessive stacking.
In addition, for the yarn joint treatment, the joints made during winding should also be stable in the knitting stage. You can check the joint condition of the cheese yarns before knitting. If you find that the joints are not firm or the tension at the joints is abnormal, you should handle them in time before putting them on the machine. In addition, during the knitting process, regularly check the unwinding state of the yarns. If you find that a certain cheese yarn has poor unwinding, replace it in time to avoid affecting the entire knitting process due to the problem of a single cheese.
2.4 Quality Monitoring in the Coordination Process
To maintain a good coordination state between low-tension yarn winding and knitting process, regular quality monitoring is essential. You can set up several key monitoring points on the production line: after the winding stage, randomly inspect the unwinding tension and appearance quality of the cheese yarns; in the knitting stage, real-time observe the loop density, surface flatness and yarn breakage situation of the grey fabric.
If you find regular defects on the grey fabric, such as the loops in a certain area are always too tight, it may be caused by excessive tension of the corresponding cheese yarn during winding; if the yarn breakage rate suddenly increases, it may be due to large tension fluctuation during winding or mismatched tension between winding and knitting. Through such monitoring, you can timely find the problems in the coordination between the two stages, quickly adjust the parameters or equipment status, and avoid the expansion of the problems.
In fact, the coordination between low-tension yarn winding and knitting process is essentially "taking knitting needs as the orientation and doing a good job in the adaptation of the winding stage". For you, there is no need to pursue complex theories. As long as you well control the parameters of low-tension yarn winding and adjust the connection details according to the actual needs of the knitting process, you can achieve smooth cooperation between the two stages. In this way, not only can the failures and losses in production be reduced, but also the quality of the woven fabrics can be more stable, saving you a lot of trouble in production work. After all, the "smoothness" in the production process often starts from the coordination of these details.