TEAM 9: ARTEX KNITTING

1. Knitting Machine TurningMachine Sewing Machine Post Production Hand Alignment 0 Feeding Rollers/Encoder (Not Shown) 1 PLC Code 2 Knife 3 Application Grips 4 Tube with Applied Vacuum 5 Vacuum 6 Teflon Seal 7 Tube without Applied Vacuum 8 Teeth 9 Removal Grips (Not Shown) TEAM 9: ARTEX KNITTING Sponsor: Louis Gerbarg Advisor: Nate Cloud Team Members: Jose Caba, Andrew Forester, Courtney Herbein, and Aaron Wolff UD Senior Design 2005 Subsystems: • Encoder: Skips and miscounts length of material • Grips and Tube Exterior: Contributes to material slipping • Tube Interior: Contributes to crumpled hat interior • Vacuum Chamber: Vacuum leaks to removal side Project Goal: Concept Validation: Improve the productivity of the knit hat making process by relocating workers from hand aligning and de-crumpling hats to other jobs on the assembly floor. • Validation Experiments • Validated Teflon Seal with Anemometer Testing • Tested All Variables on Long Machine • Tested with PLC Code and Teflon Seal on Short Machine Concepts: Knit Hat Making Process: Current Process:~90% hats misaligned Requires six hat aligners Implemented Process:~20% hats misaligned Requires two hat aligners Teflon Seal Testing Results Proven to eliminate vacuum leak. Without Seal With Seal Teeth Purpose: Long Machine: 78% within Tolerance • Prevent material from slipping • Reduce crumpled interior layer Turning Machine: Benefits: • Increase efficiency • Reduce number of workers needed to align hats from 6 to 2 • Savings up to $30,000 per relocated worker 0 2 3 6 7 9 5 4 8 1 Program Logic Controller Project Transition: • Deliver drawing package to Artex Knitting • Deliver un-crumpling concepts to Artex Knitting for further development • Implementation of designs by Artex Knitting • Relocation of workers from hat aligning to other tasks • Reprogrammed Grips • Holds fabric longer to prevent slipping • Reprogrammed Encoder • Changed zero point to prevent skipping due to the machine’s vibrations