The workers in the spinning mill often get confused by the various types of carding machine needles and cloth. Even experienced experts often suffer from headaches. The following provides a detailed classification. The needle cloth is the "heart" of the carding machine, and its model, specification, and condition directly determine the quality of carding (the quality of the roving and the final yarn). In simple terms, needle cloth is mainly divided into two categories: metal needle cloth and elastic needle cloth. Modern high-yield carding machines have fully adopted metal needle cloth, while elastic needle cloth is mainly used on covers or some traditional, low-speed equipment.
Here is a detailed classification and explanation for you:
1. Classification by structure, material and purpose (main classification method)
1. Metal needle cloth is made by special processes such as punching teeth and quenching, featuring high strength, wear resistance, long lifespan, and strong separation function. It is the main force of modern carding machines. According to installation position: Characteristics: Located on the frontmost loosening roller (sweeping roller) of the carding machine. The teeth are thick and wear-resistant, with a large working angle. Its main function is to vigorously loosen and preliminarily comb the cotton bale and remove most impurities. Common model examples: AT5610×05611, AT5010×05030, etc. Characteristics: The teeth are higher, the working angle is smaller, and the tooth gap is deeper. Its main function is to effectively separate (grab) the already separated fibers from the cylinder, condensing them into a fiber web (cotton web). Difference from cylinder needle cloth: The teeth of the dovetail needle cloth are usually denser than those of the cylinder needle cloth, and the tooth shape is more conducive to the transfer of fibers from the cylinder to the dovetail. Common model examples: AD4030×01890, AD4025×02090, etc. Characteristics: It is the core needle cloth of the carding machine. The tooth shape design is complex, considering parameters such as tooth height, tooth depth, working angle, tooth density, and tooth shape. Its main function is to grab, separate, and transfer fibers. Trend: Developing towards "shorter, shallower, sharper, thinner, denser, smaller (working angle)" to enhance separation, control fibers, and reduce cotton knots. Common model examples: AC2030×01540, AC2525×01550 (different manufacturer numbering rules are different). Cylinder metal needle cloth: Dovetail metal needle cloth: Sweeping roller metal needle cloth: According to the geometric shape of the tooth: Ordinary straight tooth needle cloth: The tooth top is flat. Convex back needle cloth: The tooth back is arc-shaped, increasing strength and preventing reverse teeth. Negative angle needle cloth: The working angle is negative, strengthening fiber control, suitable for processing difficult-to-combine fibers (such as synthetic fibers, high-hazard cotton). Double arc needle cloth: The tooth top and tooth back are both arc-shaped, being the current mainstream high-end tooth shape, with better fiber release and transfer performance, and less prone to impurities.
2. The elastic needle fabric is mainly composed of the base fabric (formed by gluing multiple layers of cotton, linen, wool, etc.) and the steel wire knee-shaped needles embedded in it. Its characteristic is that it has certain elasticity. Main installation areas: Ordinary cover plate needle fabric: The steel wire is relatively thick and the needles are denser and sparser. Sparse-dense type cover plate needle fabric: The front is sparse and the back is dense, which meets the requirement of fibers gradually loosening during the combing process. Double-row dense cover plate needle fabric: Two rows of needles with different densities and angles are planted, enhancing the separation effect. Spiral line cover plate needle fabric: Metal steel wires are wound around the cover plate bones, with extremely high separation strength, but the manufacturing and maintenance costs are high. Cover plate needle fabric: This is the main application field of elastic needle fabric. The area between the cover plate and the cylinder is the main separation zone of the carding machine. The cover plate needle fabric and the cylinder metal needle fabric work together to conduct meticulous repeated combing, straightening, removing short fibers and fine impurities. Characteristics: The needle density, steel needle thickness, working angle, planting method, etc. of the cover plate needle fabric have various variations. Usually, there are single-row, double-row, double-row dense planting methods. Classification: Dow/working roller elastic needle fabric: Used in some old or special carding machines, now mostly replaced by metal needle fabric. 2. Classified by the type of processed fibers: Cotton spinning needle fabric: The tooth density is high, the working angle is small, to adapt to the characteristics of short fiber length, fine fineness, and more impurities in cotton fibers. Wool spinning needle fabric: The tooth density is relatively sparse, the tooth shape is larger, the working angle is larger, to adapt to the characteristics of long wool fibers, good elasticity, and more oil content. Special-purpose needle fabric for chemical fibers: Designed for the characteristics of chemical fibers being smooth, prone to static electricity, and uniform length. Usually, the working angle is large (or negative angle), the tooth gap is smooth, to prevent fiber entanglement and clogging. Hemp spinning and silk spinning needle fabric: The tooth shape is the most robust, with the highest strength requirements, to adapt to the characteristics of these fibers being hard and high in strength. 3. The meaning of needle fabric models (example): Taking the cylinder metal needle fabric AC2030×01540 as an example (various manufacturers have different naming rules, but the logic is similar): AC: Usually represents "cylinder used" (A is the series number, C represents Cylinder). 20: Tooth total height (2.0mm). 30: Tooth front angle (30°, complementary to the working angle, working angle = 90° - 30° = 60°). 015: Base thickness (1.5mm). 40: Tooth pitch (4.0mm, its reciprocal roughly reflects the horizontal tooth density).