At Techtextil in Frankfurt AUTEFA Solutions presented the „Automatic Needle Exchanger 2.0“, which has experienced an enormous boost of innovation within the last two years and hardly reminds on its predecessor model, which was shown at Techtextil 2013.
Dr. Stefan Schlichter, CEO of AUTEFA Solutions explains: „The Needle Exchanger, shown in 2013, was a very good product and the Needle Exchanger 2. is an even better product! In the last two years we really have invested a lot of passion in the development of the Needle Exchanger and – as they say, to use a nice phrase – we have turned every stone. During this time we also have received a lot of very positive feedback from our customers, who share our enthusiasm for this brilliant product idea.”
In two years of development work the mechanical components of the Automatic Needle Exchanger was completely redesigned. Thus the operating speed could be increased nearly by a factor of 4 to 1,500 needles/h, which is about 50% higher than the performance of qualified human specialists. Together with the large capacity of the needle magazine of more than 10,000 needles and the optionally available needle board magazine for up to seven needle boards, an efficient and fully automatic operation during a complete production shift is possible.
The Automatic Needle Exchanger is suitable for needle boards of all producers; in widths of up to 2.000 mm x 400 mm. Further dimensions are available as optional features. The device enables the needle exchange for all complete needle boards or individually definable areas without any restriction to needle density, needle design or needle type. The exchange is possible even in one board. In addition the system is capable of detecting and exchanging broken and damaged needles.
The Automatic Needle Exchanger detects the inserted needle board and stores all information about the exchanged needles in a database. In connection with the needle looms of AUTEFA Solutions detailed user profiles of the needle boards can be created and used for the optimization of the needle exchange intervals and the reduction of needle costs.
The Needle Exchanger is a bit of an exotic in AUTEFA Solutions portfolio, which above all is known for leading machines in the field of nonwovens manufacturing. The machine program includes beyond others the Crosslapper Topliner, the Needle Loom Stylus, the injection card and the webmaster WM 2+2 cards.
„We have carefully considered what to present at Techtextil“, Dr. Schlichter states. “The selection of the fair exhibits depends on aspects such as degree of innovation, quality and efficiency and therefore we should show all our products”, he adds with a smile. “Finally we have decided to present the Needle Exchanger once again, because it is such an outstanding product. Due to its superior productivity the Needle Exchanger has a very high utility value; it follows the trend of automation and addresses many of our customers. Finally there is no competition. More innovation is not possible.”
AUTEFA Solutions will of course inform about further extensions, innovations and potential improvements of all other machines and – as usual – as their experts are always available to answer any questions with regard to nonwovens manufacturing.
