Circular woven materials are fed to the cutter via a revolving winder and slit at angles. © Arville

Arville, headquartered in West Yorkshire, UK, has strengthened its specialist capabilities with the installation of a wide-width bias cutting machine at its Wetherby site. The investment – part of a continuous improvement programme – will allow technical fabrics woven in tubular form to be converted more quickly and efficiently, according to the manufacturer.

It is expected to consolidate Arville’s competitive edge with extra capacity to produce bias-cut textiles for customers, who are manufacturing products and components for demanding and varied end applications in the aerospace and automotive industries.

The Svega Bias Cutter/Winder opens and cuts fabric at a pre-determined bias angle, eliminating the need for end users to carry out the process themselves – minimising wastage, while saving them money and time. It features a pneumatic-controlled fabric pressure bar, electronic fabric bias bars, an easy loading and unloading mechanism, as well as a bow bar for wrinkle elimination.

The new machine follows on from the recent installation of extra rapier looms, with additional looms set to arrive later in the year, totalling an investment circa £1.2 million that will enable Arville to benefit from significant expansion of production capacity.

“Our ability to produce tubular fabric which is cut on the bias allows us to provide textiles which not only have improved drape and elasticity properties for complex and intricate shapes, but also offers ways to reduce our customers’ production costs by eliminating unnecessary wastage from the manufacturing process,” said Andy Smith, Group Head of Marketing.

“This method is all-important for a wide-range of reinforcement applications, in which performance fabrics must take to a moulded shape. Bias cutting allows the slit fabrics to drape and form much more easily to the complex shapes of components such as circular hoses and special diaphragms and seals which are employed in the aerospace and automotive industries, and for which they act as critical reinforcements.”

“We are looking forward to using our new machinery to achieve great results for our customers, as we continue to develop ever lighter, stronger and more sophisticated fabrics. It will save our customers time and money – and further cement our growing international reputation as the go-to specialist for bespoke, high performance fabrics.”

The company’s strategic aim is to position Arville as a best-in-class specialist in the design, weaving, finishing, coating and fabrication of technical textiles. Recent landmarks have included achieving ISO 14001 certification for our commitment to the highest environmental standards.

www.arville.com

Further reading

Arville invests over £1.2m in new technology