Fiber Transportation
Material movement in the combing machine occurring during the forward stroke of the nipper assembly feeds a predetermined length of the lap to the detaching rollers. This method of forward feed ensures that the raw cotton undergoes comb treatment while the fibers are held firmly by the nippers. The process helps in creating a highly parallelized arrangement of the longer fibers.
Extraction Behavior
The selection of the feeding direction has a direct influence on the proportion of short fibers extracted as waste or noil. During the forward feed cycle, the comb works the fiber tips while they are being transported toward the detaching point, resulting in a lower waste percentage than the alternative backward feed technique. This characteristic makes it suitable for applications where high fiber yield is preferred over extreme sliver purity.
It allows mills to process medium-staple cotton styles efficiently without incurring the high material loss associated with backward feeding, thus lowering the cost of yarn production.
Production Adjustment
Spinners alter the feed rate by exchanging the drive gears that control the feed roll movement on the comber frame. Higher feed lengths per stroke increase the machine throughput but reduce the intensity of the combing action. Production managers must balance the throughput requirements against the quality targets specified by the purchasing department.
Sliver Output
Sliver outputs exhibit a specific distribution of fiber lengths that determines the strength of the final yarn. When the combed fiber is processed with the forward feed setting, the yarn strength is slightly lower than that produced via backward feed, but the processing cost remains noticeably lower.
