ALOK INDUSTRIES LIMITED PAWANE, NAVI MUMBAI

(In plant training report) Year 2011

TEXTILE PROCESSING
Guided by, Mr.Ranjan Panigrahi (Bleaching Manager)

Submitted by,

NIKHIL SHAIWALE HEMANT PRAJAPATI VIDDHESH KADAM

Of the D.K.T.E.s T.E.I. (Ichalkaranji) S.Y.T.C.

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Acknowledgement
We enjoyed every moment of being the part of ALOK Industries ltd. We are very thankful to Mr. Pradeep Jadhav for his conviction on us that he gives opportunity to us for training. It gives us great pleasure for presenting this project in a beautiful manner. It wouldnt have been possible without your guidance, advice, encouragement & support. This project has been made possible by many other people, who have supported us. We would like to express our sincere thanks toMr.J.D.Gupta and our guide Mr.Ranjan Panigrahi, for there valuable experience & advice. We are highly obliged to all the departmental head and all the supervisors and workers who supported us by enlightening us to the technical information without any hesitation the names of whom cant be mentioned .They have supported us with their encouragement & many fruitful discussions. The close co-operation with our senior students, professors & all the Technicians with their great support have made this project a successful one.

INDEX

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The cotton here is generally processed in the following way: Grey inspection

Singeing

Grey mercerization

Desizing

Desizing

Scouring

Scouring

Bleaching

Bleaching

Mercerization

Dyeing /Printing

Dyeing /Printing

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Finishing

Finishing

PRETREATMENTS: The process from singeing to bleach-mercerize and before dyeing are considered under pretreatments of cotton processing. These comes under pretreatments: Singeing Desizing Scouring Bleaching Mercerization But before all these, a grey inspection is an additional process. ORGANIC COTTON: This is a kind of cotton in which no synthetic insecticides ,pesticides or manure are added to make it grow. It is completely natural. They need a different machines to be processed. Alok have a major role in processing organic cotton. Lets see how general processing of cotton is carried out.

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Grey inspection(woven and knits)

The grey inspection is the first step of the processing when the fabric comes from the weaving section. The various defects are identified here. The batches are prepared here according to the party requirement grey room is actually a storage place for unbleached cloth. In the grey inspection, the shearing and cropping machine is used (but now not working condition). the defects found out are: Major defects: 1. Missing ends 2. Jerks in 3. Long float

Minor defects:

1. Small flows to thick

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2. Thick and thin places 3. Double feelings 4. Knots 5. Oil spots 6. Stains 7. Crease less than 5 mm

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Singeing Machine:

Types of singeing: 1. Tangential singeing 2. On roll singeing 3. Direct singeing This is the advanced machinery with latest technology. This machine uses gas for direct singeing. The speed of the machine varies from (62-110). The machine is so automised that it wont start the ignition without achievement of four parameters mentioned below. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Line speed (60mpm) Gas pressure (12mbar) Water supply Exhaust The detailed explanation of the machines is given below.
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6. Important Units 7. Brushing Unit: 8. Important Parts: Exhaust, 9. Nylon Brushes, 10. Guide rollers 11. Diagram Purpose: This unit is added to remove the surface adhering dust & dust loose fibres. The brush rollers also serve the purpose of straightening the protruding fibres (Due to the static charge generated due to friction with brush) to increase singeing efficiency. The unit also consist exhaust fan to remove dispersed fibres and dust. Selvedge damping unit:Important Parts: Nozzles Purpose: This unit dampens the fabric portion near cm from selvedges lightly. This eliminates the risk of burning out the selvedge. Singeing unit:Important parts: Burner,rollers, Cooling Compressed air cylinder. Purpose: This is the most important unit of the machine in protruding fibres are burnt off. This is the most important unit of the machine in which protruding fibres are burnt off directly. In this machine 2 types of singeing can be done (Direct & Tangential). The compressed air cylinder provides air at high pressure at the burner opening. This compressed air suppresses the gas when machine is in the emergency stop. The powerful air compressor is connected to this cylinder which ensures the continuous supply of compressed air. This unit is connected to exhaust duct to remove suspended unsigned fibres & carbon particles. Also fresh air duct is connected to this unit for providing fresh air supply for combustion of the gas.
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Diagram :-

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Beater & dust collector unit Important parts: Beating rollers (rubber), Exhaust, Guiding rollers. Purpose: This unit removes carbon particles, superficially adhered partially / unburnt fibres and remaining dust particles. Specially designed rubber rollers provide beating action to fabric which loosens the fibres & carbon particles. The exhaust is provided to evacuate this particulate matter. Quenching unit Important Parts: Perforated steam pipes, Guide rollers, Padding mangle (squeezing bowls) Purpose: This unit serves 2 purposes of Desizing & also quenching. This unit is filled with Desizing enzyme & the fabric is automatically padded through the Desizing enzyme. This fabric is batched & kept rotating for 8-12 hours. Nowadays Desizing is not practiced in this machine, dry singeing is practiced. Activities, processes & machine

Sr.no. 1 2 3 4 5

Quality 80s Missed ends 80s Slub 80*80/80*80 80s Dobby 60s Stripe dobby

Speed 100 100 100 100 100

Sr.no. 21 22 23 24 25

Quality 40s(120*64) 80*92 2/100*70 16*20 sheeting 45 P/C

Speed 100 100 100 100 100

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6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

40s(92*88) 60s compact 40s compact 64*100 80*90 compact 60s Yarn dyed 62*62 PC 40s (132*72) 80s(92*96) 80s(92*88) 60s(132*72) 60s satin 62*62 P/C dhoti 60s pima 50*50/144*80

100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

100*120 80s satin 80s(120*90) 60s(92*108)ORG 100*100/66*150 62*62 PC 80s (130*90) 80s( 130*90) 40s dobby 40s rib dobby 60*60/(2/30)/82*60 40s twill 40s twill 100*120/92*104 40s (132*72) org

100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

MERCERIZATION The mercerization is the process by which the dye uptake of the fabric is increased by improving its dimensional stability treating it with sodium hydroxide (caustic). Generally, 50-52tw of caustic is used for mercerization of cotton. The luster is also improved to certain extent. The mercerization is carried out in two types of machine: 1 .chain 2. chainless-padless

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In the chain mercerization, the chains are there which holds the fabric and hence there is a tension on the fabric due to which the width of the fabric after the mercerization is the final width of the fabric. In the chainless mercerization, the fabric is first enters into pre-impregnator in which a initial amount of caustic is added. The fabric is completely dipped into the caustic and then the fabric is passed in through the 12 bowls dipped in the caustic tank. There are 10 more steel rollers dipped in the caustic tank lying below the above rubber rollers, which provides tension to the fabric so that the uptake will be higher and there will be a deep penetration of caustic. The steel rollers are in the floating condition i.e. they are free flowing and moves of buoyancy. After passing by these rollers, the fabric moves to the recuperator. The recuperator is the closed compartment in which the 90-100c of temperature is provided with very hot water wash, which washes the fabric thoroughly reducing its caustic concentration to 12-15 Tw. OBJECTIVES:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

To impart the permanent luster. To improve the dye uptake of the fabric. To remove the crease marks. To improve the dimensional stability of the fibre. To improve the absorbency of the fabric.

STRUCTURAL MODIFICTION: Cotton fibers after coming in contact with the water they swell. After coming in contact with the NaOH, the cotton fibre loses their ribbon like structures and appears much longer. The NaOH not only enters in the amorphous region but also in the crystalline region. The whole structure of the fibres gets opened out by the mercerization process, accompanied by the increase in the large number of free OH groups available for combination with H2O and dyestuffs. Fibres absorbency increases with the increase in free OH groups. The changes taking place in the cotton fibre after mercerization are as follows:
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 Removal of the twist in the cotton fibre. Change in the dimensions of the crystal lattice. Increase in accessible region of the fibres. Increase in the 30-40% dye uptake. There are two types of the mercerization machines: 1. Pad Chain. 2. Pad chainless. The machine used in ALOK is Pad Chainless machine. Mercerize machine: Manufacturer: Mather & platt Loop length: 122 meters Actual length: 65 meters Machine speed: 25-45 mpm Manufacturer : Parex- Mather

Line sequences of the processes: Impregnation - washing under tensions-removal of the residual alkalineutralization-washing-squeezing-plaiting. The machine consists of the following parts: Padding Recuperator washing

Process parameters Concentration Tank temperature

units Grams/liters C

norms 298-300 Room temperature

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Speed Washer temperature Recuperator temperature

Meters/minutes C C

30-40 90 90

The process of mercerization increases following desired and essential properties of cotton fibre. Dye uptake Drape Handle Feel Lustre Strength During this process the caustic concentration is maintained at 52 Tw i.e. 290300gpl in practice at room temperature. (it should be actually 400gpl but since greigh mercerization is practiced, residues of starch and unburnt fibres increase the density of the caustic thus at 52 Tw also caustic concentration is observed to be 290-300gpl)

The unit wise explanation of the machine is given below.

Units: Impregnator (1000 liters) Important parts: Impregnation tank ,Guide rollers Purpose: This tank contains overflowed caustic liquor from saturator tank. Heavy varieties get lesser contact time with caustic thus resulting in poor mercerization or compensation with merceriser speeds. Caustic liquor in this tank minimizes these faults & gives desired results with heavy qualities giving less compensation with speed.

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Saturator (capacity-7500ltrs) Important parts: Rubber coated rollers ,Engraved steel rollers Purpose: This tank is mainly provided for contact of fabric with caustic soda. Also the rubber rollers provide firm grip with engraved steel rollers. Tension is also maintained on the fabric which is necessary for the luster. The recovered caustic is mixed directly in this tank from CRP. Recuperation tank: (5000 liters)

Important parts: Rubber rollers, Steam inlet Engraved steel rollers, Purpose: The purpose of this unit is to remove the caustic from fabric. At steaming temperature the affinity of caustic with fabric is reduced at high temperature. Thus steaming is also employed in this section. The liquor from this unit goes to CRP. This system is the part of the counter current washing system. Neutralization tank: Important parts: Tank, Guide rollers
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Purpose: The purpose of this unit is to neutralize the residual caustic from fabric. The liquor from this tank is directly drained to the ETP system. Washing tanks Important parts: Guiding rollers, Tanks Purpose: The purpose of these tanks is to remove the residual caustic. This tank is the part of counter-current washing system. Padding mangle Purpose: The purpose of padding mangle is uniform squeezing Throughout the length of the width. The main feature of the machine is the counter current washing system of the wash liquor. The capacities of some important tanks of the machine are mentioned in following table. Impregnator Saturator Recuperator Washing tank 1 Washing Tank 2 Neutralization bath Washing Tank 3 Washing Tank 4 1000ltrs 7500ltrs 5000ltrs 1000ltrs 1000ltrs 1000ltrs 1000ltrs 1000ltrs

Time of contact with caustic: 45 1 min Machine speed: 25-45mpm. The general speeds of the machine for some general sorts of the fabric are mentioned below. Quality For Meters/min Rubia, Poplin Cambrics, Voils Cambrics, Voils Dyeing, White/ptg Dyeing White/Ptg 45 45 30

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Suiting Canvas

Dyeing White/Ptg

30 35

BLEACHING In this department only the woven fabrics are processed according to the end use, fabric composition, process routes and customers requirements. For e.g. The fabric to be pigment dyed is not mercerised. Activities: Singeing, Bleaching, Mercerization. BLEACHING is a process of removing natural coloring matter present in the fabric. It is carried out in jigger machine. In the process of bleaching, the fabric is passed through concentrated hydrogen peroxide solution which acts like a bleaching agent .the grey fabric is a little yellowish in colour and it is undesirable to customers in order to have a good bright dyeing.The oxidizing agent like hydrogen peroxide; sodium hypochlorite, etc are used as a bleaching agent for cotton. The machine used for bleaching are: Woven: jigger, jumbo jigger, maxi jigger. The fabric is either grey mercerized or RFD mercerized. If the fabric is grey mercerized then scouring is carried out after mercerization or otherwise the normal process is followed. The process sequence is as follows: 2 ends Hot wash 4 ends Scouring 4% caustic 0.5% Felosan AIO 90-95c
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 2 ends hot wash

Bleaching 2% hydrogen peroxide (50%) Th contavan BRT 2 end at room temperature 4 end at 80-85c

OBA for finishing/printing 2 ends Hot wash at 80- 90c 2 ends neutralize- acetic acid Neutracid NVM CHEMICALS used in the bleaching department: Biesol T 2090- enzymes Felosan AIO SP- wetting agent Felosan RGN- wetting agent Caustic lye Hydrogen Peroxide Contavan BRT- stabilizer, chelating agent Neutracid NVM- peroxide killer Green Acid- core peroxide killer Acetic Acid 98% Uvitex BBI- OBA Uvitex PLF- OBA Parawhite BB- OBA
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 Soda bleach Soda ash Light Lissapol D paste Lissapol 100X Zykol PRSK- soap Sodium Hydrosulphite- stripping

DYEING Principles involved in the dyeing: Physical absorption of water Mechanical trapping of the insoluble dye in the fibre. Dissolution of dye in the fibre. To ensure even dyeing, the fabric must possess the following properties: Absorbency- less than 3seconds Ph-7

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 Barium number-130+/-5 Procedure for colour preparation: Reactive: paste dye with cold water and dissolve it by adding water at 5060c for cold brand dyes. for hot brands add hot water at 75-80c to paste. Remazol colour is also prepared as hot brands. Vat microfine dispersion : The amount of dyestuffs needed to obtain a definite shade to 10-20 times its weight of water at about 40c and stirred until the dyestuffs are uniformly dispersed. The dye solution is then made upto the required volume. There are two types of dyes: 1. Cationic: reactive, vat, svd, direct, metal complex, acid, mordant, 2. Anionic: basic The reactive dyes are mostly used for cotton. In the industries, the reactive dyes are widely used for dyeing cotton and polyester- cotton blends .the dyeing of the reactive dyes is carried out in mostly jumbo jigger and the latest kuster dyeing machine. The kuster dyeing machine is the cold pad batch machine in which the fabric is passed over the conditioning roller by which the temperature of the fabric is maintained as before dyeing the fabric can be in the hot condition because of the Stenter. The fabric is then padded with the dye liquor containing the dye and the sodium silicate in the proportion of1:4 the fabric after the padding is rotated on the motor for 24hours. After rotating the fabric is soaped separately in soaping machine. In the jigger dyeing machine there are two bowls (roller). The fabric is loaded on to the one roller and is wounded onto the other roller. During this rotation the fabric is dipped in the liquor and thus gets dyed. One rotation is called as one ends. The machine runs for almost 20 hours. The dyeing is carried out in three machines: For wovens: jigger, hthp, kuster, winch For knits: hthp

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 JIGGER DYEING: The dyeing carried out in this machine is considered to be the most even and perfect dyeing. The machine consist of two bowls (rollers) on which the fabric is loaded. The one bowl on which the fabric is loaded to be unwound on the other bowl is called as the let off roller and the bowl on which the fabric is to be unwound is called as take up roller. There are three jiggers in Alok : 1. jigger 2. Jumbo jigger 3. Maxi jigger JUMBO JIGGER: This machine is specially used for dyeing of the woven cotton fabrics.This is a simple open machine.Capacity -450-500litres ,2000 meters or 250 kg s. Process: Loading fabric Colour 2 ends(1/2 parts on both the sides) drain Glauber salt- 2 ends in room temperature 4ends in hot

Drain

Soda ash-2 ends at room temperature Drain Cold wash-2 ends 6ends in hot Soaping-2 ends
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 Hot wash-2 ends Cold wash-1 end Acetic acid-2 ends unloading total time required-16 hours temperature- for dark shades-80-90C for light shades-60-70C

Jigger Machines Jigger machine is one of the simplest machine in the textile & is very much versatile. It can be used for Desizing, scouring, bleaching, dyeing, soaping etc. Maxi Jigger Machine capacity: 600kgs Trough capacity: 600 liters Speed: variable

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 This is the latest jigger & has variable speed with enclosed design. In spite of its versatility, it is dedicatedly used in this department for bleaching. Machine details: There are 2 batching rollers on which fabric is batched and it passes to & fro from one batch roller to another batch roller through the processing liquor. The jigger being enclosed one, it is essentially provided with a roof heating arrangement of indirect steam heating. This machine is provided with the digital memory of meter age which is required to be set for a machine for both the ends on the batch rollers. This enables operator to operate more number of machines simultaneously reducing the labour require JT 10 Jigger Machine capacity: 1000kgs Trough capacity: 1000 liters Speed: Variable This is the latest jigger & has variable speed with enclosed design. In spite of its versatility, it is dedicatedly used in this department for bleaching. Processed followed: Desizing Scouring Bleaching Optical brightening ( optional ) Dyeing Reactive dyeing Pigment dyeing Stripping ( only if no other option is left ) Machines used: Jigger small ( 4 ) Jigger jumbo ( 8 ) Winch ( 2 ) Kuster ( 2 ) pad batch V.D.R. ( 2) Soaper ( 1) Introduction: In the woven dyeing department all plain RFD cotton is processed on the jigger with length less than 3000 m. the recipes followed are same as mentioned in the
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bleaching report. Only difference is that the minimum amount of chemicals is not 14 kg. If batch size is still smaller ( i.e. less than 1000 m. ) then it is processed on small jigger. Small jigger: This jigger smaller in size & capacity & automatic. It has a mechanical meter age memory which has to be set for each and (a&b)&(b&a) once. Jumbo jigger: There are 2 types of jumbo jigger of used in Alok. Out of 8, 6 jigger of older types & 2 are of newer types. The older jumbo jigger are just same as small jigger but dont have their mechanical. Hence they have to be manually operated. The newer jigger not only have electronic meter age memory which have to be set but also have to facility of cistern attached to pump to spread the liquor uniformly. Whereas the older ones dont have either of these facilities. Winch machine: There are 2 winches. Like jiggers this machine is also very versatile & is currently used for scouring, bleaching, dyeing, soaping of delicate varieties & hosieries embroideries etc. MAXI JIGGER: This is a closed large jigger. The bleaching is carried out usually in this machine as this is. An enclosed type of jigger, temperature of 100C can be obtained.Capacity1500litres There are 5 maxi jiggersin Alok. The roller runs on two types:
1.

Hydraulic: hydraulic means to holler runs with the help of the pressure produced by the heating of oils. The oil gets heated at the high temperature and thus creates a pressure which helps to move the roller. Inverter(pneumatic): the direct electricity is supplied to the motor which moves the bowl.

2.

MACHINE DESCRIPTION:
1.

Machines have mainly two batch rollers on which the fabric is batched after passing through the trough liquor.

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2.

Roof heating: the fabric being enclosed one , it essentially has a roof heating arrangements which avoids the localized over bleaching due to the formation of water droplets(from condensed steam). Digital memory: the machine also has a special feature of digital memory by which the machine remembers the length of the processing fabric and avoids the escape of the threading fabric thereby reducing the stoppages due to threading fabric. Heating arrangements: the heating arrangements is in two ways: a. direct heating by perforated steam pipes to increase the trough temperature &
b.

3.

Indirect heating by closed steam pipes to maintain the specific temperatures while processing the fabric.

KUSTER DYEING KUSTER Dyeing Machine is one of the latest dyeing machines used for cold pad batch method. This is the latest machine for cold pad batch. In the jigger-dyeing machine, the disadvantage is that it is a batch wise process. This problem is eliminated in this process. In jigger dyeing machine, 2000 meters of fabric can be processed at a time but in this machine at a 16000 meters of fabric can be processed in 8 hours. There are two tanks connected to this machine. One tank is file with sodium silicate which is the alkali and in the other tank there is dye. The pipes are connected with tank to the machine. The pipe is connected to the auto dosing system. The dye and the silicate are added in the proportion of 4:1.

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the squeezing bowls have the pressure of 1.2, 2.2, 1.1 bar.

There are two kuster dyeing machine at Alok. The both are of the similar type. But the old kuster dyeing machine is mostly used for organic cotton dyeing. The kuster comprises of the trough containing the dye and the alkali (silicate).the new kuster trough consist of 2 dipping rollers and the new one consist of 4 dipping roller. The dipping system is as follows: The trough is completely chilled out so that a cold temperature is to be maintained properly and thoroughly. The trough is followed by the padding mangle. The fabric passes through the squeezing rollers of the padding mangle. The expression of the padding mangle is 80%. The pressure of the mangle squeezing roller of new kuster is 1.1, 2.2 and 1.2. The speed of the both the machine is 45 m/min. After padding mangle the fabric is padded.
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Kuster pad batch: This machine is used to dye fabric pad batch method. In this method first the fabric is padded through a solution of dye & silicate (ratio1:4)& then the fabric it is batched & kept rotating for 16-20 Hr. the dye previously used is of cold brand type reactive dye & now has vinyl sulphone type dye is used for this system. To avoid the possibility of exhaustion & thereby to avoid the tailing effect both the temperature of fabric & trough liquor is maintained below 250. The bigger 2 rolls a and b are attached to chiller & chilling liquor flows through the rollers continuously. Kuster pad batch machine is one of the semi continuous machine currently used in the industry. This machine has the advantages of continuous dyeing for smaller batches also. It has a provision to adjust the padding mangle pressure at I,M,R position. In this machine the fabric is padded through a dye liquor & silicate mixture (silicate to colour ratio 4:1) at R.T. then colour solution & silicate (420Tw) \are prepared into the different cisterns & both cisterns are chilled by chiller to maintain low temperature. Both the solution are separately pumped & mixed in the trough only. Earlier cold brand reactive dyes were used for this method & now V.S. dyes are used. While padding, the batch is now covered with polythene sheets from above & below at stitches positions to avoid stitch mark. The bigger rollers are also attached to chiller to lower the fabric temperature, thereby to minimize the chances of exhaustion of the dye. Problem occurred: Being a padding mangle it has a disadvantage of C.S. & also tailing effect. Remedies: The batch size is reduced from 2500-4500to 1500 m. Since the centre of fabric is getting heavily dyed pressure at is maintained higher than other two sides of the mangle. One of the 2 machine of Kuster has been also equipped with Plea system in which the fabric moisture is checked at L,M,R by IR guns fitted on the m/c before the fabric passes through trough. This moisture is continuously checked & according to mangle pressure at L,M,R is set up by computer. The batch is then covered with polythene sheets & then is kept rotating for 12,16 or 20 Hr depending upon the depth of shade.

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Note: With silicate 5 gpl NaOH is also mixed to get desired pH of 11.5 The fabric after rotating is followed by soaping. DHALL SOAPER: Washing of cream shade: TANK NO. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Washing of the light, medium and dark shade. TANK NO. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 PARAMETERS cold 60c 90c with Soap 2 gpl 90c 90c Cold Acetic Acid 2 gpl PARAMETERS cold 60c 60c with Soap 2 gpl 95c 90c Cold Acetic Acid 2 gpl

The DHALL SOAPER consists of 7 tanks. 1. 1 tank contains a cold plain water wash. 2. 2 tankscontain a big perforated roller on which the fabric is passed. Above the roller and the fabric there are five six nozzles which sprays water onto the fabric. 3. Tank contains soap of about 2 gpl and a temperature of about 60- 90c. 4. 4 tankscontain a hot wash where the temperature of 90-95c is maintained. 5. 5tank also contains a hot wash of the temperature of 90c.
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6 tankscontain neutralization with 2 gpl acetic acid at room temperature. b. 7 tankscontain a cold wash which is the final wash treatment. After these washings the fabric is treated with the drying ranges. VERTICAL DYEING RANGE: This is one of the most important drying machine in the industry, the fabric either after bleaching, soaping or stripping is dried on V.D.R. this is a giant 8 cylindered machine through every cylinder superheated steam is passed & the fabric over the every cylinder. The machines used in the fabric processing:
a.

ROLL PADDER:

This machine is used for the stretching of the rope form fabric. The rope form is drawn to open width form.

Curing Soaping Jigger Winch High temperature Sanforising o,o Mercerizing Kuster padding Plaiting Rotary Flatbed Roll padder Softflow singeing Introduction To Processing Departments There are mainly 2 departments, viz. woven & knits with their sub-departments. 1. Woven Department
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Greigh : Roll opening & lot preparation Bleaching : Preparatory processes like Bleaching and mercerizing Dyeing : Coloration of fabrics in semi continuous or exhaust method. Finishing : Application of various chemical finishes with width adjustment, shrinkage control 2. Knits Department Greigh : Roll opening & lot preparation Dyeing: Preparatory processes and coloration in exhaust method. Finishing: Application of various chemical finishes with width adjustment, shrinkage control. In addition to this departments there are some sub-departments which are common for both the main departments. They are as follows; P.P.C. Department Printing department with its sub-departments Folding department Lab (Chemical Lab) Lab (Quality assurance Lab) Maintenance & E.T.P. Department Greigh Departments (Woven and Knits) The greigh fabrics of various qualities in the form of rolls is opened and stitched together to prepare the batches according to the production order. This industry has its own production of both woven & knitted fabrics. The fabric production norms are maintained so strictly that the greigh checking process for own products is omitted. Thus greigh checking activity is performed only when the fabric is outsourced. Activities, processes & machines Activity: Roll opening, Greigh checking. Processes: Giving batch number & lot numbers Lot & batch preparation, Issuing batches & lots, Machines: Roll opening machines (4), stitching machine (4).

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Printing
Printing is defined as localized dyeing. The printing departments of Alok industries consist of following machines: Preparation of Printing Paste: Type of specific formulation used depends on the fiber, the colorant system used and, to some extent, the type of printing machine. Typical ingredients are: Dyes and Pigments Thickeners Binders, cross linking agents Sequestrates Dispersing agents(surfactants) Water retaining agents(humectants) Adhesion promoters Defoamers Catalyst Hand modifiers Binders: A product of high molecular weight which is capable of forming a three dimensional film used to hold the pigments particles in place on the surface of the textile substrate. Not necessary when using the dye Very important while determining the fastness properties. Normal synthetic (Latex)compounds Acrylics Vinyl acetates Butadienes Self cross linking agents Methyloacrylamide
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 Methylomethacylamide Dispersing agents Surfactants: Used to disperse the solid particles, promote parts stability, and increases paste penetration into the fiber Similar in use are protective colloid-increasing paste stability Type of surfactants Anionic S-(acidic) CationicS+(basic) NonionicS(neutral) Humectants: Materials added to print paste formulation to prevent water evaporation from the paste preventing skin-over and paste stability. Typical humectants: Ammonia Triethanaloamines Polyalcohols Ethylene glycol Glycerin Urea Adhesion promoters: These are the chemicals which increase adhesion of binder to substrate. for e.g., Pigment printing of fiber glass is enhanced by using aminosilan. Defaomers: These are the chemicals which are added to print paste to minimizes formation of foam as cokes up the fine mesh pores of the printing screen. Often silicone surfactants have been used , however any compound which decreases bubble formation in the print paste and exhibit no adverse effect can be used. Since printing is a localized dyeing, the colour to be printed is required in the thick form to avoid migration and achieve sharpness. Thus colour to be printed is used in a thick viscous paste and is known as Printing paste. Printing paste is mainly carried out with two types of dyes, they are 1.REACTIVE DYE Sodium alginate gum(thickeners) - 6% Ludigol AR(resist salt) -1.5%
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Sodium bicarbonate - 3% Urea (hygroscopic) - 10% Wetting agent -5% Water -74.5%

2. PIGMENT: Pigment -1-1.5% Binder -6% Synthetic thickeners -1-1.5% Emulsion-4% Liq.Ammonia -1-1.5% Water remaining There are two printing machine, 1. Flatbed 2. Rotary Machines: STORK RD 4: It is the most efficient printing machine. The machine consist of fabric infeed device, glueing device, printing head, drying, plaiting device. Working speed - 20 m/min. Machine voltage - 400 v Drying temperatures - 130C Machines pressure- 6 kg/cm2 Screen and squeeze pressure 1kg/cm2 The machine description is as follows: Infeed Device: The infeed device consist of a batching roller which used to batch out the fabric from the fabric roll. The device consist of tensioning roller, guide roller, uncurled to pass the fabric evenly to print. Heating Plate The plate placed on the machine horizontally. The purpose of the heating plate is to heat the backside of the fabric. Due to the warm material the fabric gets activated. The purpose of this heating is that after the fabric I passing through glueing
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warmly activate print blanket and should not deviate during printing. The plate is electrically heated. Glueing device: The glueing device is a thermoplastic application on the print blanket due to which the already pre heated fabric fixed on print blanket and wont deviate from printing position. The glueing device consist of 2 perforated glue pipes, 2 scrappers and trough. The device is easily removable for servicing. The scrapped glue from the print blanket is again pumped through pipe for glueing. Printing station: The printing section is the middle and vital part of the machine where actual printing is carried out. The printing section consist of 12 printing heads that means the design of maximum 12 colours are acceptable. The first one of the printing head is coated with glue. Its purpose is to remove fluff from the fabric using stickiness. The lints and fluff causes speaky and uneven print on the fabric and also a shade variation after fixation process is observed. Hence these fluffs are removed completely to achieve good quality of printing. Then the rotary screen is set according to the design. The design containing the darker prints is printed first and then the lighter shades. The purpose of this sequence is that if overlap prints gets printed, the lighter colour overlapping was not observed. The printing stations consist of the print head, print blanket, press roller, print diverting roller, and backup roller. The print blanket is made up of synthetic fibre canvas. The fibre blanket thickness is about 2 mm. the tension is given to print blanket by changing the position of the diverting roller due to which the blanket cannot move form rail during printing. The press roller with the pneumatic piston is used to give position to print blanket. This position is known as printing position. When the machine is on the printing position, the pneumatic piston gives pressure to the press roller towards the print blanket. Before printing position, the printing blanket is in the ramp position. In this position the colour is not transferred through the screen on the fabric unless the squeeze blade which is a metal and the magnetic beam which is beneath the print blanket have needed the minimum distance for magnetization to transfer the colour. If we focus on the front view of the machine, right side where the squeezes insert in the rotary screen and get couple with the hose pipe thats another pipe is in the colour drum. The squeeze blades vary in the thickness according to the individual print are available in the sizes of 40, 45, 50 and 55 i.e. in the order of increasing thickness. The squeeze is placed in contact with a sensored level steel electrode which determines the level of the paste in the screen and allows the sucking of the colour from the colour drum, so that a continuous print can be observed. The side of the machine is drive side for the machine. All the print head is driven by
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variable frequency D.C. drive. Each head is connected with the D.C. drive so that the speed variation is synchronized. Mechanism of the Print Blanket Driven: When the machine is ready for printing, the diverting roller coupled pneumatically with D.C. motor coupling component and synchronized with the machine speed. The pressure roller applies the pressure on the print blanket in the printing position. It saves the consumption of the electricity and cost of another drive. Print Blanket Washing Unit: The print blanket washing unit has been placed beneath the diverting roller. The purpose of the washing unit is to remove the sticky glue, fluffs and unwanted component by washing and scrapping. The washing unit consist of the sliding tray, sponge, scrapper and water spray pipe. This washing unit is along with pneumatic piston. When the machine is in the print position the washing unit is pneumatically lift towards the print blanket. So the sponge and the scrapper touch the blanket. The water spray pipe spray out the water on the print blanket to solubilised glue and make easy to wash off the cotton fluff. The water used for the prewashing is used again to wash off the print blanket, which saves the water. Dryer: The dryer uses the thermic oil for heating. The dryer consist of the four heating radiators. Thermic oil is used as a hearing source to dry the fabric. Dryer consist of the conveyer belt, nozzle plate, radiators, blowers, etc. Conveyer belt: The conveyer belt is made up the synthetic fibre specially rubber. The fabric after printing passes through the dryer on the conveyer belt. The centre line motor and guide roller assist not to deviate the conveyer belt driven motorized infeed dryer. The conveyer belt consists of the three bed system to achieve effective drying. As the belt starts to deviate the guide roller position in the longitudinal direction changes, due to which conveyer belt comes in its previous position. Nozzle Plates: Each drying chamber consists of the nozzle plates parallel to the fabric. The steam of about 150c is passing through pipe in chamber. The radiator which has been placed horizontally radiates the heat from steam heated pipes. Along with the blower, the heat through the nozzle plate passed on the fabric passed on the fabric surfaces and the print get dry. The temperature of about 130c is achieved in the drying. The blower is of high frequency so that maximum heat transfer is possible. After drying the fabric is plaited in trolley using plaiting device. Design art work:
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The design from party is scanned and then edited on computer according to requirement. Colour separation: In this process similar colours of design are separated and design gets thus split into different colours. Baby screen preparation for strike off: After colour separation screens of various colours designs are prepared and with the help these screens strike off given design are carried out. Screen preparation for flat bed and rotary printing machines: Some polymers, in presence of the sensitizer, will crosslink when exposed to blue or ultraviolet light and so become insoluble. The polymers most used in the preparation of the textiles screen printing are the mixtures of poly vinyl alcohol and poly vinyl acetate, sensitized with the dichromate salt such as sodium or ammonium dichromate or a diazo resin(condensation product of formaldehyde(methanol) and p-diazodiphenylamine ). The poly vinyl acetate is added as dispersion and acts as cheap filler, but also increase the slide , improves the edges quality and imparts some water resistant to the finished stencils. Also the design is the set of the screen which when used together produce the required design.

ROTARY SCREEN: LACQUER SCREEN: Lacquer screens, introduced by stork in 1963 but now available from the other manufacturers, have uniformly spaced hexagonal holes arranged in lines parallel with the axis of rotation of the cylinder and offsets in alternative lines, as in the honeycombs , for maximum strength. The walls of the holes through the thickness of the screen are sloping, such that the holes are larger on the outside of walls than on inside in the screens used for printing textiles. SCREEN PREPARATION: Specifications of screen

Rotary screens are known as nickel screen. Generally for textiles the mesh size of 40, 60, 80,100,110,125,150 and 160 are used.

The screen width used is 70 inches which counts to 178 cm.

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 The diameter of the screen is 25.25 inches which is the maximum repeat for the rotary screens. The blank screen is coated with the photo emulsion stovec 1195. There is a special

coating machine for rotary. screens. The screens after coating are dried in drying machine at the temperature of 40-45 C. The time required for this coating and drying is 20 minutes and is same for the drying. After drying the screen is printed with black ink on the computerized digital printing machine and then it is immediately exposed to UV rays (moving UV source is fixed on the machine). The exposure causes polymerization in the unprinted area which makes the exposed area water resistant and thick. But the unexposed area printed with the black ink is still not polymerized (as the black colour tends to absorb all the UV radiation not allowing them to reach the polymer).
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After exposure the screen is washed with water to remove soluble polymer (under the black ink) and then it is cured at 180-195C in the screen curing machine for 1hour. This hardens the polymer coating. The screen is then checked for any unwanted opening in the blocked area, corrected by applying photo emulsion solutions.

Some other treatments carried out on rotary screens are: 1. Screen stripping: The designs to be printed are prepared according to customer requirements and customer requirement always depends upon the market trends. Thus a number of screens are useless once the design is outdated. Also the single screen costs about 2500 Rs.which is not a small amount. If these screens are reused it will be a great savings to them as they can be used 7-8 times again. Thus in order to reuse these screens the photo emulsion has to be removed which is called screen stripping. The end ring is removed by heating the screens at 175C in curing machine and then glue coating is cut by cutter. The screens are stripped by stovec 1103 stripper emulsion. The screen is then applied with chromic acid from inside for complete cleaning and then rewashed after 15 minutes. It is then dried in curing machine for 10-15 minutes at 175C. 2. Patching: Small patches are applied on the torn areas with the scrapped screen pieces to avoid lengthy screen preparation processes. The adhesive used for this purpose is araldite (epoxy resin compound)+ hardener HV 953IN(to be mixed in the equal quantity). 3. Rounding:
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The new screens are in the folded forms. Rounding is the process by which the screens are heat set in round position. This screen is then put in the curing chamber and then cured at 190C for hour. FLAT BED PRINTING MACHINE: This machine uses a complete flat screen. This machine has a squeeze which actually moves on the screen making the printing paste penetrate into the screen on fabric. Hence in this case the screen is stationary and the squeeze is movable. The machine being older version of its type has much complex mechanized automation and the setting of which is to be done by the experienced person only. The largest repeat used is 1 meter. Speed: 6.7 mpm Maximum production: 3200meter per shift(if nonstop working). Advantage: The largest repeat obtained (which is not obtained by any of the other printing machine). Disadvantage: printing in non-continuous manner and slow speed. Important parts: 1. Feeding unit 2. Screen frame 3. Blanket Feeding Unit: The function of this part is to feed the fabric without any crease over the rubber blanket. The main subparts of this unit are: Guide roller:
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Guide the fabric to the blanket. Batching shaft: Shaft on which batch is fixed (not used now) Tensioning device: It provides tension to the fabric so as to remove the crease from the fabric (warp wise). Fabric guider: It passes fabric to blanket (by applying tension weft wise). Cloth pressures roll: This roller provides pressure to the fabric to be printed due to which the fabric gets glued to blanket. Gum regulating blade: actually it is a stainless steel doctor blade which removes the excess of gum from the blanket while the gumming process. Screen holding unit: This unit is proposed for holding of flatbed screen and is situated on the machine frame. The main parts consist of: 1. Levelling knob (secondary design setting) 2. Chain guider 3. Teriary design setting 4. Clamp dog 5. Setting Knob (Primary design setting) Blanket: The blanket of the machine is made up of the synthetic polymer which is resistant to almost all the chemicals. The blanket rotates around the larger rolls on each ends and has provided the support with the small rollers. An electrically operated trolley moves the blanket. Gum coating:
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The belt is coated with gum for the purpose of sticking the fabric to the belt. The gun coating is available in three varieties namely: HT MT LT High temperature melting polymer Medium temperature melting polymer Low temperature melting polymer While applying coats is first applied and then MT coat is applied. In general LT gum is not used due to its soft nature owing to low durability. Drying Unit: This is the thermic oil heated chamber the parts of which can be easily observed in the diagram. Radiators are used for transferring heat to the fabric with air as a secondary heating media. The conveyer belt is connected to the photo sensor which is responsible for synchronization with the conveyer belt of the machine. In this unit photo sensing unit shadow of the fabric is used as a regulating circuit. The fabric after printing goes for steaming i.e. ageing on loop ager in case of discharge printing or reactive printing the fabric is soaped on a soaper machine which provides effective removal of unfixed dye. Continuous steamers A logical development of the ageing of prints while looped on rods led to the continuous transport of printed fabric in festoon steamers. Long loops are formed on rods, touching only the unprinted face, which are moved slowly along are slowly rotated to avoid bar marks due to non-uniform accessibility to steam. Withloops (festoons) of up to 5 m in length, long steaming times or high throughputvelocities can be achieved without the tension and mark-off problems associated withtop and bottom carrying rollers. Several ingenious mechanisms for the formation offestoons of equal length are available. At the end of the steaming
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period, the fabric iswithdrawn at the same high speed as at the entry point. A fabric content of 800 mallows an overall thoughout speed of 80 m min1 with a 10 min steaming time. Capacity can be doubled by introducing two layers of fabric, with an intermediate Back-grey, if the printed area is not large. The larger the steamer dimensions and themore densely it is packed with fabric, the more difficult it will be to maintain uniform Steaming conditions. STEAMERS It is now considered essential to have fan-assisted circulation of steam. In olderdesigns a flow of steam through a water tank at the base, which reduces the superheatof injected steam, to exhaust ducts in the heated roof was used to help to maintainuniformity and provided a valuable cooling effect. In most early festoon steamers, the fabric entry and exit were through slots in theroof, provided with heated roller seals. The seals could never be perfect and escapingsteam, absorbed by the print, increased the mark-off from the printed surface to thesealing roller. A doctor blade was therefore required to clean the roller surface, before itagain contacted the fabric. In modern equipment the fabric entry and exit ports areusually positioned in or near the base of the steam chamber, which reduces the sealing problem significantly (as steam is lighter than air).

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Printing by the all-in method A typical print paste is prepared by sprinkling the required amount of reactive dye intoa stock paste (Recipe 5.2). The solubility of most reactive dyes is sufficient for thissprinkling method, followed by high-speed stirring, to give perfectly smooth prints. The dye can alternatively be predissolved, using the urea to increase the solubility, in asmall volume of hot water. Sodium bicarbonate should only be added after the mixtureof dye solution and thickener has cooled to room temperature. Thickeners: Alginates are the only natural thickeners suitable for use in printing withreactive dyes. All other carbohydrates react with the dye and this results in low colour yields or unsatisfactory fabric handle due to in solubilisation of the thickener. Sodiumalginate also contains hydroxyl groups but it reacts very little, presumably because theionised carboxyl groups on every ring of the polymer chain repel the dye anions. Because of the relatively high cost and limited supply of alginates, attention hasrecently been paid to finding alternatives. Synthetic thickeners with anionic chargesshow great potential. Poly (acrylic acid) does not react at all with typical reactive dyesand colour yields are higher than with alginates. Washing-off is difficult, however, andthe handle may be impaired. Emulsions of both o/w and w/o types are also suitable and half-emulsions havebeen widely used. A stock paste of the half-emulsion type (o/w) can be prepared by Recipe. Alkali: Alkali is essential to produce ionisation of accessible cellulose hydroxyl groups,which can then react with the reactive dye. Sodium bicarbonate has been thepreferred alkali because it is cheap and gives sufficient print paste stability with all butthe most reactive dyes. During steaming or baking it loses carbon dioxide, andincreased ionisation of cellulose follows. Where the stability of the dye is high enough, Recipe 5.3 Emulsifier 1020 g Water 28090 g Urea 80150 g Sodium bicarbonate 20 g Sodium m-nitrobenzenesulphonate 10 g Alginate thickener (312%) 100200 g
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White spirit, added with high-speed stirring 500 g 1000 g Recipe 5.2 Alginate thickener (312%) 400500 g Urea 100200 g Sodium bicarbonate 20 g Sodium m-nitrobenzenesulphonate 10 g Water 470270 g 1000 gm. sodium carbonate and even caustic soda may be preferred because the more stable dyes will give higher colour yields under more alkaline conditions. For dyes of high reactivity the concentration of bicarbonate may be reduced or sodium trichloroacetate used. The latter decomposes during steaming to form sodium carbonate, and allows the use of neutral print pastes or even pastes slightly acidified with acetic acid. The choice of alkali must therefore be made on the basis of the reactivity of the dyes to be used and the stability of print paste required. Acceptable stability, for 28 days, for example, is normally attainable. Fixation: In textile printing it is most important that the fixation and hydrolysis proceed to completion, so that no dye in reactive form remains to stain the white ground. The choice of dyes to be used must therefore be determined by the fixation equipment available [19]. Dyes of high reactivity allow the use of rapid fixation processes, but if some of the dyes have lower reactivity it is safer to use normal steaming times and temperatures. The second factor, which then becomes relevant, is the stability of the dyefibre bond under hot alkaline conditions. Too long a fixation time will lead to a fall in colour yield. For most reactive dyes the stability of the dyefibre bond is related to the reactivity of the dye, and it is possible to obtain rapid fixation under mild conditions only at the expense of stability of the print paste and of the dyefibre bond. Higher reactivity can, however, be obtained by using reactive fluoro compounds, rather than the chloro analogues, without affecting the dyefibre bond stability. Reactive dyes based on fluorochloropyrimidine exemplify this approach. The actual level of fixation is important, not only for economic reasons as in dyeing, but also because unfixed hydrolysed dye must be removed very thoroughly. A routine washing-off procedure may be inadequate if the percentage of unfixed dye is higherthan normal. One successful approach to obtaining significantly higher fixation levelshas been to build two reactive centres into each dye molecule. This increases the
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probability of reaction with the fibre and leads to fixation levels of about 90%, rather than the usual 70%, and consequently reduces by two-thirds the amount of hydrolysed dye to be removed [20]. The fixation of most reactive dyes is effected by saturated steam at 100103 C within 10 min. The most highly reactive dyes may require only 1 min. Faster fixation is obtained in superheated (high-temperature) steam at temperatures of 130160 C, 30 to 60 s only being required. Such short reaction times allow the use of smaller steamers (flash agers). Some of the savings in capital expenditure on plant may, however, be offset by the necessity to use higher concentrations of urea in the print paste. When cold printed fabric is entered into superheated steam, almost the same amount of water condenses on to the fibres as with saturated steam, but loss of this water follows. Urea holds some of the water very strongly, and the eutectic mixture of urea and water provides the solvent required for the dyefibre reaction to occur. In the absence of urea colour yields are low, unless fixation can take place during drying. For many dyes, colour yield increases up to a maximum when 150200 g kg1 of urea is used. An alternative is to use controlled damping at the steamer entrance [21]. Because reactive dyes are typically of small molecular size and low affinity, fixation can be achieved even in hot, dry air. Urea at concentrations of 150200 g kg1 isessential, and selection of dyes is more critical than for steaming processes, especially for regenerated cellulose. Dyes of high diffusion rate and reactivity give the best yields [19, 22]. The diffusion of dye and alkali into the fibre that occurs before and during Drying must materially affect the fixation that is achieved. When hot-air bakers are used, as they are for crease-resist finishing, times of 13 min are required at temperatures of 180160 C. The time required is of course dependent on the rate of fabric heating and can vary substantially from one machine to another. When contact heating is employed, using heated cylinders or a transfer printing drum, the fabric attains the required temperature very rapidly and a time of 1 min at 150 C is often adequate. Some stiffening of regenerated cellulose fabrics must be expected, and discoloration of the cellulose can limit the brightness of pale colours. ROTARY-SCREEN PRINTING Fully automatic flat-screen machines cannot be described as operating continuously, because their printing action is in fact intermittent. Continuous movement of the fabric has been achieved by moving the screens along with the
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fabric while printing (the American Precision Midas machine, for example, is of this type), but the use of rotary-screen machines has proved to be a simpler and more economical means of achieving this goal. In rotary-screen printing, continuous rotation of a cylindrical screen while incontact with the fabric ensures genuinely continuous printing. Print paste is fed into the inside of the screen, and during printing is forced out through the design areas with the aid of a stationary squeegee. Figure 2.9 illustrates some of the squeegee types in use.

In the case of flexible-blade squeegees, the rotation of the screen in contact with the stationary blade builds up the pressure to force the paste through the screen. This is, of course, the converse of flat-screen printing, where the screen remains stationary while the squeegee moves. A typical rotary-screen printing machine is shown in Figure 2.10. The design of most machines follows the pattern established for fully automatic flat-screen machines: an endless driven blanket, screen positions along the top, and blanket washing and drying effected underneath during the return passage. Provision for the use of a thermoplastic adhesive is common on rotary machines, with a curvedsurface heatingplate to heat the fabric before it is pressed on to the blanket. The cylindrical screens can be much closer together than is possible with flat screens and so the blanket is shorter (for a given number of colours). The fabric dryer, however, must be longer to enable the printed fabric to be adequately dried at higher running speeds. Typically, speeds of 3070 m min1 are used depending on the design and the fabric quality. It is quite possible to run the machine faster than this, the limitations often being the length and efficiency of the cloth and blanket dryers and the difficulty of observing printing faults at high running speeds.
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Print paste is often poured into flat screens by hand, even in fully automatic machines, but the continuous movement of a cylindrical screen and the restricted access necessitates automation of this operation. The print paste is pumped into the screen through a flexible pipe from a container at the side of the machine; inside the screen, the paste pipe has a rigid structure as it also acts as a support for the squeegee. Holes in the pipe allow the paste to run down into the bottom of the screen; since the paste is pumped in from one end, the holes need to be larger at the end furthest from the pump to achieve an even spread across the full width of the screen. A sensor (level control) actuates the pump when the paste level falls below a preset height.

Squeegee systems The first squeegees used by Stork were of the traditional rubber type, but excessive wear of the rubber, due to the continuous movement, and the drag on the inside of thescreens, which caused screen distortion, soon led to their replacement with flexible,stainless steel blades. The curvature of the blade, and hence the angle of contact between the blade and the screen, changes according to the applied pressure, which can be readily altered by adjusting the bearings at both ends of the squeegee assembly. Sideways movement is also possible so that the line of contact of blade and screen is not necessarily at the lowest point in the screen. Length and stiffness of the blade are also useful variables. If the squeegee pressure is uneven, the volume of print paste applied across the width will vary, resulting in an unlevel appearance in the final print. This problem is most serious when printing wide fabrics, and special measures are used by
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somemachine manufacturers to overcome it. For example, the Reggiani squeegee systemconsists of a phosphor bronze blade against which a rod is pressed by an inflated air sack, thus ensuring even pressure. The Zimmer brothers continued to use the magnetic-rod squeegee system in their rotary machines. In machines with flexible-blade squeegees one boundary of the pressure wedge between rod and screen is stationary, but with rod squeegees both boundaries are moving (Figure 2.11). In most rotary machines there is a resilient bed under the screen position, and with high magnetic-field settings or when large rods are used the screen is likely to be distorted. This increases the contact area of rod and screen and, coupled with extra pressure introduced by the two moving surfaces, results in a higher minimum amount of paste being forced through the screen than with a stationary, metal-blade squeegee [4]. When printing lightweight synthetic fabrics or transfer paper, a metal blade is therefore often preferred to a rod. Now that the original patents have run out, magnetic-rod squeegees and blades supported by air sacks (such as the Stork Airflow) are being more widely used. A full comparative analysis of magnetic-rod, blade and other types of squeegee used in rotary screen printing has been carried out by Ferber and Hilden [5].

Setting-up to print Although the walls of seamless nickel screens are only about 0.1 mm thick, they are strong enough to be rotated provided they are put under lengthways tension. Light aluminium alloy end-rings are fitted to the ends of the screen, care being taken that the plane of the ring is at right angles to the axis of rotation of the screen. Notches in the end-rings fit into the mountings (heads) on both sides of the blanket and a turn of the screen locks it firmly in position. Tension is then applied by moving the head furthest from the pump outward. The height of the heads can be adjusted so that the bottom of the screen is either just in contact with the blanket
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or higher up to allow for the thickness of the material being printed. When all the screens are in position, squeegee assemblies and level controls are fitted, and adjusted, and the flexible colour pipes connected. Screen end-rings are usually fitted into closed bearings, but Peter Zimmer machinesincorporate an open bearing system (Figure 2.12). This allows rapid screen changes,and readily accommodates variations in screen diameter. When starting to print a multicoloured pattern the screens are adjusted while running in order to achieve registration of all the colours in the design. Several metres of fabric are wasted as a result. This problem has been overcome by German machine makers MBK, who have introduced a laser screen registration system for accurate alignment of rotary screens prior to printing. A red helium/neon laser beam shines down the length of the machine, and the screens are adjusted until the beam shines through the pitch marks. Blanket and screen drives Some rotary screens are driven from both sides to avoid the danger of twisting and buckling (Figure 2.13). If there is a direct link between the blanket and screen drives, correct fitting should be ensured even during speed changes, provided that the blanket does not slip on the driving rollers. The shorter blankets of rotary machines and their continuous motion substantially reduce the problems of extension and sideways movement often experienced with flat-bed machine blankets. Nevertheless, blankets of low extensibility are required. The fitting of patterns during an extended printing run is sometimes less than satisfactory, especially with wide fabrics or when printing pile fabrics or carpets. One explanation, put forward by Peter Zimmer, is that these materials exert a considerable drag on the screens so that they are pulled round slightly in advance of their correct position. Eventually, at a seam perhaps, the screens will spring back and the pattern registration will be affected. Zimmer claims to be able to overcome this problem by running the screens at a slightly slower speed than that of the blanket. Stork have also introduced this facility into their most recent machine, which features independent speed control for each screen. MBK also make use of stepper motors for the same purpose.

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QUALITY ASSURANCE LAB

Sr.no. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Tests Fibre analysis Width Thread Count EPI*PPI GSM Tear Strength Breaking Strength Seam Strength Dimension Change Crease Recovery Fastness to washing Non Chlorine Crocking Perspiration pH Starch Content Scorching Air Permeability Shade Center to Selvedge Skew Bow% Whiteness Index Pilling Methods AATCC 20A ASTM D-3774 ASTM D-3575 ASTM D-3575 ASTM D-3776 ASTM D-1424 ASTM D-5034 ASTM D-1638 AATCC 135 AATCC 143 AATCC 3 AATCC 12 AATCC 8 AATCC 15 AATCC 81 140c/4R -m3/m2/min Visuals CMC-2:1 ASTM D-3882 AATCC 110 ASTM D-4970

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MARTINDALE ARASION TESTER:

One of the standard equipments used for this determination is the Martindale Abrasion Tester. This apparatus gives a controlled amount of abrasion between fabric surfaces at comparatively low pressure in continuously changing direction. Circular specimen of the fabric are abraded under known pressure under a motion which is the resultant of two simple harmonic motions which are at right angle to each other. The resistance to abrasion is estimated by visuals appearance of by finding the loss in the mass of the specimens. This machine is auto off operated facility. CREASE RECOVERY TESTER: Accurate determine of recovery properties of the fabric against creasing Specimen loading device and standard weight supplied for hands on use. Creases are marks created in the fabric and are left during garment wear. Pressing is the process to flatten garment panels and sharpen garment edges and pleats. Good pressing performance means the creased edge stays sharp after pressing. HOT AIR OVEN: Useful for day to day heating, drying and curing needs. Temperature of the hot oven ranges from room temperature to 250C and the heating is also consistent at every part of oven. Accuracy: 1C or better (micro controller model)

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2C or better (thermostat model) Three side high grade nichrome wire heater. WASHING FASTNESS TESTER (LAUNDEROMETER ER): Microprocessor based temperature control 22 RPM speed Heating water(110C max) DESCRIPTION: This machine is ideal to check the washing fastness of dyed fabric. The methods are followed according to the standard methods of ISO, BS and AATCC. The machine is used for dyeing at room temperature or temperature upto 100 C. LIGHT FASTNESS TESTER: Enable to find light fastness of the sample with ultraviolet radiation. Auto stop Simple and easy handling and easy program feeding. Quick stop and off machine.

DESCRIPTION: Nowadays the criteria of light fastness are a major concern amongst the dyers. It is very important to understand the different test methods, grading factor affecting light fastness. Generally it is difficult to achieve good grades of light fastness in light shades viz., khaki, olive, grey, browns etc. a proper combinations always helps to arrive at the customer requirement. COLOUR CABINET: Light Source D-65 Tl-84 No Temperature

2 nos. 6500K 2 nos. 4000K

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T-F-L CWF UV

2 nos. 2300-2800K 1 no. 4150K 1 no.

This is very essential to assess the colour matching. The standard and the batch shades are to be matched under a particular illuminant(light source). D-65 is widely used light source all over the world.

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FINISHING
STENTERS: STENTER FRAMES As Stenter is a fabric transport device that simultaneously grasps fabric at bothselvages and continuously carries it from one point to another. Two endless chainsequipped with either clips or pins grasp the selvages and move in synchrony, carryingthe fabric between them. The width between the two chains can be automaticallyadjusted by means of a motor driven screw. The entry end is equipped with edge sensors which signal the screw to move the chains in or out to assure that the edgeshave been engaged. The width along the length of the chain can be varied byadditional independently driven screws located downstream. Sections of the chaincan be set to different widths. For example, the width may start out narrow and bellowed to shrink. A Stenter is the best method of handling fabrics that requireprecise width control. The Stenter also has provision for length control. The fabriceither can be stretched or overfed as it enters onto the pins or clips. Many fabrics aresold by the linear yard so as long as the shrinkage requirements are met, stretchingis a method of increasing yardage yield. Pin Stenter allows for just the opposite to bedone; wet fabric can be overfed onto the pins by a separate drive mechanism. Thefabric will shrink when it enters in the heated zones. The net effect is to impart low Residual shrinkage at the expense of reduced yardage yield. Overfeeding is amechanical method imparting low residual shrinkage. Heating of the fabric occurs when the fabric enters the heated zones. Mosttenders are equipped with hot air distribution heads that blow directly onto the topand bottom of the fabric. Either slots or tubes direct the air onto the fabric. Air isdirectly heated by a gas flame and some of the air is recirculated through the burnerwhile some is exhausted out the stacks. Figure 41 shows a diagram of a typical Stenter frame.
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The heating section of a Stenter frame also can be broken down into heatingzones. The temperature in each zone can be independently set to profile any dryingand curing conditions desired. Figure 42 illustrates the fabric temperature profiles When wet fabrics travel through a ten section Stenter frame. Curve A is the profileseen by a fabric when the frame is run at slow speed. Water evaporates quickly afterthe wet fabric enters the first section. As soon as all the water is gone, fabrictemperature reaches the temperature of the heated air. The time it takes to travelfrom this point to the exit end is the actual time the fabric is exposed to the highertemperature. Curve B represents the temperature profile when the frame is speededup. Note that it took longer to dry the fabric so the time the fabric was exposed tothe higher temperature was less. In both cases, the air temperature in each section was unchanged, only the fabric speed changed. The implication of this is thatknowledge of the fabric temperature profile is a must if time of cure influences theproperties of finished fabrics (which it does for many finishes). All older frames haveair temperature indicators located along the inside of the frame. However this alonewill not insure proper control of the drying and curing process. Some modern framesare equipped with fabric temperature sensors located along the length of the frameas a better way of controlling the process. By knowing the point within the framewhen the fabric is dry, the frame could be programmed to give the time necessary forcuring to take place. For a light weight fabric, the frame could be speeded up and thechances of overcuring eliminated. Conversely the frame should be slowed down fora heavy fabric that takes longer to dry otherwise the time of cure will be much less. OTHER DRYERS There are other types of dryers, each designed for a specific purpose. Forexample,Drum and conveyer dryers for knit goods. These accommodate theneed to not put excessive tensions in either direction of the fabric. Tumble dryers - used to develop fabric texture. Combination heated cylinder/forced hot air dryers - designed for fasterheat up of woven goods. A detailed description of all types of dryers is beyond the scope of this manuscript. Pulled out at a subsequent section to make it wider or it may be set narrower andStenter: Stenter is the most widely used machine for finishing of the fabric.After any process the drying is done for the completion of process. So Stenter is used for final drying after bleaching, dyed, printed, etc. Purpose: to make the fabric dry
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 to make the fabric crease free to heat set the fabric to improve the dimensional stability

To improve the feel of the fabric.

There are Manish Stenter which very efficiently.

VERTICAL DRYING RANGES: This machine is used for drying of the fabric after the various processes. There are 8 vertical bowls (rollers) which are provided with steam from internally. The speed is maintained up to 25-28 m/min. the fabric is first impregnated in water to get wet and then passed through the hot rollers.

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