USTER SENTINEL: Designed for top productivity

USTER ring spinning optimisation system now offers much more than end-break detection.

USTER SENTINEL is much more than an end-break detection system. It is a comprehensive solution for ring spinning optimisation, with benefits in quality, productivity and efficiency. Data can now be integrated with the Total Testing Center through USTER TESTER 6, giving spinners an overview of quality through all process steps in the mill, for focused control of production management. Adding USTER ROVING STOP enhances the economic advantages still further, reducing waste by stopping the roving feed immediately an end-break is detected.

USTER SENTINEL’s bobbin build-up report is the key to optimised yarn production. The system’s unmatched detection of end-breaks provides the basic platform, which is extended to total control of end-breaks when combined with USTER ROVING STOP. The instant stop of roving feed at an end-break will reduce waste significantly and make raw material usage more cost-effective. Calculations show that 70 per cent less pneumafil waste equates to a saving of nearly 1 per cent in raw material, based on current spinning conditions. This obviously makes for a shorter investment payback.

Using USTER SENTINEL with USTER ROVING STOP improves productivity and cuts down the risk of quality problems in ring spinning. Potential quality claims are avoided, since waste material and uncontrolled fibre – which could affect neighbouring spindles and the entire machine – are greatly reduced by the USTER ROVING STOP. Overload on rollers is also prevented, ensuring higher productivity through reduced lapping. These benefits together can be expected to extend the service life of spinning components such as aprons, cots and cylinders by around 20 per cent.

The design of USTER ROVING STOP is striking. Its streamlined and uncluttered profile is geared to optimum machine performance. The unique compact shape leaves operators clear access, saving time and speeding up responses. And its smart design enables the USTER ROVING STOP to implement a rapid and complete separation of the process, to avoid raw material waste.

Higher yield & fewer quality claims
The advantages of USTER SENTINEL go far beyond end-break detection: it brings a completely new approach to quality, productivity and efficiency in ring spinning. Bobbin build-up information and end-break detection are the basic functions, but total optimisation is the result. The intuitive reports on bobbin build-up include every parameter influencing end-breaks.

Clear visuals point to exact reasons for breaks, making optimisation easy. Mills benefit from improvements in ambient conditions, service life of mechanical components – and machine speed.

Machine performance is displayed in real-time, giving a fast overview of the most relevant production and laboratory data – as well as the machine’s energy consumption. The well-established expert system supports mills with clear guidance to profitable optimisation.

Higher yield and fewer quality issues also result from reduced repair times. Badly-performing spindles are reliably identified and the USTER SENTINEL guides machine operators quickly to spindle breaks, through clear and simple indications. Other issues which often impair the spinning process – such as idle, rogue and off-quality spindles, as well as spindle slip – are all monitored for fast response.

Profitability: The ultimate goal
USTER’s ring spinning optimisation system maximises profitability where it matters most. USTER SENTINEL measures and controls the most expensive process in yarn manufacturing. It monitors the productivity of all spindles, as well as providing the required links and information to help the spinning mill optimise both machine performance and the entire process.

Connecting USTER SENTINEL to the Total Testing Center of the USTER TESTER 6 opens the way to extended analysis, based on centralised quality data from all spinning processes. This is the route to management of a spinning mill with quality in mind. Adding USTER SENTINEL data to this creates the ultimate quality optimisation package. This is a significant further development milestone, supporting spinners to achieve the ultimate goal of excellence in quality and profitability.

Uster is the leading high-technology instrument manufacturer of products for quality management for the textile industry. The Group provides testing and monitoring instruments, systems and services that allow optimisation of quality through each individual stage of textile production. This includes raw textile fibres, such as cotton or wool, all staple fibre and filament yarns, as well as downstream services to the final finished fabric. Uster provides benchmarks that are a basis for the trading of textile products at assured levels of quality across global markets. The group’s aim is to forward know-how on quality, productivity and cost to the textile industry.

The Group is headquartered in Uster, Switzerland and operates through a worldwide Market Organization complemented by Technology Centers. It has sales and service subsidiaries in the major textile markets and Technology Centers in Uster (Switzerland), Knoxville (USA) and Suzhou (China).