Albstadt-based circular knitting machine manufacturer Mayer & Cie. is exhibiting again this year at the Techtextil trade fair, which takes place next month in Frankfurt. At the event that focuses on innovative textile applications, Mayer & Cie. will demonstrate the variety of opportunities that circular knitting machines can offer.

Circular knitting has become more important in the manufacture of mattress covers in the recent years, with over half of the covers made of fabrics produced on circular knitting machines – material that is both elastic and can retain its shape. These fabrics can be produced on a number of Mayer & Cie. machines that are members of the OVJA family – OVJA 1.6 EM HS and OVJA 1.6 EE, for example.

Another established area in which circular knitting machines are used is to make covers for upholstered furniture of all kinds. This is a speciality of, inter alia, the MCPE 2.4, a machine for coloured all-over plush jacquard fabrics.

Another company highlight is Relanit 0.8, which does not use conventional yarns to manufacture fabrics. It knits spun steel fibres or copper, steel and silver wire, glass fibre, carbon fibre or carbon – including in combination with cotton and synthetic yarns. Applications range from protective clothing to horticulture and electrically conductive textiles.

Opportunities now and in the future

However, there will be no Mayer & Cie. machines on show in Frankfurt because “our customers are exhibiting their products here. We are showing existing and prospective customers which machine could manufacture the fabric in question now or in the future,” said Thomas Zizmann, Mayer & Cie. sales manager in charge. “We are demonstrating everything that circular knitting machines are capable of making.”

Future opportunities are likely to be even more extensive, the company says, thanks to Mayer & Cie.’s spinning and knitting technology. spinitsystems, the technology that combines spinning, cleaning and knitting. This will be part of the Mayer & Cie. presentation at Techtextil. The Spinit 3.0 E, the first machine to use the technology, processes a composite fibre and not the finished yarn.

“That is why the options differ fundamentally from those of circular knitting technology,” said Michael A. Tuschak, who is responsible for spinitsystems marketing and sales at Mayer & Cie. So far, the machine has only processed cotton, but that is set to change in the near future. “I am very much looking forward to the ideas and questions that Techtextil visitors come up with,” concluded Michael A. Tuschak.

Mayer & Cie.

Mayer & Cie. is a leading international manufacturer of circular knitting machines. The company manufactures the entire range of machines required for making modern textiles. Fabrics for home textiles, sportswear, nightwear and swimwear, seat covers, underwear and technical uses can be made on the company’s knitting machines.

Founded in 1905, Mayer & Cie. generated sales of EUR 105 million in 2016 with about 500 employees worldwide, according to preliminary figures. In addition to its headquarters in Albstadt, Germany, and subsidiaries in China and the Czech Republic, Mayer & Cie. is represented by sales partners in around 80 countries.

www.mayerandcie.com