SGIA Journal Graphic November/December 2016 - 43

For welding, Matic has the Ares, a
manual machine for welding fabrics for
roller blinds, sun blinds and banners
(you'll recall that welding is useful for
polyester materials). The Ares (like the
Cronos) comes in a number of different
configurations from the Ares Plus that
automates the operations such as overlaps,
hems, welds, reinforcements and zippers.
Ares Plus uses electric impulse welding
technology. The Ares Flat Hem also uses
electric impulse welding for automatic
creation of f lat hems and hems with
pocket and bottomrails. The Ares Flat
Hem can flat hem up to 5 meters in a
single stroke.
Miller Weldmaster* offers a number
of different products, including the
Digitran for sewing. The Digitran also
has a transport system that is synced with
the sewing machine to ensure accurate
and precise material handling. "As the
popularity of silicone edge graphics (SEG)
continues, what is most critical to this
operation is the ratio to which we apply the
SEG to the digital textile. We recognize
it is important for our customers to have
a nice tight fit, when fitting the printed
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graphic into their framing system - and
the Digitran system accommodates this
accordingly," says Jeff Sponseller, CEO,
Miller Weldmaster. The Digitran system
can also integrate a T3 or T300 Extreme
welding machine into the line.
Cutting with Textiles

I talked with Steve Aranoff with MCT
Digita l Finishing about their new
flatbed cutter which can be outfitted as
a traditional driven wheel cutter and/or
can be set up as a laser cutter. The MCT
VersaTech2, a 2016 Product of the Year
winner in the category of Finishing -
Equipment - Routers/Cutters, has the
ability to change the belt that is used to
convey the material which is being cut.
For traditional cutting or routing they use
the standard gray belt. The exchangeable
laser belt has a lightweight aluminum
surface that is thick enough not to be
burned by the laser. The belt is laced and
comes in 43-inch sections to allow for
easy on-off operation (the sections make
it possible to replace segments of the belt
instead of the entire belt in the event that
it becomes damaged).
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According to Aranoff, he sees two kinds
of users for their equipment - power users
doing 100-percent fabric/textile who were
previously using hot knives, which gave the
finishing piece a sealed edge. This user has
the opportunity to save around 8 people per
shift by laser cutting versus hot knives, with
a significant reduction in waste. The cutting
(with the laser) gets done in a more organized
manner, reducing the time sewers are sitting
around waiting for the next job. Ganging
jobs with automated cutting reduces the
cost of cutting and sewing, and their typical
ROI is less than a year. The second group of
users doesn't have a consistent fabric work
flow - or the fabric they are working with
isn't primarily polyester. For this group
they use a combination of rotary or driven
wheel cutter (it's actually an octagonal blade
set up) and laser. One of the downsides in
using a driven wheel cutter is the limit on
the types of cutting, such as cutting into
corners and the need to be watchful that the
fabric isn't moved by the cutting process.
The driven wheel cutter is not limited
by the type of material, though it is limited
by the weight of the fabric. A vacuum can
only do so much, and the wheel can cause
November/December 2016 | 41
SGIA Journal Graphic November/December 2016

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