Karl Mayer has become a producer of complete systems for the production of packaging sacks and shading nets, and the company has extended its production repertoire in order to do this. In future, Karl Mayer will produce the ISO unit for cutting and stretching and continue to manufacture warp knitting machines for processing foil tapes. The FTL 1, FTL 2 and FTL 3 models are all part of the ISO film cutting and stretching unit. This unit was previously supplied by the bs Group. With the signing of a contract on 26 April 2019, the machine rights, the spare parts business, and engineering expertise have all been transferred to Karl Mayer. The transfer of knowledge has been carried out on the basis of a tried-and-tested process.

Herbert Lohr, the Head of Karl Mayer´s Warp Knitting Business Unit:

“We now have a proven product, which is already established on the market, in our repertoire, and this gives us the scope that we need for making further developments. ‘Everything from a single source and made by Karl Mayer’. We can now carry on with optimising our raschel machines by introducing innovative material feed systems.”

Best of technology and a non-stop process

The ISO unit is located at the beginning of the processing chain for producing packaging and shading nets. The unit uses slitting bars to cut the tapes from a primary film. These are then stretch in a heating zone to produce monoaxial, flat tape yarns, which are fed to a raschel machine – reliably and consumption-dependent. The thickness, strength and delivery speed are all consistent and accurate.

The in-line system integration of the two production systems enables a delivery rate of up to 85 m/min to be reached. In this case, the tape yarns may have a minimum thickness of just 0.016 mm approximately and a width of 0.5 to 0.7 mm. The ISO system is also flexible, thanks to its modular design. Depending on the width, number of guide bars and gauge of the subsequent machine, as well as the desired tape width as it enters the machine, a number of ISO slitting and drawing modules can be combined. The unit is also easy to operate and has a sturdy design and long service life. This performance profile enables the subsequent raschel machine to operate to its maximum potential.