FLYER FRAMES

There are four machines known as flyer frames, namely, stubbing, intermediate, roving and fine jack. Their object is to further draw out the sliver or roving and wind it on to bobbins, giving only sufficient twist to permit satisfactory unwinding of the roving at the next process. For coarse yarns only two flyer frames may be required, stubbing and intermediate, or stubbing and roving frames. For medium counts the first three are used, and for fine counts all the four are necessary.

This is one of the flyer frames. Usually it is fed with two intermediate bobbins for each spindle with a draft of 5 to 6. If the roving is to go direct to the spinning frame the hank or count of the roving is made suitable for the draft at the spinning frame to give the required counts in the spun yarn (see Flyer Frames)

After leaving the draw frame, cotton is passed through a' series of flyer frames each of which drafts the cotton and produces silvers which are progressively finer in counts in the following order; slubbing, intermediate, roving and jack frames. The intermediate is the second of the series and is usually fed by two slubbing bobbins for each intermediate spindle.

A fault that manifests itself in many ways in spinning mills, particularly at the card,. drawing frames, and flyer frames, where fibres wrap around the drawing rollers, etc., and become detached from the lap or sliver instead of passing forward with it.

The mechanical arrangement by which the speed of the bobbins in flyer frames is regulated, with the object of obtaining constant speed of winding, although the girth of the bobbin is constantly growing larger. Also known as " box of tricks."

(See knitting). All yarns used for knitting are termed hosiery yarns in Leicester, but in America only yarns actually used for knitted footwear come under this term. These yarns are much softer than required for weaving. Miscellaneous Yarns - Goat wools, such as llama and alpaca are employed in spinning. yarns for the knitting trade. Vicuna and camel yarns are used to a limited extent. Ramie yarn is specially employed for knitting gas mantle fabrics. Soft spun flax yams have been used for making underwear fabric. Chenille and other manufactured threads are used to a small extent in warp knitting. Composite yarns, such as union yarns - spun from a mixture of wool and cotton fibres; cordon yarns - cotton and worsted singles, doubled together; wool and rayon or spun silk, cotton and rayon or spun silk are largely used to produce self or two-colour effects. Fancy yarns, such as slub yams, voiles, and curled and loop yarns are also employed. Hosiery Yarns (Cotton) include condenser, hosiery, condenser lisle thread, mercerised and sewing cottons. Condenser yarns are spun in coarse counts from low-grade cotton, Indian and American. They are carded, condensed and mule spun, and possess little twist. Hosiery cotton yarns vary considerably in counts and qualities, practically all varieties of Indian, American and Egyptian being used in varying proportions to obtain suitable mixture for quality and price. Cheaper yarns are carded and mule spun. American and Egyptian cotton yarns are combed mainly with the object of removing seed particles. High-class Egyptian and Sea Islands cotton yarns are super-combed. The chief features of a hosiery cotton yam should be: (1) Regularity; (2) cleanliness; (3) fullness. Regularity prevents the making of cloudy fabric, showing thick and thin places. Cleanliness is essential, as the seed particles clog the eyelet hole in the yam guides and cause breakages. Fullness is desirable to cover the loop interstices. Elasticity and pliability are quite as essential as tensile strength. Yams are usually soft spun and if two-fold soft doubled, average twists in two-fold being 2/10's 6¹/₂T., 2/20's 8¹/₂T., 2/30's 10T., 2/40's 16T., 2/80's 20T. Softer twist less 25 to 30 per cent of average (T= turns per inch). Lisle thread is a comparatively hard-twisted and doubly-gassed thread in which there are no projecting fibres. It is always of a two-fold character, and the doubling twist varies from 24 to 34 turns per inch in 2/60's. It is used largely in the manufacture of ladies' hose tops and feet and for lace hosiery. Mercerised yams are used largely in the fancy trade, a comparatively soft twist again being employed. Sewing cottons for seaming, linking and making-up are specially prepared in two to six cord open and reverse twist. Woollen and Worsted Yarns include lamb's wool, wheeling, skein yarns, gala yams (woollens), worsted, crossbreds, fingering, cashmere, dry spun botany (see under each name). Worsted and crossbred yarns of various qualities are used. These yams are spun softly with " hosiery twist." The drawing may be open, cone or French, and the spinning may take place on cap, ring or flyer frames. The chief essentials of hosiery yarn are softness of fibre, fullness, minimum of twist consistent with the requisite tensile strength, regularity, pliability and elasticity. Cashmere Yarns, as used in the knitted goods industry, are spun from short, loose and weak wools as well as from better qualities by French drawing and mule spinning. A small proportion of real cashmere is used for outer garments. In recent years nylon yarns have been largely employed.

Roving from the roving frame is further twisted and attenuated on the jack frame, which is only used in the production of fine counts (see Flyer Frames)

These are worsted yarns spun from fine crossbred wool on flyer frames and doubled. Used for making men's navy-blue suitings, etc.