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1 – 10 of 281Ngan Yi Kitty Lam, Jeanne Tan, Anne Toomey and Ka Chun Jimmy Cheuk
This paper aims to investigate how different knitted structures affect the illuminative effect of polymeric optical fibres (POFs).
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate how different knitted structures affect the illuminative effect of polymeric optical fibres (POFs).
Design/methodology/approach
Knit prototypes were constructed using a 7-gauge industrial hand flat knitting machine. The textile prototype swatches developed in this study tested POF illumination in three types of knitting structures: intervallic knit and float stitch structures; POF inlaid into double plain and full cardigan structures; and double plain and partial knitting structures. The illuminative effects of the POFs in seven prototype swatches were analysed and compared.
Findings
It is possible to use an industrial hand flat knitting machine to knit POFs. Longer floats expose more POFs, which boosts illumination but limits the textile’s horizontal stretchability. The openness of the full cardigan structure maximises POF exposure and contributes to even illumination. The partial knitting in different sections achieves the most complete physical integration of POFs into the knitted textiles but constrains the horizontal stretchability of the textiles.
Practical implications
The integration of POFs into knitted textiles provides a functional illuminative effect. Applications include but are not limited to fashion, architecture and interior design.
Originality/value
This study is novel, as it investigates new POF knitted textiles with different loop structures. This study examines how knit stitches affect POFs in intervallic knit and float stitch, inlaid POF double knit, double plain and partial knit and the illuminative effects of the knitted textile.
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It is important to monitor wrist four direction movements (flexion, extension, adduction and abduction) for hand healthcare, wrist rehabilitation and upper limb exercise, and so…
Abstract
Purpose
It is important to monitor wrist four direction movements (flexion, extension, adduction and abduction) for hand healthcare, wrist rehabilitation and upper limb exercise, and so on. The purpose of this study is to develop a quadri-directional optical bending sensor that integrated wearable device technology in a smart glove to detect wrist four direction movements.
Design/methodology/approach
The quadri-directional optical bending sensor was designed with a microcontroller board, a Bluetooth wireless module, a side-emitting polymeric optical fibre (POF), an infrared light emitting diode and four phototransistors. A linear equation was deduced to calculate bending angle from detecting sensor value of Arduino microcontroller. The bending angle values could be seen by the smartphone screen, so the system has a good human–machine interface function.
Findings
The light emission by macro-bending of the side-emitting POFs that the transmittance of the outer side is greater than the inner. The bending POFs lateral emission phenomenon integrated with phototransistors on the edge is suitable for the development of bending sensors.
Originality/value
This study is to develop a novel quadri-directional optical bending sensor to replace two bi-direction sensors or four uni-direction sensors for wrist four direction movements monitoring.
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The purpose of this article is to develop a smart illuminated polymeric optical fibre (POF) chameleonic garment, using a wearable device technology for camouflage or safety…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to develop a smart illuminated polymeric optical fibre (POF) chameleonic garment, using a wearable device technology for camouflage or safety warnings based on user needs.
Design/methodology/approach
This study integrates the theory of the optical foundation, control system, wireless communication, program development and apparel design into a chameleonic garment, displaying some vests, bags and shoes.
Findings
After selecting a pixel in the photo taken by the smart phone, the four modes of the application developed in this study are used to change the POF colour of the garment.
Originality/value
This study develops four modes of smart phone application; picked mode: picks a pixel colour on a smart phone canvas, contrastive mode: transfers to contrastive colour of the picked pixel, customized mode – gives input colour number manual and random mode – it based on a system random number. When users have different functional requirements, the four modes provide various choices.
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Jiajia Peng, Gaoming Jiang, Honglian Cong, Xuan Luo and Yan Zhao
The whole garment technology offers a solution for the production efficiency by directly knitting a seamless tubular garment. Due to its complexity, high requirements and few…
Abstract
Purpose
The whole garment technology offers a solution for the production efficiency by directly knitting a seamless tubular garment. Due to its complexity, high requirements and few references, the technology has not been widely applied in mass production. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to show garment technology’s detailed design method, the technique calculation process and its merits compared than common technology.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper first analyzes the knitting principle of the four-bed computerized flat knitting machine from its configuration. After that, the design method is putted forward as well as the technique calculation process. To reveal the advantages of the whole garment technology, this paper builds a comprehensive evaluation system by comparing the knitting time, labor cost and the yarn consumption.
Findings
With the evaluation system, the whole garment technology is proved to be more productive, cost-saving and less materials-consuming. Moreover, this advantage stands more out when the machine gage is higher.
Research limitations/implications
Due to limited research time and references, this paper only presents the whole garment technology for knitting common and traditional styles. More complicated and fashioned garments can be studied in the future research.
Practical implications
The design method and technology presented in this paper can be used as a reference for both the designers in the manufacture industry and the scholars for academic research works.
Originality/value
This paper has presented the whole garment technology and a specific method for technique calculation with consideration of garment structures. It also builds a evaluation system to show the advantages in terms of knitting efficiency, labor cost and yarn consumption.
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Xuan Luo, Gaoming Jiang and Honglian Cong
A method for predicting the material consumption of a sweater is presented before it is knitted. It can be achieved with the five basic models combined with the parameters related…
Abstract
Purpose
A method for predicting the material consumption of a sweater is presented before it is knitted. It can be achieved with the five basic models combined with the parameters related to the dimensions of the knitting machine and needles. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the parameters of the needle bar flat knitting machine, the sweater is modeled with five basic structures. The mathematical expression of each basic structure can be derived with corresponding parameters under some consumptions. In following, the predictive weight of the sweater can be formulated with the expression of the length of the basic structures and the linear density of the yarn.
Findings
To evaluate the performance of the proposed scheme, experiments of three types of sweaters on four different knitting machines are carried out. The results show that the proposed method can achieve the performance with the bias values by percentage ranging from −1.54 to −2.84 percent.
Research limitations/implications
Due to the present limited research, more experiments could not be carried out. To improve the performance and robustness of the proposed method, statistical performance measures such as the statistical mean and variance in massive experiments will be studied in the further research.
Practical implications
The evaluation of the material consumption can be obtained before it is knitted with the known basic parameters related to the machine and yarn.
Originality/value
This paper derives the general expressions of five basic structures based on the corresponding parameters of knitting machine. The predictive weight of the sweater is expressed according to the above basic structures before the sweater is knitted.
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Examines the tenth published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects. Subjects…
Abstract
Examines the tenth published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects. Subjects discussed include cotton fabric processing, asbestos substitutes, textile adjuncts to cardiovascular surgery, wet textile processes, hand evaluation, nanotechnology, thermoplastic composites, robotic ironing, protective clothing (agricultural and industrial), ecological aspects of fibre properties – to name but a few! There would appear to be no limit to the future potential for textile applications.
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Rafiu King Raji, Xuhong Miao, Shu Zhang, Yutian Li, Ailan Wan and Charles Frimpong
The use of conductive yarns or wires to design and construct fabric-based strain sensors is a research area that is gaining much attention in recent years. This is based on a…
Abstract
Purpose
The use of conductive yarns or wires to design and construct fabric-based strain sensors is a research area that is gaining much attention in recent years. This is based on a profound theory that conductive yarns will have a variation in resistance if subjected to tension. What is not clear is to which types of conductive yarns are most suited to delivering the right sensitivity. The purpose of this paper is to look at strain sensors knitted with conductive composite and coated yarns which include core spun, blended, coated and commingled yarns. The conductive components are stainless steel and silver coating respectively with polyester as the nonconductive part. Using Stoll CMS 530 flat knitting machine, five samples each were knitted with the mentioned yarn categories using 1×1 rib structure. Sensitivity tests were carried out on the samples. Piezoresistive response of the samples reveals that yarns with heterogeneous external structures showed both an increase and a decrease in resistance, whereas those with homogenous structures responded linearly to stress. Stainless steel based yarns also had higher piezoresistive range compared to the silver-coated ones. However, comparing all the knitted samples, silver-coated yarn (SCY) proved to be more suitable for strain sensor as its response to tension was unidirectional with an appreciable range of change in resistance.
Design/methodology/approach
Conductive composite yarns, namely, core spun yarn (CSY1), core spun yarn (CSY2), silver-coated blended yarn (SCBY), staple fiber blended yarn (SFBY) and commingled yarn (CMY) were sourced based on specifications and used to knit strain sensor samples. Electro-mechanical properties were investigated by stretching on a fabric tensile machine to ascertain their suitability for a textile strain sensor.
Findings
In order to generate usable signal for a strain sensor for a conductive yarn, it must have persistent and consistent conductive links, both externally and internally. In the case of composite yarns such as SFBY, SCBY and CMY where there were no consistent alignment and inter-yarn contact, resistance change fluctuated. Among all six different types of yarns used, SCY presented the most suitable result as its response to tension was unidirectional with an appreciable range of change in resistance.
Originality/value
This is an original research carried out by the authors who studied the electro-mechanical properties of some composite conductive yarns that have not been studied before in textile strain sensor research. Detailed research methods, results and interpretation of the results have thus been presented.
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Natalie Ishmael, Anura Fernando, Sonja Andrew and Lindsey Waterton Taylor
This paper aims to provide an overview of the current manufacturing methods for three-dimensional textile preforms while providing experimental data on the emerging techniques of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide an overview of the current manufacturing methods for three-dimensional textile preforms while providing experimental data on the emerging techniques of combining yarn interlocking with yarn interlooping.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper describes the key textile technologies used for composite manufacture: braiding, weaving and knitting. The various textile preforming methods are suited to different applications; their capabilities and end performance characteristics are analysed.
Findings
Such preforms are used in composites in a wide range of industries, from aerospace to medical and automotive to civil engineering. The paper highlights how the use of knitting technology for preform manufacture has gained wider acceptance due to its flexibility in design and shaping capabilities. The tensile properties of glass fibre knit structures containing inlay yarns interlocked between knitted loops are given, highlighting the importance of reinforcement yarns.
Originality/value
The future trends of reinforcement yarns in knitted structures for improved tensile properties are discussed, with initial experimental data.
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Manju Sugathan, Tom Cassidy and Bruce Carnie
The purpose of this paper is about understanding an existing situation in a South Indian village and developing a strategy to produce and market speciality hand knitting yarn…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is about understanding an existing situation in a South Indian village and developing a strategy to produce and market speciality hand knitting yarn, involving the unpaid labour (women) in the handloom industry. An observation method (field study) is used to identify an appropriate method for the design and development of speciality yarns.
Design/methodology/approach
Participatory action research is a recursive process that identifies methods leading to the choice of appropriate technology (AT) for the production of speciality yarn. A field study observation method was carried out to identify an AT that is acceptable for the community considering their socio-cultural background of the society. Once the technology (AT) was identified to design the speciality yarn, the research then tests the quality and marketability of the yarn.
Findings
The method used for product design and quality testing can be adapted by researchers and designers to develop craft items that can build a platform to start a small-scale business. The research describes a model/framework that could be used/investigated by other bodies in the future.
Research limitations/implications
The limitation of AT and the approach taken for research cannot be clearly identified without testing the production method with the women in the village.
Originality/value
This research confirms that along with identifying a sustainable method of production for speciality yarn, it is very essential to ensure the quality of the product that can compete with other market-available hand knitting yarns.
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