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The purpose of this paper is to develop and test control methods for real‐time automatic presser‐foot force control in industrial sewing machines. In this work, a closed‐loop controller that controls presser‐foot maximum vertical displacement is presented and compared to existing solutions that adjust force depending on sewing speed. Automatic force control can reduce problems such as stitch irregularity, stitch distortions and material damage, besides making material handling easier.

An electromagnetic force actuator was integrated in an industrial lockstitch machine. A computer‐based control system was designed implementing either speed‐variable force control, closed‐loop control, or emulating a traditional constant‐force system. Maximum presser‐foot displacement values were measured and analysed in relevant sewing situations, and seam quality was assessed.

Constant‐force control does not allow optimal force setting at all speeds. Speed‐variable force control is an improvement, but requires empirical setting of the speed‐force relation, not always assuring optimal operation. Closed‐loop control adapts force to the requirement of each sewing situation more precisely. Sewing quality is good and material handling is eased.

The actuator has to be optimised regarding response time and maximum force. Some aspects in the behaviour of the control system and actuator have to be further studied.

The proposed control system enables the automatic setting and adaptation of force to all sewing situations, making material handling easier at low speeds without compromising feeding performance at high speed. The closed‐loop controller may be used as a teach‐in system for speed‐dependent control.

This is the first prototype of a closed‐loop control system for presser‐foot force on a lockstitch sewing machine and the first comparative study of control methods for presser‐foot force control.

The purpose of this review paper is to define the dominating factors (such as fiber, yarn, fabric structure, sewing thread, sewing needle and machine parameters) that affect the seam damages and causing defects. It also describes the various explanations of sewing defects in garment production and critically analyzes them for optimum selection of parameters and speeds for minimizing such faults. Hence, the knowledge of various factors which affect the sewing damages/defects will be helpful for garment manufacturers/researchers to know influence of the parameters and control the quality of producing seam.

This section is not applicable for a review paper.

Sewing damages such as needle cut and other sewing damages/defects are studied mostly in woven fabric. There are very few studies conducted on knitted fabric sewing damages/defects. The sewing damage problems do not have single solution that is capable of removing these damages in fabric. All the determined and affecting parameters related to fiber, yarn, fabric construction, sewing thread and sewing machine must be examined to design appropriate remedial measurement related to machine design, fabric parameters and sewing thread. This could help in minimizing or eliminating the needle cut and other sewing damage problems.

It is an original review work and is helpful for garment manufacturers/researchers to reduce the defects and be able to produce good quality seam.

Quantitative fabric‐needle‐sewing machine interactions at different speeds have been used to construct qualitative rules mapping fabric properties to optimum sewing machine settings for the next generation of “intelligent sewing machines”, using model free estimation. The inference procedures of fuzzy logic have been implemented in a neural network to allow for optimization of output membership functions and subsequently, self‐learning. The technique is successfully applied to industrial lockstitch and overlock sewing machines. Optimum settings were achieved under static and dynamic machine conditions from the properties of difficult fabrics and compensation for mishandling by the operator over the speed range of the sewing machine.

Reports research into developing the ability to sense characteristic information about fabric/machine interactions for real‐time control of the industrial sewing process. The sewing system under investigation was equipped with displacement and force transducers to measure the dynamic response of the feeding system during various modes of operation. A combination of fabric and machine factors was considered in a one‐half fractional factorial experimental design, including: fabric type, number of fabric plies, presser foot type, presser foot preload, and machine speed.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of joint clearance on the behavior of a needle driver mechanism (a slider-crank linkage) of a typical sewing machine with an imperfect joint between the coupler and the slider (including needle).

In order to model the clearance, the momentum exchange approach is used. The Lankarani and Nikravesh’s continuous contact force model is used to model the contact force, and the modified Coulomb’s friction law represents the friction between sliding members. The penetration force applied on the needle by fabric is chosen based on an experimental data in the literature. The dynamic response is validated for the existing properties in the literature without considering the penetration force.

It is shown that the clearance joint made considerable effect on the dynamic response of the system. The rough changes of the needle acceleration and jerk are obvious. The base reaction force changed roughly and did not vary as smooth as that of the mechanism with ideal joint. So, clearance joint in the mechanism could lead to an undesirable vibration in the system. Furthermore, the crank driver must provide a non-smooth moment on the crank to keep the crank rotational velocity constant. Moreover, reducing the clearance size sufficiently could make the dynamic response closer to that of the mechanism with ideal joint. In addition, smoother crank moment could be required if the clearance size is reduced sufficiently. Furthermore, the rough change of the base reaction force which can represent the vibration caused by the mechanism on the fixed frame could be reduced if the clearance size is small enough.

Lockstitch sewing machine is one of the most common apparel industrial machines. The needle driver mechanism of a sewing machine could have an important role for proper stitch forming. On the other hand, clearances are inevitable in assemblage of mechanisms to allow the relative motion between the members. This clearance is due to machining tolerances, wear, material deformations, and imperfections, and it can worsen mechanism performance such as precision, dynamic behavior and vibration. Unfortunately, despite the importance of the dynamic behavior of the needle driver mechanism from practical point of view, very little publications have focused especially on the investigation of the effect of clearance joint on the dynamic behavior of the sewing machine which could lead to undesired vibration of the system and shorter lifetime as a result. In this paper, the dynamic behavior of the system including, needle velocity and acceleration, crank moment and base reaction force was compared with that of the ideal mechanism. Finally, the effect of clearance size on the dynamic behavior of the system was investigated.

Bar‐tacking is a specialized sewing stitch designed to provide immense tensile strength to the garment which requires a high‐speed precision bar‐tacking sewing machine. This paper aims to present an event‐driven multi‐axis cooperative control method for a bar‐tacking sewing machine.

The control method consists of two parts: the multi‐axis cooperative control and the needle stop positioning control. The challenges include the high speed and the precision. For example, the needle must stop at a set position in milliseconds.

The presented multi‐axis cooperative control can ensure the high speed response and the precision of the cooperative control. The needle stop positioning control is based on a combination of the velocity control and the position control with velocity feed‐forward and limitation.

The bar‐tacking sewing machine requires high‐speed start and stop response and coordination of displacement and velocity only at some given points. Therefore, the conventional multi‐axis cooperative control methods are not suitable. In addition, it requires high‐speed precision control under varying loading conditions.

While there are a number of commercial textile machines available in the market, designing a smart bar‐tacking sewing machine with good speed and precision performance remains a challenge.

The bar‐tacking sewing machine requires highly accurate multi‐axes cooperative control. The presented event‐driven multi‐axis control method is effective. It has not only the required high accuracy but also the fast time response.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the impact of the cutting forces on the quality of pieces in industrial cutting of multi-ply textile material. It also tries to establish a cutting model that can simulate the cutting forces in order to understand the behaviour of the blade.

Working on an industrial machine, a cutting head with an oscillating knife is instrumented with different sensors. Using this equipment, cutting forces can be analysed experimentally while the fabric is being cut along a straight line.

A model of the physical phenomena of the cutting forces is proposed, taking different parameters into account such as the geometry of the blade, the properties of the material being cut and the parameters of the cut. The simulated forces and the monitored forces are compared and parameters for minimising the cutting forces of fabrics are deduced.

Due to the wide diversity of fabrics, all with different mechanical characteristics, this research only began with the study of denim in a straight cut.

This paper describes an instrumentation of automatic cutting head for textile. It manages to simulate the action of the fabrics on the blade through effort monitoring and help in the understanding of the multi-ply cutting process.

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.

The study of fabric behaviour during its transformation from a two‐dimensional (2D) product into a three‐dimensional (3D) article of clothing is presented in this paper. Actual fabric transformation into a 3D article of clothing occurs in sewing processes, where the fabric is exposed to different mechanical loads and behaves accordingly. Fabric behaviour responses as an outcome of the mechanical loads to which it has been exposed, as well as their correlation with the parameters of the analysed fabric mechanical properties are investigated from this point of view. The system was designed for fabric behaviour prediction in garment manufacturing processes, based on wide fabric behaviour study. The ORANGE software tool used incorporates a lot of machine learning methods. On the basis of the input data (the parameters of mechanical properties) and input knowledge (fabric behaviour responses), it offers the prediction of fabric behaviour in garment manufacturing processes for the fabric selected.

This work analyses global trade and production of textiles and clothing and the organisational trends occurring in enterprises in order to enable them to face increased competition due to trade liberalisation and the communications revolution. It introduces the concept of ‘quick response’ and characterises the problems it aims to overcome. The first part covers an analysis of advanced telecommunication systems such as EDI and the methodologies of TQM, as well as the use of ‘flexible manufacturing systems’, some of which are still in an R&D phase. In the second part, product‐oriented organisational structures and flow type production systems are looked at, as well as the concepts of CIM and CIB. The need to shorten lead time and of training multifunctional personnel is stressed. This work is a result of the author's experience as a research worker in the field of engineering and management applied to textiles and clothing. He is also involved as a consultant in strategic planning and the implementation of schemes for modernising companies and sectoral industrial restructuring studies for the Commission of the European Union.