Impressions - May 2021 - 39

Since apparel decorating is a small market, the number of companies investing
in innovation has been extremely limited,
especially in the embroidery sector. However, this doesn't mean that embroidery
innovation has died; it only means changes
and new technology becomes less frequent.
Let's examine some embroidery technological advancements and explore how
they benefit the user.
Digitally Controlled Presser Foot:
Most presser feet are adjustable through a
mechanical adjustment, but a truly digital
presser foot has many advantages. If you
don't adjust a presser foot, it will come
down to the same spot every time. It can
completely miss touching the fabric or
it can pound into thicker items, such as a
cap with 3-D foam.This contact can cause
unnecessary thread breaks or damage the
fabric.
If you've ever embroidered a thick leather
jacket and experienced presser-foot bruising, then you know firsthand the type of
damage it can cause.A digitally controlled
presser foot adjusts, with the press of the
button, to a precise distance from the needle
plate. This results in smoother embroidery,
fewer thread breaks and less fabric damage.
Independently Controlled Needle
Bar: There's nothing sexy about an independently controlled needle bar,but it's very
effective. In most cases, the presser foot and
needle bar lift simultaneously. However,
one of the drawbacks of this arrangement
is that there's nothing to hold the fabric
in place while the needle is lifting out of
the fabric. The result can be " flagging, "
where the material bounces up and down
as embroidery occurs.
An independently controlled needle bar
and presser foot operate on their own time
cycles. For example, the presser foot can
remain in the " down " position - holding
the fabric in place - while the needle
starts to exit the fabric. Once the needle
starts to lift with the fabric held in place,
then the presser foot also can lift, which
will nearly eliminate the flagging effect.
From a quality standpoint, you can minimize fabric distortion, which can increase
quality. From an innovation standpoint, the
independently controlled needle bar goes
hand in hand with the digitally controlled
presser foot.
Automatic Tension Management:
Upper thread tension has been a battle
for years. Most of the time, the issue is
operator related. Consider this scenario:
An embroidery-machine operator begins
his or her shift and adjusts tension according to personal preferences.Then, another
operator comes in and adjusts to a different

Visual hooping-alignment systems can
include a laser crosshair, a projected grid or
the actual design being projected onto the
garment that is being hooped.

Huge innovations, such as
automatic thread-color changes
and automatic thread trimming
have been embroidery staples
for quite a while.

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Impressions - May 2021

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