The Fastest Automatic Pick Repair System: PRA II Plus
Picanol Sales Manager Walter Moens told how Pick Repair Automation system works. PRA II Plus is Picanol’s pick repair automation system, to fully and automatically repair a filling stop on airjet machines. With PRA II Plus, the machine will automatically detect and repair a filling stop in only 14 seconds.
When the machine detects a late or missing filling, the machine will stop. During a short pause the machine will bring a filling end up to the right hand side suction mouth.
Once the filling has arrived in the suction mouth and has been detected, the filling will be cut at the left hand side of the machine.
Next, the filling end will be fully removed by a clamp which is rotating and pneumatically controlled.
The machine will check if the filling has been successfully removed and will restart. The whole process takes only 14 seconds.
What are the two main advantages of PRA II Plus?
First of all, because of the high success rate: up to 80% of the filling stops can be repaired by the PRA II Plus system, the load on the weavers is reduced significantly.
Secondly, the machine is stopped during such a short time.
-14 seconds- the risk for starting marks is also reduced considerably and this result in better fabric quality. With the use of PRA II Plus, Picanol provides you with an excellent automation tool for your machines.
Picanol’s Pick Repair Automation (PRA II Plus) system automatically restarts the machine after a filling stop, saving valuable time and resources as no intervention by the weaver is required.
Features of PRA II Plus
- Pneumatic + mechanical removal of the filling from the fabric
- Reliable yarn detection system
- Easy access for cleaning
- Minimal risk of partial fillings remaining in the shed thanks to right-hand-side removal
- Works with different yarn types thanks to per-channel adjustment
- Highest possible success rate of filling removals
- Auto-start of machine after removal (no operator intervention required)
- Fastest system on the market, minimizing risk of starting-marks
Late or missing fillings are detected by the machine which then activates the PRA sequence. During a short pause of the machine the faulty filling is inserted into the suction mouth. The rotating, pneumatically driven clamp then further pulls the filling yarn out of the fabric. After successful removal of the filling, the machine is automatically restarted and production can continue.
The OmniPlus-i Connect combined with the new PRA II Plus system provides the best-in-class pick removal system on the market, offering increased productivity, not only in terms of success rate but also in operating speed.
