|
It is thought by some that to gain high tensile strengths it is necessary to use high kickup, thereby densifying and compacting more fibers per stroke. This is not necessarily true. High kickup can cause varying amounts of fiber damage. High kickup can literally rake and break fibers, thus lowering tensiles and nonwoven physical properties. Higher tensiles can generally be achieved by lowering the amount of kickup and increasing the amount of needle penetrations per square inch. Fewer fibers will be carried each stroke. However, the total fibers of the web are treated in a much more gentle manner.
| |
 |
|
Figure 6: Kickup Levels
|
| |
When very high tensiles and fine surface conditions are not a necessity, high kickup may be ideal. High kickup is excellent for needling waste fibers or "shoddy" fibers, which are often used in the production of paddings and waddings. These products often require only average strengths and fine surface requirements are not a concern.
Kickup
As can be seen in Figure 6, kickup is the protrusion of the barb above the edge into which it is formed. Kickup can be engineered so that it is very high or in decreasing size so that there is actually no protrusion at all. The use of a particular kickup level will often be determined by the physical properties being produced in the fabric.
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10
|
