17 July 2008, Seoul, South Korea – With the announcement
yesterday that MBI Technology has developed a new version of its circular garment
length knitting machine with 42 colour intarsia, KnittingIndustry.com spoke to
Denny Y.D. Koo, MBI Technology’s Vice President to get clarification on the
MBI-S1342 and its possibilities for intarsia knitting.
Koo explained: “The previous maximum number of colours per
row in the current market was 36 colours through flat knitting machines
developed by Japanese and European machine builders. We previously offered 23
colours per row intarsia with our MBI-S0823 and MBI-S1123 models with variable
gauges.” The MBI-S0823 allowed intarsia knitting from 7-9 gauges on the same
machine and the MBI-S1123 was used for 10-12 gauge production on the same
machine using the variable gauge principle. Koo continued: “Now our MBI-S1342 can knit 42 colours per row
intarsia which gives better colour patterning possibilities than even flat
knitting. “
The MBI-S1342 has a diameter of 25.1 inch, is a standard 13
gauge machine with variable gauges from 12 to 14, and has 42 feeders for intarsia
and 2 feeders for the rib. According to MBI, the feeders for intarsia and rib
border in MBI-S1342 provide a variety of intarsia designs and the machine can produce
any size of sweater.
“As the MBI-S1342 is a circular knitting machine, its
cylinder reciprocates to create excellent intarsia joints especially when
producing detailed patterns such as vertical stripes, curves, and thin
lines.” Koo said.
Koo also claims that the MBI-S1123 also has shorter lead
times for design changes and quicker knitting times than previous models which make
it better for small batch quick response production. When asked about the
competition from dominant flat knitting machinery builders Koo explained: “Using
flat bed type for Intarsia knitting thickens and creates dummy stitch on both
ends of the fabrics, requires the unnecessary floating yarn removal and causes
low colour resolution. Our new Intarsia machine solves these problems and
represents much more detailed design and colours by using circular knitting.”
Flat knitting machine builders have been successful by
introducing specialist intarsia machines with up to 36 feeders in recent years.
Good numbers of machines have been sold in fine gauges including 18 gauge in
traditional intarsia knitting countries such as Italy and Scotland.
It remains to be seen just how versatile the MBI-S1342 will
be in terms rapid design changes. Another important issue will be how competitive
will it be against flat knitting in terms of production speeds when using the
full complement of 42 intarsia feeders. The MBI-S1342 is obviously aimed at the
mass produced intarsia market especially in finer gauges but the high quality
end of the intarsia market will still be dominated by flat knitting due to the flat
knitting machines ability to knit garment panels to shape, a prerequisite for
high quality intarsia sweaters.
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