Elastic yarn covering machine
The Problem
The OMM-Type yarn covering machine is some 10m long, 2m high and about 1m deep. It covers elastic yarn with fine thread and winds it onto a total of 160 spindles. The spindles are arranged in two rows on either side of the machine. A motor-driven belt that is tensioned by 160 jockeys drives each row. These machines produce daily noise exposures of 100dB and clearly are a major problem.
Elastic yarn covering machine
The Solution
- The spindle and jockeys were vibration isolated from the rails using Tico S washers which is a low cost cork based material.
- The rails were vibration isolated from the main chassis of the machine again using Tico S.
- The spindles were replaced as they wore out with a new spindle type that produced less vibration.
- Spring loading the jockeys produced a smoother movement and also reduced vibration.
The Results
The staff noise exposures were reduced by 15dB. A side benefit of the replacement spindles was that they required less maintenance.
The Costs
The total cost at today's rates was circa £10,000 for the full treatment ignoring the cost of replacement spindles, which was an on going maintenance issue.
Information supplied by
Wykes of Leicester Ltd & PDA Ltd.