Tunnel finisher

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A tunnel finisher is a machine that removes wrinkles from garments and is often used in the textile industry. As with other industrial pressing equipment, this machine is employed to improve the quality and look of a textile product. [1] It has a chamber called a "tunnel" and includes a conveyor fed unit through which the garments are steamed and dried. [2] The machine also features hook systems; air curtain entrance to eliminate moisture or condensation; cotton care and roller units; exhaust steam, and a preconditioning module. [2]

Machine tool using energy to perform an intended action

A machine is a mechanical structure that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an intended action. Machines can be driven by animals and people, by natural forces such as wind and water, and by chemical, thermal, or electrical power, and include a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement. They can also include computers and sensors that monitor performance and plan movement, often called mechanical systems.

Textile industry economic sector

The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry.

Process

Most garments are shipped by sea freight from the country of production. They get very wrinkled because of the box packing being used. In the receiving country, they are unpacked and put on a clothes hanger. Those hangers are sent via automated transport through the tunnel with a speed up to 3,000 garments per hour. These garments are then sent to a room to be steamed and dried. [3]

Country distinct region in geography; a broad term that can include political divisions or regions associated with distinct political characteristics

A country is a region that is identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or part of a larger state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with sets of previously independent or differently associated people with distinct political characteristics. Regardless of the physical geography, in the modern internationally accepted legal definition as defined by the League of Nations in 1937 and reaffirmed by the United Nations in 1945, a resident of a country is subject to the independent exercise of legal jurisdiction. There is no hard and fast definition of what regions are countries and which are not.

Manufacturing industrial activity producing goods for sale using labor and machines

Manufacturing is the production of products for use or sale using labour and machines, tools, chemical and biological processing, or formulation. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial design, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale. Such finished goods may be sold to other manufacturers for the production of other, more complex products, such as aircraft, household appliances, furniture, sports equipment or automobiles, or sold to wholesalers, who in turn sell them to retailers, who then sell them to end users and consumers.

Box variety of container

Box describes a variety of containers and receptacles for permanent use as storage, or for temporary use, often for transporting contents.

The machine processes each garment through several stages. First, the garment passes through a steam chamber to make the fabric moldable. Then wrinkles are removed by a strong hot air flow alongside the garments. Finally, the garment is dried by cooler air before it leaves the tunnel finisher. In the case of garments, smaller areas such as collars require further pressing using other equipment such as steam iron for a better finish. [4]

Clothes iron tool or appliance for smoothing cloth using heat and pressure

A clothes iron is a device that, when heated, is used to press clothes to remove creases. It is named for the metal of which the device was historically commonly made, and the use of it is generally called ironing. Ironing works by loosening the ties between the long chains of molecules that exist in polymer fiber materials. With the heat and the weight of the ironing plate, the fibers are stretched and the fabric maintains its new shape when cool. Some materials, such as cotton, require the use of water to loosen the intermolecular bonds.

The tunnel finisher is also used in laundries and dry cleaners to remove wrinkles from garments after washing or dry cleaning.

Laundry process of washing textiles

Laundry refers to the washing of clothing and other textiles. Laundry processes are often done in a room reserved for that purpose; in an individual home this is referred to as a laundry room or utility room. An apartment building or student hall of residence may have a shared laundry facility such as a tvättstuga. A stand-alone business is referred to as a self-service laundry. The material that is being washed, or has been laundered, is also generally referred to as laundry.

Dry cleaning is any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using a chemical solvent other than water. The modern dry cleaning process was developed and patented by Thomas L. Jennings.

Classifications

Tunnel finishers can be grouped into two different classifications, "wide body" or "narrow body." "Wide body" machines are designed for high production finishing of blended garments wet-to-dry, damp-to-dry and or dry-to-dry. "Narrow body" machines are designed for shoulder-to-shoulder processing and are best suited for the dry-to-dry finishing of garments. However; they are capable of damp-to-dry finishing at slower production speeds. These units are ideal for dry cleaners, hotel laundries, institutional laundries and other on-premises laundry applications. The smaller capacity version of the tunnel finisher is called "cabinet tunnel" and this typically capable of automated processing of separate batches of 4 or 5 garments at the same time. [2] The production capacity for this smaller equipment is 10 percent of the tunnel finisher.


  1. Cresswell, Lesley (2004). Textiles Technology. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes Ltd. pp. xxii. ISBN   0748790195.
  2. 1 2 3 Karthik, T.; Ganesan, P.; Gopalakrishnan, D. (2017). Apparel Manufacturing Technology. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. pp. 204–205. ISBN   9781498763752.
  3. Clarkson, Carey; March, Jayne; Palmer, Joy (2002). GCSE Textiles Technology for OCR. Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers. p. 121. ISBN   0435416669.
  4. Down, Jane (1999). Textiles Technology to GCSE. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 94. ISBN   0198328133.

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