Reducing yarn hairiness with a modified yarn path in worsted ring spinning

The spinning geometry of a ring frame plays an important role, and the twist triangle is the critical region in ring spinning. Changes in the spinning geometry may affect yarn properties. This paper examines the idea of ring spinning with a "diagonal" yam path, and the effect of such a path on yam properties, particularly hairiness. Both "left diagonal" and "right diagonal" yarn arrangements are tried on a 24-spindle Cognetex FLC worsted ring frame. The hairiness results obtained from the Zweigle hairiness meter show that the right diagonal yam path produces yarns of lower hairiness than the conventional ring spun yam in almost all the hair length groups. Yam evenness and tenacity are not as sensitive to the change in yam path. The mean spindle speed at break is also tested, and there is some deterioration in spinning efficiency with the right diagonal yam path, particularly at higher spinning speeds. Results from this study may help explain variations in yarns spun on poorly aligned ring frames.