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Press Release
Golden Jubilee for Electronic Yarn Clearing
USTER® celebrates yarn clearing landmark at ITMA Asia & CITME 2010
This year sees another landmark for USTER®, with the 50th anniversary of its development of the
first electronic yarn clearers – the technology which enables in-process quality assurance for
yarns. The golden jubilee for yarn clearing follows on from the company’s double celebration in
2007 and 2008 of 50 years of USTER® STATISTICS and 60 years of yarn evenness testing –
further evidence of the pioneering role USTER® has played in the evolution of textile quality.
Today’s success story – and a proud heritage
The current generation of USTER® QUANTUM 2 yarn clearers is a perfect example of USTER®’s
policy of building on its past achievements while constantly developing the technology needed by
textile mills today and in the future. Two million USTER® QUANTUM 2 clearers have been sold to
date, making it easily the best-selling yarn clearer ever.
The USTER® QUANTUM 2 is the only effective and comprehensive online quality assurance
system, with a range of measuring and analysis tools suited to all modern quality needs. Spinning
plants all over the world already regard it as an indispensable tool.
The yarn clearing story began with the launch of the USTER® Spectomatic in 1960, following its
introduction at the Milan ITMA the previous year. The first clearers were installed on manual
winding machines, to detect disturbing thick places and stop the winding position if necessary.
Defects initially had to be manually cut out and the two ends joined using a mechanical knotter,
until the development of automatic winders in 1965 removed the need for operator intervention.
The breakthrough in the development of the electronic yarn clearer followed the invention of
transistors, which meant that sensors could be made compact enough to fit the limited space on
winding machines.
The design engineers made a critical choice when they opted for a capacitive measuring system
for the sensing head of the USTER® clearers, following extensive trials. The capacitive method
allows mass variations of yarns to be converted into a proportional electrical signal – and its
success over 50 years now proves it is the most powerful detecting element for yarn monitoring.
The first electronic clearers (UAM C type) were able to monitor only thick places, but later
generations, from the type UAM D, were also able to monitor thin places. For detecting thick and
thin places in open-end rotor spinning, the USTER® Polyguard 3 electronic clearer was launched
in 1985. In 1993, USTER® acquired the Peyer company, which was a pioneer of optical
technology for yarn clearing. This was another important stage, enabling USTER® to further
develop this technology for use first in the USTER® Peyer clearer and in the optical version of the
USTER® QUANTUM. The introduction of the USTER® QUANTUM in 1999 saw another industry
first for USTER®, with full digital electronics incorporated into the design, giving new levels of
detection capability to allow spinners to optimize the quality of their yarns while minimizing cost
and achieving maximum efficiency in production.
During the 50-year lifetime of the electronic yarn clearer, subsequent major innovations by
USTER® have added key functions such as count monitoring, foreign fiber clearing (including
polypropylene detection) and vegetable filtering, as well as on-line monitoring of quality
parameters such as CV%, imperfections and yarn hairiness.
A proud history of innovation
Dr. Geoffrey Scott, CEO of Uster Technologies, stated: “USTER®’s leading role in the history of
electronic systems for textile quality assurance is globally recognized. Its combination of superb
technology and unbeatable know-how continues to contribute to higher quality and productivity
throughout the textile chain. We are extremely proud of our long record of innovation and of the
products that we bring to the market to serve the needs of our customers. And the results we see
with products such as the USTER® QUANTUM, which is easily the most successful product of its
type, show us that the industry looks to us for similar great innovations in the future. We will do
what it takes to fulfil that expectation.”
About Uster Technologies Ltd
The Uster Group is the leading high technology instrument manufacturer of products for quality
measurement and certification for the textile industry. The Group provides testing and monitoring
instruments, systems and services that allow optimization of quality through each individual stage
of textile production. This includes raw textile fibers, such as cotton or wool, all staple fiber and
filament yarns, as well as downstream services to the final finished fabric. The Uster Group
provides benchmarks that are a basis for the trading of textile products at assured levels of
quality across global markets. The Group’s aim is to forward know-how on quality, productivity
and cost to the textile industry.
The Group is headquartered in Uster, Switzerland and operates through a worldwide Market
Organization complemented by Technology Centers. It has sales and service subsidiaries in the
major textile markets and Technology Centers in Uster (Switzerland), Knoxville (USA) and
Suzhou (China).
www.uster.com
Media contact:
Edith Aepli
Senior Manager Marketing & Communication
Uster Technologies AG
Sonnenbergstrasse 10
CH - 8610 Uster / Switzerland
Direct +41 43 366 38 80
Mobile +41 79 916 02 91
Fax +41 43 366 39 58
[email protected]