C
omez S.p.A., Italy, specializes in narrow-fabric production technology. The experience
and ability that have enabled it to build a solid market position during more than 50 years of
activity derive from the fact that it has constantly and directly kept in touch with customers:
Their needs and demands have led to continuous modifications and product integrations, as well as
the development of innovative weaving systems.
The Comeztronic CT-16B crochet machine
Comez has always come up with original solutions suited to market needs, offering users the
possibility of producing an enormous range of articles. At present, the company boasts a complete
range of narrow-fabric machines including:
• mechanical and electronic crochet machines with jacquard devices in gauges ranging from 10
to 24 needles per inch, working widths from 400 to 1,620 millimeters (mm) and up to 16 weft bars;
• mechanical and electronic needle looms with electronic jacquard devices and working widths
of 500 to 700 mm, which, according to the company, are the only needle looms currently available on
the market that are equipped with electronic control for feeders and fabric take-down systems; and
• electronic double-needle-bed warp-knitting machines.
The company also offers exclusive software programs for design creation for crochet and
needle looms, facilitating and speeding up the work of pattern management and of machine
programming; and production control, which enables the collection, sharing and processing of
operating and production data in real time, with a view to controlling and planning production on
machines connected to a network.
Comez reports its machines are appreciated for their user-friendly operation, which is the
result of intelligent construction and design geared to the users’ needs, permitting correct and
profitable operation of the machine by any type of operator, even less-experienced ones.
High versatility also makes Comez machines attractive. They are designed to easily handle a
wide range of yarns including natural and man-made yarns from fine to coarse counts. In addition, a
variety of products can be created on one machine simply by changing parts or machine settings.
The user-friendly operation and versatility make Comez machines interesting to customers
because they can create a broad range of fabrics with the same production means. Moreover, the
customer can rely on continuous production despite fast changes in fashion tastes and market
trends, and can strike out into new sectors of the market to stay competitive.
Comez also offers customers prompt after-sales service so its machines will always run at
the highest level of efficiency. The company has always offered new models of machines capable of
producing innovative textile products in keeping with demand for ever-greater machine
customization, enabling textile designers to achieve results that enhance creativity by constantly
expanding their products in accordance with fashion requirements.
Products Made On Comez Machines
Narrow-fabric producers find in Comez
a skillful partner that enables them to manufacture a range of products:
• ribbons, bands and laces with logos and other graphic customization for underwear,
lingerie, foundation garments, sportswear and accessories;
• passementerie, fringes, and edges used for furnishing and outerwear;
• fancy yarns;
• scarves, shawls and outerwear fabrics; and
• articles for technical and medical end-uses.
In the field of underwear laces, a manufacturer could produce a 20-gauge classic elastic
lace using the Comeztronic CT-16B electronic crochet machine with 16 weft bars, where the depth
effect is created through the combined effect of different interlacings and yarns
(See Figure 1). Visually, two grounds are seen: the one in the scallop is very loose and
is obtained by using a low-count yarn — 20/2-decitex (dtex) nylon; the other ground, on the
stitching side, is created with an interlacing effect, employing the same yarn that forms part of
the flowers, and which in some stitches allows for empty spaces that produce an effect of
horizontal streakiness that looks like a ground. The overall depth effect of the regular design is
achieved by using bright and dull yarns that visibly produce a different optical effect, with the
addition on the pattern edges of dull yarns of a higher count compared to those used to create the
motif — 110/2-dtex nylon, for example — or threads of equal count, but in a larger quantity for
each thread guide — three 78/2-dtex nylon yarns, for example.
Figure 1: Elastic laces are among the products that can be made using the Comeztronic
CT-16B crochet machine.
Passementerie is a typical
application sector for crochet machines. Its basic characteristic has always been the refinement of
the materials used. Comez crochet machines utilize and fully enhance these materials and can
process many types of warp yarns and an even larger variety of wefts such as gimp yarns, chainette
cords, fancy yarns, Lurex® and rayon. One example is a 10-gauge trim whose central effect is
produced with a simple figure-8 interlacing using a gimp yarn
(See Figure 2). Around the figure-8 interlacing, there is a winding motif created using a
chainette cord. The characteristic of this design is the stitching of the chainette cord in the
chain stitch. This effect, which substantially is a normal shifting from left to right, is possible
thanks to a device that keeps the incoming thread above the needles, thereby preventing it from
being retained in the chain. The number of picks in which the thread is held determines the curve’s
amplitude.
Figure 2: The Comeztronic CT-16B can create trims featuring a simple figure-8 interlacing
design.
With regard to the technical textiles
sector, Comez offers many suitable machines that are able to process special yarns reliably while
maintaining a high operating speed.
Many 3-D ribbons are manufactured using the Comez DNB/EL-800 electronic double-needle-bed
warp-knitting machine. They virtually consist of two distinct fabrics, which form the two faces of
the whole — even with a different appearance — connected by woven threads of a special consistency
so that the two faces are kept at a suitable distance by the linking threads.
An example of such a 3-D ribbon would be a 20-gauge ribbon produced with its reverse side in
polyester and its net-woven front-side polyester fabric with perforations, linked to each other by
an Atlas-type interlacing nylon monofilament. The nylon monofilament, typically a rigid yarn, keeps
the two fabrics apart and thus creates a 3-D effect. The distance between the two fabrics is
determined by the distance between the two needle beds. The feeding of the yarns making up the two
fabrics should be carefully controlled, as the equalization between the threads is a fundamental
factor in preventing the fabrics from sliding on top of each other.
The accessories market for the textile industry is today influenced by an extreme
specialization in an enormous range of manufactured articles and yarns used for their production.
Competition among manufacturers all over the world is now conditioned only by the operating
flexibility of the machine, which in a single model must combine the greatest number of production
possibilities, as well as afford quick and easy change from one type of article and yarn to others
by presetting the program in the simplest and most effortless way.
Besides the enormous number of product types, the textile accessories market is also
characterized by the ongoing evolution of new product demand, chiefly for the apparel sector.
Comez’s activities are closely correlated with those of its end-users. The company actively
engages with its narrow-fabric producer customers in the research and choice of raw materials, and
in the selection of the most suitable finishing processes. Comez has tried to react to
globalization by always being on the cutting edge of technology; continually devoting efforts,
resources and highly skilled personnel to research and development activities; and creating
top-quality machines.
September/October 2007