International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering (IJRTE)

ISSN: 2277-3878, Volume-8, Issue-2, July 2019

Semiautomatic Hosiery Printing Machine

Ananthi K, Priyadharshini R, Arun Kumar P.M, Indirapriyadharshini J, Jaipraba V

 The author Adu-Akwabo [2] describes screen printing as a

Abstract – Every industry needs skilled labor to manually operate process of transferring a paper or computer designonto a
the machine effectively. But this need may cost high and the fabric. He stated that, it can be achieved by using opaque ink
production rate will also be low in hosiery printing industries to transfer the design onto the tracing paper.
which runs in small scale. This paper introduces semi-automatic A separate printed tracing paper is needed for each color on
hosiery printing machine which helps in reducing the problems
the design. In other words, a separate mesh screen is required
faced. The PLC controls the machine and the timings are
programmed to make automatic operation. The bottom arm of the for each color to be printed. In photographic method of
machine is moved or rotated using the pneumatic cylinder. printing, UV and florescent light is used to transferdesign
Semiautomatic movement is initiated by pedal.Sensors make the from the tracing paper to the screen. In the photographic
notification that all the screens are lifted .This setup is for safety development of the screen, the blocked areas are
purpose as the supply is given only when the sensors are sensed. intentionally opened fordye to penetrate through it, dye
This machine will help the industries to increase the production penetration in negative areas are blocked. Tortora and
rate without any skilled labors. Merkel [3],outlines screen printing as a process where the
patterns are reproducedby the design out on a mesh fabric or
Index Terms: Screen Printing, Semi-automation, Sensors,
screen when the paint is squeezed through, open meshareas
Pneumatics, PLC, Hosiery
are penetrated by it. A squeegee is used to force paint
through the screen. A separate screen is required for each
I. INTRODUCTION color in the pattern.
A popular method of printing technique is Chest rotary In the manual Hoisery Screen Printing Machine the top arm
printing machinein which a screen is needed to apply is used to fit the screen and the palette at the bottom is used
necessary colored ink onto a cloth. But the ink is not applied as a stand for the substrate. As each color in the pattern
in the areas made resistant to the ink which is by a blocking requires a separate screen top arm is set according to it
stencil. A squeegee or blade is made to movetransversely the (4/6/8/10/12-varients).Excess heater is required to dry the
screen and it will fill open mesh openings with ink, and a paint.The palettes are rotated by human and it is difficult to
reverse stroke will also cause the screen to touch the stop as it results in shoulder pain.To alleviate the problems
substrate(T-Shirt) momentarily along a line of contact. This affiliated with the manual printing machine, the
helps in penetration of ink onto the T Shirt which is substrate “Semiautomatic hosiery printing machine” had
here and the mesh springs back when the blade is removed. beenproposed. It comes with a pneumatic setup at the bottom
Screen printing is another popular method to print on a frame that helps in rotating the palette area without human
screen of polyester or fine mesh where a design will be effort. The pneumatic cylinder works as a stopper as well. A
imposed, empty areas are coated with an impermeable special mechanism is provided to make this work done. The
substance. The squeegee forces ink into mesh pores and it machine reduces human effort and labor cost to get an
wets the substrate; In each squeegee stroke, ink is transferred effective production rate.
into the printing surface. The ink remains on the fabric even
afterremoving the screen from the substrate and makes II. PRINTING METHODS
beautiful patterns on the fabric. Only one color can be
In olden days printing was done using Table printing
printed at a time, manynumbers of screens are needed to
machines in which the cloth will be placed on the table and
produce a multicolored image as in the design.It is discussed
the screen is used to print the required design by applying
by Gbadegbe Richard Selase. [1]
color paints[4]. Only one color is used at a time. The cloth
will be dried for hours. Then came the flat bed printing
Revised Manuscript Received on July 14, 2019
Ananthi K, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechatronics machine which was a little advanced one. Now most of the
Engineering, Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology, smallscale printing industries in Thirupur are using the
Coimbatore, India manual chest rotary printing machine. This paper explains
Priyadharshini R, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechatronics the ways by which the existing Chest Rotary Printing
Engineering, Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology,
Coimbatore, India Machine can be semi-automated.
Arun Kumar P.M, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechatronics The 8 Color Chests rotary printing machine is widely used
Engineering, Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology, in hosiery textile industries. It consists a total of 8(pallets &
Coimbatore, India screen frames), base frame, gas or electric heater, squeegee
Indirapriyadharshini J, Assistant Professor, Department of
Mechatronics Engineering, Sri Krishna College of Engineering and (To &fro) for dye. Here one of the operator fits the cloth on
Technology, Coimbatore, India the pallet and pushes it to the next operator where the cloth is
Jaipraba V, Assistant Engineer, Magnificent Engineers, Coimbatore, printed by applying dye using the screen which has design.
India Then the cloth is sent to the
heater where it is heated to dry
the paint. A separate laboris
placed to stop the pushed

Published By:
Retrieval Number: B 2084078219/19©BEIESP Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering
DOI: 10.35940/ijrte.B2084.078219 3664 & Sciences Publication
 Semiautomatic Hosiery Printing Machine

pallets. The movement of the pallets is manual in which the  If any failure it costs high replacement.
operator should use his strength in stopping the pallets when  Stepper motor can’t be operated on heavy load.
pushed. This cause a severe pain in hands and the cost for
labors is high with low production rate.

Fig. 1 Table Printing Machine

III. EXISTING SYSTEM

Fig.3 Motor and Gear setup
B. Rotary Index Table Mechanism:
A rotating motion is transformedto a continuous step
movement of the output link or shaft by Indexing mechanisms.
This mechanism is called Ratchet and pawl mechanism.In a
ratchet device, linear or rotary motion is allowed in only one
direction. It finds application in rotary machines to index
pneumatic operated indexing tables.Ratchetsconsist of a
gearwheel and a pivoting spring loaded pawl (lever like) that
engages the teeth. The teeth which is also known as the pawlare
placed at an angle in a mannersuch that when the teeth are
moving in a direction the pawl moves in between them.The
spring takes the responsibility to force pawl back into the
depression between the succeeding coming teeth. Also ratchet
mechanism is based on a wheel that has teeth cut out of it and a
pawl that follows as the wheel turns. The ratchet wheel is
Fig.2 Manual Rotary Chest Printing Machine allowed to turn in only one direction either in clockwise
anticlockwise. There is no mechanical interlocking between the
IV. SEMIAUTOMATIC TECHNIQUES ratchet and the pawl so they are easy to set up. If the table is
heavy when they are disengaged, the table may travel beyond its
The disadvantages of the existing systems can be reduced
limit. This system also requires less maintenance. [5,6]
by converting it into a semi-automatic system.This can be
done in the following methods.
Advantages:
1.Motor and Gears.
2.Rotary Index Table Mechanism.  Smooth operation.
3.Special mechanism with Pneumatic cylinders.  Easy to understand
 Moderate cost
A. Motors and gears:  Easily repairable
Here a motor controls the rotation of the bottom arm that
is connected to the gears. The gear that is connected to the Disadvantages
shaft of the motor drives the gear that is connected to the  Clearance problem while breaking
frame. Sensors are connected to all the screen frames which  Reverse operation needs an additional setup
is connected to the microcontroller programmed with a
condition that when all the sensors has no signal the motor
should run and even a single signal from a sensor will not
allow the supply to motor. Both forward and reverse
movements are possible and can be controlled using a pedal.

Advantages:
 Smooth operation.
 Good accuracy.
Disadvantages:
 High cost.

Published By:
Retrieval Number: B 2084078219/19©BEIESP Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering
DOI: 10.35940/ijrte.B2084.078219 3665 & Sciences Publication
 International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering (IJRTE)
ISSN: 2277-3878, Volume-8, Issue-2, July 2019

Fig. 7 Real time assembly

Fig. 4 Rotary Index Table Mechanism
D. Bearing:
V. PROPOSED SYSTEM Bearing is a tool that enable the machine to rotate or move
The above mentioned two methods have its own limitations in linearly. It reduces friction between themoving surface and the
case of cost, load etc.,so a special mechanism is required in bearing surface e. The bearing is designed in such a way that the
order to reduce the limitations of the existing systems. moving part can move freely or rotate freely around a fixed axis.
One important function of bearing is to provide a required
C. Special Mechanism With Pneumatic Cylinders: movement by minimizing friction. These are divided according
In this method a octagonal plate is provided in the bottom to the operation type, based on the movements, or to the
where a kind of indexing plate is fitted to it. This setup is directions in which the loads are applied to the parts. Here two
fixed to thebush of the top frame. Thiscan be used for both types of single row tapered roller bearing used in the machine
forward and reverse rotation. Four pneumatic cylinders are with the series number 32212 and 32309.
placed in the lower frame. Two pneumatic cylinders are
placed for providing forward and reverse rotation. The other Dimensions for 32212:
two for positioning (stopper/break).The proximity sensors are Bore:60 mm
connected to the top arm, so when they are not sensed the Outer diameter :110 mm
supply is given to the cylinders and it pushes the plate and so Width :29.75 mm
the rotation takes place. After 2 sec the positioning cylinder Dimensions for 32309:
works to stop the rotation. Reverse rotation is done when Bore : 45 mm
required. The whole setup is controlled by a pedal. Outer diameter : 100 mm
Width : 38.25 mm

Fig. 8 Taper roller bearing.

Fig. 5 Indexing plate E. Pneumatic Cylinder:
Pneumatic cylinders are also known as air cylinders. They
are mechanical devices in which the compressed gas is used
to produce a force in a reciprocating linear motion. They are
linear actuators to provide a linear movement with the help
of compressed air.In pneumatic cylinders, there is a piston as
a disc or cylinderand It is the function of piston rod to
transfer the developed force to the object to be moved. As
gas is used as operating fluid, leakage from a pneumatic
cylinderand polluting the surroundings are avoided.It makes
pneumatics more lookedfor technology where cleanliness
needs to be maintained. So, when to do printing on the
fabrics, using pneumatic cylinders are opted. [7-9]
Fig. 6 Assembly of Mechanism

Published By:
Retrieval Number: B 2084078219/19©BEIESP Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering
DOI: 10.35940/ijrte.B2084.078219 3666 & Sciences Publication
 Semiautomatic Hosiery Printing Machine

Specification: PNEUMATIC CYLINDER (32 x100):

Bore Diameter :32mm, 50mm Minimum pressure applied in the pneumatic cylinder (p)
Stroke length : 100mm, 200mm :2x105N/m2
Bore Diameter (D) : 32 mm
Stroke length(l) : 100 mm
Area of the pneumatic cylinder (A) : (3.14/4*(D2)
: (.785x.0322)
Area: 8.0384 x 10-4m2
Force exerted in the piston (F) :Pressures applied
x area of cylinder
Force : (2 x 105 N /m2)*
(8.0384 x 10-4m2)

F: 160.68 N
Fig 9. 3D model of a Pneumatic Cylinder For 1 kg weight lift, the force required is
Force = m x a
F. Solenoid Valve: = 1 x9.81 = 9.81 N
To operate valves electromechanically a solenoid valve is the And the pressure required for one pneumatic cylinder to lift I
best option. The electric current through a solenoidcontrols kg is given by,
this valve. Here, the electrical energy is converted into Pressure, P = Force/ Area
mechanical energy which in turn opens and closes the valve. = 9.81 N/8.0384 x 10-4 m2
Spring loaded mechanism is present inside the valve. A 5/2 = 12203.92 N/m2
solenoid valve is used for to and fro movement. The solenoid = 12203.92 pa
valves are connected to the PLC. Pressure = 0.1220392 bar
Maximum load in the cylinder = F / a
= 160.68 / 9.81
= 16.37KG (Approx)

Fig. 10.Solenoid Valve

Specifications:
Voltage : AC220v
Range : AC187v – AC253v
Frequency : 50-60 Hz
G. Programmable Logic Controller (PLC):
In this semi-automation process, Delta PLC DVP-PS01(24V
power supply), DVP-12SA PLC ,DVP-16SP (Extension
module) is used to control the whole working process. The Fig. 12 32x100 Pneumatic cylinder
use of PLC helps to reduce the manual process with the help
of solenoid valve, proximity sensorsetc. Both the solenoid
valve and proximity sensors are connected to the PLC output
module.PLC consist AC 230v relay which connects
normally open and normally closed. PLC relays and wires
are fixed inside the control panel for safety purpose. Program
can be uploaded and downloaded from computer to PLC by
using RS232 communication cable.

Fig. 13 Profile and Outline

Fig. 11 Real time PLC

VI. DESIGN CALCULATION

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Retrieval Number: B 2084078219/19©BEIESP Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering
DOI: 10.35940/ijrte.B2084.078219 3667 & Sciences Publication
 International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering (IJRTE)
ISSN: 2277-3878, Volume-8, Issue-2, July 2019

VII. CONCLUSION Thanjavur. She involved in many projects and

published a patent. She published number of
Everyone is happy to wear a colorful designed dress but papers in National and International urnals.
no one is interested to see the workers who are working Indirapriyadharshini J is working as Assistant
hardly to provide colorful dresses with great designs. This Professor in Department of Mechatronics
“Semiautomatic Hoisery Printing Machine” intends to make Engineering, Sri Krishna College of Engineering
the labors to work efficiently without any pain and makes and Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil nadu. She
completed here BE in Electronics and
them to work comfortably. Thus, it increases the production Instrumentation Engineeirng from Tamilnadu
rate without any skilled labors. College of Engineering, Coimbatore, ME in
Applied Electronics from Anna University of
REFERENCES Technology, Coimbatore. She is currently pursuing
her PhD in Anna University. She guided many
1. Gbadegbe Richard Selase, Vigbedor Divine, Amankwa Joana.,
students for doing projects and participated in
“Portable T-Shirt Printing Machine”, Arts and Design Studies, ISSN
many Hackathons. She published papers in National and Inernational
2224-6061 ISSN 2225-059X (Online),Vol.57, 2017.
Conferences and Journals.
2. Adu-Akwaboa, S., “Introduction to Textile Design”, Samarg
Publications. Kumasi
Arun Kumar P M is working as Assistant
3. Tortora P.G. and Merkel R.S., “Dictionary of Textiles” (Seventh
Professor in Department of Mechatronics
Edition), USA, Fairchild’s Publications, 2005
Engineering, Sri Krishna College of
4. Mohammed Asif Hossain, Md. Moshiur Rahman, Md. Rafiul Islam, Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore,
“Overview of Piece Printing Process in Textile Industry”, IOSR Tamil nadu. He completed his Bachelors
Journal of Polymer and Textile Engineering, Volume 2, Issue 3, degree in Mechatronics discipline and Masters
May-June 2015 degree in Engineering design discipline in
5. Junfeng Jing,Guangyan Li, Pengfei.,“The Research of Automatic Kongu Engineering college . His area of
Registering Detection of Rotary Screen Printing Machine Based on interest are Automation, and Fluid power.
MeanShift”, Journal Of Computers,Vol. 7, No. 6, June 2012.
6. Li Pengfei ; NieLuhua ; Wang Bz ; Li Jiakun., “Research on rotary
screen printing machine multi-axis motion control system based on Jaipraba V completed her Bachelor Degree in
CAN Bus” 2010 2nd International Conference. Mechatronics Engineering at Sri Krishna
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Multicolor Screen Printing Machine”, International Journal for Coimbatore, Tamilnadu. She involved in many
Scientific Research & Development, Vol. 4, Issue 03, 2016. industrial projects and published papers in
International Conferences. Her area of interest
8. Sanket A. Kachare, Nilesh N. Narwade, Vaibhav U.Mandle, Harshad
,V.Shiraskar, .V.P.Sawant., “Pneumatic Multicolor Screen Printing includes Design and manufacturing.
Machine”,IJSRD - International Journal for Scientific Research &
Development Vol. 4, Issue 03, 2016.
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Islam“Overview of Piece Printing Process in Textile IndustryIOSR
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AUTHORS PROFILE
Ananthi K is working as Assistant Professor in
Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Sri
Krishna College of Engineering and Technology,
Coimbatore, Tamil nadu. She completed her BE in
Electrical and Electronics Engineering from EGS
Pillay Engineering College, Nagapattinam, ME in
Embedded System Technologies from Anna
University of Technology Coimbatore, MBA in
Humar Resource Management from Bharathiyar
University, Coimbatore and pursuing her PhD in
Power quality improvement in Anna University. Her area of interest
includes Power quality imporvement, Renewable Energy, and Embedded
systems. She is having 9 years of acadmic Experience. She guided many
projects for UG students. She published many papers in National and
International Conferences and Journals.

Priyadharshini R is working as Assistant

Professor in Department of Mechatronics
Engineering, Sri Krishna College of Engineering
and Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil nadu. She
completed her BE in Instrumentation and Control
Engineering from Mookambigai College of
Engineering, Trichy , M.Tech in Process control
and Instrumentation from Sastra University,

Published By:
Retrieval Number: B 2084078219/19©BEIESP Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering
DOI: 10.35940/ijrte.B2084.078219 3668 & Sciences Publication