The market is constantly demanding state-of-the-art machinery and equipment, which means that their quality is constantly having to be improved and their features extended. This is why the KARL MAYER Group is optimising and revamping its machinery all the time – right down to the very last detail. The company’s most recent success is the new compound sinkers (tongue sinkers). Working closely with the manufacturer who produces these components, the company has improved the production process, and the frictional characteristics of the yarns along their kinetic path have been optimised. The result is that the yarns are handled more gently, a more uniform knitted construction can be produced, and wear and tear have been reduced.

The new compound sinkers are already used as standard on the new HKS 2-3, and will soon be used on other models. The HKS 2-3 E has also been fitted with an additional, completely chrome-plated compound sinker in time for the summer release in 2007, which makes it more able to cope with the exceptionally high demands of the production process in practice. In this case, operating speeds of up to 3,500 rpm, the processing of matt yarns, and high elastane yarn tension levels place extreme loads on the compound sinkers. The chrome-plated compound sinkers carry the additional letters ‘SPV’ at the end of their designation, whilst the optimised standard compound sinkers are designated by the letters ‘SP’ at the end of their existing designation.

The following table presents an overview of the types of compound sinkers currently available, together with their designations and what they can replace. These can be used on existing machines by completely renewing the compound sinker mountings. However, the use of both types of sinkers on the same machine is not recommended, since the different frictional behaviour may cause stripiness