Shanghai - Steiger has developed a new flat knitting machine which its says is capable of knitting coarse gauge complete garments in a single piece.
On show as a prototype model at ITMA Asia + CITME, where the Swiss firm shared a booth with its parent company Cixing,the knitting of complete garments is made possible by the use of Steger?s existing compound needle and slider technology.
The interesting point here, according to Steiger?s chief executive officer, Pierre-Yves Bonvin, is that while neither of these technological features are brand new, it is the first-time combination of them together that makes complete garment knitting possible.
Currently known as the C2.185.SCP, the 73 ins wide machines is still at the prototype stage but Steiger hopes to have it commercially available by ITMA Milan 2015.
With two-systems, the machine is equipped with between 8 and 24 motorized yarn carriers and in its current guise, has been specially developed for coarse gauge knitting ? Steiger?s E2.5-2 free gauge.
