Disclosed are fibers comprising one or more branded fibers which exhibit surface markings in a repeated pattern along the length of the branded fibers. The branded fibers can be incorporated into yarns or fiber bands to represent supply chain information of the yarns, fiber bands, and/or articles made from the yards or fiber bands. In a specific example, branded fibers can be incorporated into an acetate tow band The branded fibers can be recovered from a cigarette filter, the repeated pattern decoded, and supply chain information associated with the acetate tow used to make the cigarette filter, such as manufacturer, customer, ship to location, and even the acetate tow bale, can be obtained.

Modular equipment for automatically determining features of elongated textile samples is provided. The equipment includes a housing on which a loading module for loading inlet ends of textile samples to be tested is mounted, a measurement module for measuring at least feature of the textile samples, a handling device for handling the textile samples between the loading module and the measurement module, and a central unit of the programmable type for controlling and managing the loading module, the measurement module, and the handling means. The loading module includes gripping members that are arranged aligned to one another along a loading direction, a carriage that is driven in a movable manner in both translation senses along a translation direction parallel to the loading direction, and a motor associated with the carriage for operating the carriage moving along the translation direction.

Disclosed are fibers which contains identification fibers. The identification fibers can contain a plurality of distinct features, or taggants, which vary among the fibers and/or along the length of the identification fibers, a fiber band, or yarn. The disclosed embodiments also relate to the method for making and characterizing the fibers. Characterization of the fibers can include identifying distinct features, combinations of distinct features, and number of fibers with various combinations of distinct features and correlating the distinct features to supply chain information. The supply chain information can be used to track the fibers, fiber band, or yarn from manufacturing through intermediaries, conversion to final product, and/or the consumer.

A measuring roller for a device for measuring a fiber composite (2), in particular on a draw frame, a carding engine or a comber, is made of a material of low thermal expansion (3) and has a surface coating (4). The measuring roller (1) features a shell surface (5) for clamping a fiber composite (6) along with a rotary axis (7). The shell surface (5) features a structure forming an air buffer, made of grooves (8), boreholes (9), and/or spherical projections (18).

The present, invention refer(c) to. a measuring device (200) for measuring stickiness, imperfections and imparities in textile fibers, in particular cotton fibers, such a device comprising a housing inside which. a pair of rollers (203a, 203b) are placed, arranged side by side to one another and rotating in opposite senses and between which a web of cotton fibers is made to pass, heating means for heating the rollers (203a, 203b) , detection means (205a, 205b) for detecting the IS sticky fractions of the web that adhere to the rollers after the passage of the web between them, removal means (206a, 205b) for removing from the rollers (203a, 203b) the sticky fractions adhering thereto, wherein the operation of the heating means is controlled by a processing and control unit as a function of the temperature of the rollers detected by temperature sensor means (207a, 207b) associated with them.

The present invention refers to a measuring device (600) for measuring the fineness and maturity of cotton fibers, such a measuring device (600) comprises a measuring chamber (CM) into which a sample of cotton fibers can be inserted, the measuring chamber (CM) comprises a first base and a second base that are opposite each other and that can be crossed by an air flow entering the measuring chamber (CM) through the first base and exiting from the measuring chamber (CM) through the second base, a supply conduit (619) having an inlet end associable with an air flow source and an outlet end associated with the first base of the measuring chamber, a flow regulator (611) arranged along the supply conduit (609) between its inlet and outlet ends, a first pressure sensor (612) for detecting the air pressure that is arranged along the supply conduit (609) upstream of the flow regulator (611), a second pressure sensor (613) for detecting the air pressure that is arranged along the supply conduit (609) downstream of the flow regulator (611) and upstream of the first base of the measuring chamber (CM), an electronic proportional pressure regulator (614) arranged along the supply conduit upstream of the first pressure sensor (612) for regulating the air pressure in the supply conduit (609), and an electronic processing and control unit (615) associated with the first sensor (612), with the second sensor (613) and with the electronic proportional pressure regulator (614) and that is programmed to control the electronic proportional pressure regulator (614) as a function of the detections of the first sensor (612) and of the second sensor (613) or of the second sensor (613) alternatively and respectively to keep the difference between the air pressure upstream and downstream of the flow regulator (611) or the air pressure entering the measuring chamber (CM) substantially constant and equal to a predeterminable value.

The present invention relates to a method for measuring the moisture content, the length and at least one dynamometric characteristic of textile fibers, in particular, cotton fibers, comprising the steps of: pressing a layer of textile fibers between a pair of plates parallel to one another, withdrawing a line of textile fibers from said layer thus pressed and making the textile fibers of said line substantially coplanar and parallel to one another, bringing said line of textile fibers to a measuring area at which at least to perform one measuring step selected from measuring the length and at least one dynamometric characteristic of the textile fibers forming the line, moving the textile fibers of the line of textile fibers away from the measuring area after having performed the at least one measuring step and

measuring the moisture content of the textile fibers forming the layer and/or forming the line of textile fibers, by means of microwave sensors for measuring moisture, wherein said step f) of measuring the moisture content of the textile fibers forming said layer is carried out during or after the step a) of pressing said layer and before the step b) of withdrawing the line of textile fibers therefrom and wherein the step of measuring the moisture content of the textile fibers forming the line of textile fibers is carried out after step b) of withdrawing the line of textile fibers from the layer and in a step preceding or simultaneous with step e) of moving the textile fibers of the line of textile fibers away from the measuring area.

A method of adjustment of a workstation and a yarn clearer (yarn quality sensor (9)) at a workstation of a textile machine, in which measurement and/or calculation creates a reference value (P.sub.R) of a particular parameter of yarn (1), to which the current value (P.sub.P) of the particular parameter measured is compared during the continuous production of yarn. The reference value of the particular yarn parameter is determined as the reference value of (P.sub.fR) of the particular yarn parameter of deliberately defective yarn (1) intentionally produced at the particular workstation and subsequently it is compared to the current and/or reference value (P.sub.P, P.sub.0, P.sub.PR, P.sub.0R) of the particular parameter of yarn (1) produced at the particular workstation with production quality or higher than production quality.

The present invention refers to a preparation device (10) for preparing a sample of textile fibers, in particular cotton fibers, applicable to analysis and/or measuring apparatuses respectively for analyzing and/or measuring characteristics of the textile fibers forming said sample, wherein the preparation device (10) comprises a comb body (11) that can be coupled in a sliding manner along a rectilinear guide (12) that faces a perforated plate (13) against which to press a mass (M) of textile fibers forming protuberances projecting from the holes of the perforated plate (13), wherein the comb body (11) is arranged to grip tufts of textile fibers from such protuberances and is characterized in that it comprises at least one brush (14) that is mounted in a sliding manner along a rectilinear guide facing the perforated plate (13) and that is arranged to brush the textile fibers forming the protuberances before the comb body grips said tufts.

Disclosed are fibers which contains identification fibers. The identification fibers can contain a plurality of distinct features, or taggants, which vary among the fibers and/or along the length of the identification fibers, a fiber band, or yarn. The disclosed embodiments also relate to the method for making and characterizing the fibers. Characterization of the fibers can include identifying distinct features, combinations of distinct features, and number of fibers with various combinations of distinct features and correlating the distinct features to supply chain information. The supply chain information can be used to track the fibers, fiber band, or yarn from manufacturing through intermediaries, conversion to final product, and/or the consumer.