An Overview of Licker-in (Taker-in) in Carding

Bhavdip Paldiya
Dept. of Textile Technology
Gujarat Technological University, Gujarat, India


A roller on a carding machine, especially the roller that opens the stock as it is fed into the card and transfers the fibers to the main cylinder. Licker-in also known as Taker-in.
Basic Function of Licker-in:
  1. To open the cotton into very small tufts.
  2. To extract the seed bits, sand and other vegetable trash particles from cotton.
  3. To transfer the cotton into the cylinder surface and distribute the fibres as evenly as possible both transversely and longitudinally on the cylinder surface.
  4. The roller that receives fiber from the feedroll(s) is called the licker-in.
  5. The licker-in rotates upward as it takes fiber away from the feedrolls.
  6. If a card has a feedroll/feedplate feeding the licker-in, the licker-in rotates down to comb the fiber off the nose of the feedplate.
Better Function of Licker-in:
  1. Normally the setting between the feed plate and Lickr-in is around 0.45 to 0.7mm, depending upon the feed weight and fiber type.
  2. The setting between Licker-in and the first mote knife is around 0.35 to 0.5 mm. This helps to remove the heavier trash particles and dust. Closer the setting, higher the wastage.
  3. The setting between Licker-in and combing segments is around 0.45 to 0.6mm. This helps to open the material.
  4. Some cards have two mote knifes in the Licker-in under casing. The setting is around 0.4 to 0.5mm. This helps to remove the smaller trash and dust particles
  5. In order to maintain the licker-in area working with high performance, we recommend timely replacement of licker-in wire. Spinners benefit through better carding results (higher nep and trash removal, lower number of Classimat faults) as well as higher lifetime of cylinder and tops.
  6. Higher Licker-in speed for coarse fibers and dirty cotton helps to remove the trash and improves the yarn quality.
  7. The concept of using three licker-in place of one is basically for better cleaning of the feed material. Here the concept of clamped and unclamped feeding is used.
    Function of Licker-in
Pinned Licker-in:
  1. Also known as "Fibre Friendly"
  2. Stewart developed the Pinned Taker-In in 1972, and extended use since then has shown it to be fibre-friendly and extremely durable, making it an ideal match for TRUTSCHLER High Production Cards, where quality and output must be maximised and downtime minimized.
  3. Cotton has been traditionally carded using card wire. However, pins with their smooth pointed shape, do less damage to the fine fibres.
  4. The sharp, but smooth point of the pin gives excellent fibre penetration.
  5. The grain of the metal and the machining marks of the pin all run along the axis of the pin, so fibres can float freely around the point, and there are no traps to catch fibres or start wear.
  6. A reduction in fibre damage and improved waste extraction are usually found.
  7. This can recoup the cost of a Pinned Taker-In over its first year of three shift working
    Pinned wire                                                          Card wire

A close up view of a Stewart Taker-In which had run 3 shifts for 8 years in a mill in Germany. It was still running well after this demonstration of longevity, and was only removed for exhibition purposes

Efficiency of Pinned Taker-In Compared with Wire.
Efficiency is consistently high throughout the extended life of a Pinned Taker-In.
The efficiency of a wire Taker-In drops so rapidly that the wire must be replaced regularly.

Advantages of Pinned Taker-in:

1. Universal Pinning
A major advantage of the STEWART Pinned Taker-In is that one specification of pinning can be used to successfully card almost all fibres, so there is no need to change when running different fibres or blends.

2. Reduced Maintenance: Less Down time
Regular card down-time is saved because it is not necessary to rewire a Pinned Taker-In. This is particularly important for the Taker - In. which is usually rewired three times as often as the cylinder. The pins wear better because of their points, and they do not need sharpened or ground.

Grooved Wires by Reiter:
  1. Grooved licker ins are mostly used on (older) slower cards.
  2. The front angle is dictated by the application.
  3. Cotton is carded with 10° front angle (carded and OE applications) or with 5° (combed cotton mostly, using long and fine cotton fibres).
  4. For synthetics, we have grooved lickerin wire with 0° front angle.
  5. Grooved lickerins are available in several rib widths to suit particular cards.
  6. Grooved lickerins can be supplied in Super or Duratech steel.
  7. Duratech is our recommendation to achieve best performance and lifetime on grooved lickerins.
Interlocking Wires by Reiter:
  1. Interlocking can be used to convert worn out grooved lickerins.
  2. Modern, high-speed cards are using interlocking lickerins. The specification
  3. For interlocking licker in is in the most cases card specific, with the
  4. Full range being offered by Bekaert Carding Solutions. Interlocking licker in
  5. Wires are available in Super, Duratech and Ultra. We recommend
  6. The use of Ultra interlock licker in wires to achieve the best carding performances.
Licker-in by Bakaert:
  1. Most modern cards have stationary (or fixed) flats under the lickerin.
  2. Bekaert Carding Solutions offers the XLSA Fibre Saver system to mount in this
  3. Position on cards with 10 inch lickerin rollers.
  4. The XLSA-system is a workproven fixed flat system.
  5. Its function is to:
  • Subject the fibre tufts from the feed plate to intensive preopening and cleaning by the two stationary flats and the knives mounted in the XLSA system.
  • Ensure that trash is eliminated and that only a minimum of good fibre is taken out with the waste.
  1. Reduces good fiber loss under the lickerin.
  2. Increases the removal of trash and unwanted particles.
  3. Removes fibre chips and fused fibres from synthetic fibres.
  4. The DT-type fixed flats can be easily exchanged and set to keep the XLSA system in good operating condition.
  5. Pre-opening and cleaning mproves the lifetime ofylinder and top. 

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