Cygnet Texkimp, a custom machinery manufacturer and expert in fibre handling and converting technology, has signed a deal to supply an industrial-scale slitter-spooler to a manufacturer of aerospace-grade composites based in China.

The machine will be used to slit sheets of carbon fibre prepreg into tapes before winding it onto spools. The tapes will then be fed into an automated tape laying (ATL) machine used to make components for the aerospace industry. In this case, the slitter-spooler will be fitted with eight tape winding heads, but the technology can accommodate up to 48 heads. It slits with an accuracy of width greater than +/-0.125mm and at a speed of up to 50m/min.

"We launched our slitter-spooler machine 12 months ago to make carbon fibre prepreg tape more accessible to the market," explains Cygnet Texkimp Sales Director Neil Anderton.

"We had spotted a gap in the market that we could fill by designing a slitting and spooling machine that fits alongside our traditional portfolio of fibre unwinding creels, prepreg, filament winding, coating and laminating technologies."

"We're enabling our customers to integrate the slitting process into their production lines in a way that gives them total control over production quality and speed and makes the whole process more simple, efficient and profitable."