BETTER WOOL PACKS FOR DOMINIONS

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXV, Issue 14430, 31 July 1947, Page 5

BETTER WOOL PACKS FOR DOMINIONS

NEW INVENTION FOR WEAVING MACHINES MAY BE SENT ' TO N.Z. ’ British ingenuity has produced a new invention, . which it is believed may markedly expand production of wovefi fabrics and will possibly have an important bearing on the supply of woolpacks to the Dominions. This invention, information concerning which was received by the New Zealand Wool Board’ at its monthly meeting .in Wellington, is the Baddeley shuttleless loom. According .to the International Wool Secretariat, it can produce fabrics that cannot be successfully made on any previously known power loom. The Baddeley loom owns a big advantage over other kinds when dealing with heavy fabrics and is of great use in mass production . work. Its widening of the range of possibilities is shown by the fact that it has made materials from paper and twine, asbestos, jute, seaweed and glass. From the point of view of supplying woolpacks, the new invention is most interestirig. The New Zealand Wool Board has beep informed by the International Wool Secretariat that while Mr, Baddeley has only two looms operating, it is-believed that given production licenses, a number could: be produced within a time quite short by modern, standards, perhaps under six months. It is believed he would be willing to sell the looms to the Dominions though the advantages of the new invention may make the British Government anxious to retain them to augment the export trade. 0 Before the war some 150 packs, woven by the loom, were sent as samples to the Dominions and those shipped back to England received favourable comment. Paper and. wool yarns are twisted together in both warp and weft and the pack therefore retains a fair strength when wet., In this respect it is claimed, that it may be better than the cotton and paper woven pack now being made in South Africa, in which- the fabric is of paper one, way and of cotton the other and which, it is understood, cannot be safely moved while still wet.

A sample of this wool-and-paper woven woolpack material, recently received by the New Zealand Wool Board, has a flexible but well bound weave. The paper threads, tightly twisted and reinforced with woollen ones, combine in resembling a hardwearing type of canvas matting.