By Ganesh Kalidasan
Loris Bellini SpA, founded in 1949, is an Italian company manufacturing complete plants for yarn dyeing and drying. The production range covers all the machinery, both for hanks and for package dyeing of cones, bumps, warp-beams and loose fibres.
In hanks dyeing, it offers two dyeing technologies: APPC-LV air-padded cabinets, usually dedicated to mercerized cotton, wool and acrylic, and ABEP spray-dyeing machines equipped with precision flow-meter and removable arms, specially recommended for sensitive fibers like silk, cashmere and monofilaments in general. In package dyeing, both RBNO-I horizontal and RBNV-I vertical air-padded dyeing/drying systems are available.
The important innovations and achievements, of which the company is rightly proud, could only have been the result of close contact with customers. An example of this is the patent deposited at the beginning of the 1960s for an “extractable hank magazine” which completely revolutionised the use of dyeing cabinets. The company was also in the forefront in Italy when, at the dawn of automation, the use of automatic valves and the first electro-mechanical programmers were introduced in dyeing machinery.
Recently the company pioneered the use of air-cushion pressurization in Italy. Amongst Bellini’s many achievements is the launch of the innovative package dyeing RBNO equipment at ITMA 83 in Milan. This famous apparatus, air-cushion pressurized and with horizontal autoclave, needs no introduction.
RBNV-I represents the innovative evolution of the conventional vertical dyeing machine, where the most advanced technologies applied offer the possibility of very short dyeing cycles, with the lowest water and energy consumption, obviously with a perfect material preservation and fastnesses at top level. RBNO-I shows the same performances of the vertical version, adding a series of fantastic logistics advantages: no crane is required for material loading and unloading, and all the material carriers are modular and interchangeable in all the machines. Both the dyeing systems operate in variable loading conditions, and are completed by dedicated energy recovery rapid pressure dryers.
All Loris Bellini machines are totally manufactured in Italy, with the best materials and components. Research and development are crucial to maintain market leadership. A considerable part of development activities in the electronic, computer, pneumatic, mechanic and hydraulic fields is carried out directly in the company laboratories. Should particularly advanced or specialised studies be necessary, they are entrusted to universities or highly qualified companies.
The liquor circulating pumps and air blowers, which make up the heart of Bellini machinery, are entirely designed, developed and produced within the company premises with specific criteria for the dyeing industry. They are developed with the help of modern computerised systems and special devices to simulate operating conditions in order to obtain pumps of greater efficiency to ensure reduced energy consumption.
A dedicated department is deputed for designing and creation of hardware/software applications for the full automation of dyeing process and supervision. The latest developments are: Flexibeam, a revolutionary fabric beam-dyeing machine, where the concept of variable loading at constant liquor-ratio is successfully applied, with the same enormous benefits in high-quality, flexibility and lowest running-costs, and Dyecontrol, a sophisticated but user-friendly liquid-phase spectrophotometric system, to optimize the total performance of the dye house.
Bellini pioneered computerized design, creating an internal programming and data processing centre way back in the 1980s. The technical office is one of the main recipients of company investment. Hardware and software are regularly renewed to keep efficiency at the highest levels, and staffs frequently attend updating courses so as to exploit the potential offered by modern and sophisticated information technology instruments.
Computerization extends to all operational areas: plant and machine layout, structural calculations, manufacturing drawings, electrical diagrams, PLC and PC programming, etc. To design dyeing equipment which can reach a pressure of 5 bars at 140°C in absolute safety is a task which requires precision, method, quality control and adequate technical resources.
“India is our prime and most important market. Loris Bellini recently supplied 72 machines to Bombay Rayon, our biggest order in the Indian Market”, said Luca Formentini.
An organized team of technical experts is necessary, backed up by methodology and design equipment capable of totally excluding all human error. Besides this, since the regulations for pressure tanks vary from country to country, it is necessary to carry out completely different design calculations and manufacturing processes, according to the country where the plant is to be installed. For this reason, it is important to have a specific data processing system on hand to eliminate all possible human error.
As a manufacturer of pressure machinery, Loris Bellini has always been accustomed to conforming to the strictest Italian and foreign regulations. This presupposes absolute respect for special procedures and passing of strict tests carried out by government authorities. From the calculation and design stage right to the final testing stage, everything is under the strict control of the certification boards.
Eighty per cent of the annual production at Bellini is exported throughout the world. Therefore, it is designed and manufactured in accordance with various standards: ASME for the US, TUV for Germany, AFNOR for France, etc.
The very name of Loris Bellini is a guarantee for reliability for all the Certification Boards and denotes rapid and punctual approval of the project being presented. For those countries where no specific standard exists, Bellini automatically adopts the Italian standards and relative quality controls, so as to always guarantee accurate design and production and highly reliable safety devices.
“Loris Bellini machines are manufactured and connected with a great number of devices and functions to make the dyeing process simpler and to guarantee maximum safety for both men and machinery”, said Luca Formentini.
Technicians from the installation and testing department at Bellini are accustomed to travelling continually throughout the world. The technical assistance service is, therefore, always available upon brief notice.
The largest representatives have a complete stock of spareparts available. Many others keep a small warehouse supply for emergency. However, all spareparts are always available at the Bellini main warehouse, and an air courier service can deliver them anywhere in the world within two days.
The quality of Loris Bellini products has been appreciated since 1949. Maximum reliability, large component size, high quality materials, technology and duration are the characteristics taken for granted by customers. It is not unusual to find some Bellini machinery from the 1950s still working perfectly. However, the company makes all effort to further improve quality and, where possible, productivity.