Seamless knitting machine specialist Santoni has outlined further details of its new SM8-TOP2ST which will be on show at the upcoming ITM 2024 exhibition. Santoni says it is evolving its renowned seamless knitting technology with the new SM8-TOP2ST machine able to produce innovative 3D structures with needle-by-needle selective terry, through a mechatronic device protected by two patents and developed in-house by Santoni R&D. The garments in the images in gauge 28G are said to have achieved a new level of functionality and comfort.
On the one hand, the 3D structures with selective terry allow the creation of strategically placed channels for an optimal breathability and thermoregulation while at the same time, they can also build 3D geometrical areas that provide a massaging effect and high levels of softness.
The seamless technology used up to now allowed the production of 3D structures that achieved wrinkling of the fabric through needles in the miss position. The SM8-TOP2ST is now said to be the first machine ever in the history of seamless knitting to produce garments with needle-by-needle / sinker-by-sinker selective terry (full electronic selection of the sinkers).
Santoni customers can therefore finally produce garments with the same, well-known benefits of seamless knitting but with drastically reduced production times. To protect the numerous textile patterns, and particularly the 3D structures with selective terry that this innovative machine can produce, Santoni has registered four patents.