Micro Fiber Line – Xplore Instruments

Micro Fiber Line: Winder, Conditioning Unit, and Multifilament Spinning Unit

The Xplore Microfibre Line enables fast, efficient fibre production using just 5–10 g of material in 10–15 minutes, significantly reducing material waste, development time, and R&D costs. Designed for small material quantities and expensive additives, it produces representative test fibres with minimal input, making it ideal for R&D applications. With a continuous feed kit, it can generate extremely long fibre samples without an additional spinning pump, as the micro-compounder’s throughput control ensures uniform fibre diameter. A programmable slow startup sequence prevents fibre breakage during stretching. The system consists of a high-speed winding unit (up to 200 m/min) and a low-rate conditioning unit to enhance the fiber properties by further drawing, designed for compact lab use. The stretching/conditioning unit controls fibre drawing speed, ratio, and temperature, supporting hot or cold stretching with independently speed-controlled godets. It accommodates various spool types and offers radiative (hot shoe) or conductive (heated cylinder) heating options for optimal fibre processing.

Multifilament Die and Quench box

The Optional Multifilament Die (MFD) enhances the spinning process when mounted onto an Xplore compounder, featuring a vertical spinning die outlet with twelve die openings for multi-filament spinning applications. It can be integrated with a two-stage quench box, wetting ("avivage") unit, and melt strength measurement to produce high-quality multi-filaments. This system allows for smaller samples and faster sample generation, requiring only a fraction of the material compared to conventional fibre development. The continuous feeder kit eliminates the need for a spinning pump, as the micro compounder’s throughput control ensures uniform fibre diameter. It includes a high-speed winding unit (up to 200 m/min) and a low-speed stretching unit, designed for compact lab use. With adjustable settings such as speed, overlap pitch, and heating modes, the system supports versatile fibre production, using either radiative heating ("hot shoe") or conductive heating ("hot pin"). Additional options include a selection of fibre dies, a multi-filament die compatible with the Xplore MC 15 compounder, a quench box, a wetting unit, and a continuous forced feeding kit with a volumetric feeder and water-cooled hopper. Notably, one of the two units of the Fibre Line (FL) can also be purchased separately, providing a customizable and scalable solution for fibre research and development.