Sock shaping process

Sock shaping is a crucial finishing process in the production process of socks. It mainly uses heat and pressure to make the socks obtain stable size specifications and good appearance. This process starts with the pretreatment stage of the socks. Steam rehydration treatment is required first to adjust the moisture content to 8-12%, and key parts such as the sock opening and heel are manually trimmed. Then it enters the core shaping stage. The socks are put on a special aluminum mold by a robot or manually, and treated in a high temperature environment of 160-180℃ for 20-30 seconds, and then cooled to below 40℃ by air cooling before demolding. The shaped socks need to undergo strict appearance inspection to ensure that the flatness and symmetry meet the standards, and the dimensional tolerance is controlled within the range of ±3%.

Modern sock shaping workshops are usually equipped with professional equipment such as automatic shaping machines, aluminum alloy shaping molds and steam generation systems. Among them, the automatic shaping machine can realize multi-station continuous operation, with a production capacity of 800-1200 pairs/hour; the adjustable aluminum alloy shaping mold can adapt to the production needs of different sock lengths of 15-30cm; the steam system needs to maintain a working pressure of 0.3-0.5MPa. In terms of quality control, key indicators such as temperature uniformity (temperature difference between each temperature zone ≤5℃), shaping mold matching (error ≤1mm) and color fastness (no significant fading after 5 washes) need to be monitored.

At present, the sock shaping technology is developing in the direction of intelligence and environmental protection. The intelligent temperature control system can automatically adjust the shaping parameters according to the thickness of the fabric, the use of waste heat recovery device can save energy by 15-20%, and the fast mold change system can shorten the change time to less than 5 minutes. For common problems in production, such as deformation of the sock mouth, it can be solved by adjusting the sock angle by 5°~10°, the size shrinkage problem can be solved by reducing the secondary shaping temperature by 10℃, and the surface burn marks can be prevented by adding silicone protective pads. It is worth noting that the actual production parameters need to be dynamically adjusted according to the different raw material components such as cotton, spandex, polyester, etc. It is recommended that companies establish a complete material process database to ensure the stability of product quality.