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- NKK Power Base™
- Nancy's Knit Knacks is pleased to
announce the introduction of the motorized add-on product for the
HDBW
Heavy Duty Ball
Winder
(HDBW)
Control panel from NKK Power
Base
Motor Version
In June 2008, at the major Wholesale trade show of the year (TNNA in
Columbus, OH), we will debut our new NKK Power Base™ which is an
add-on product that motorizes our Heavy Duty Ball Winder. Unlike
other electric ball winders in the market which are designed to only
perform as electric units, our NKK Power Base™ can be used with all
of our EXISTING as well as our new ball winders.
This means that a user who purchased one of our first units in the
Fall of 2006 as well as a customer who takes delivery next week,
could purchase our NKK Power Base™ now or next year and their
investment in their HDBW is maintained and not obsolete. How did we
do it? We designed the ball winder from day one on the premise that
we would ultimately electrify it for those users who needed a high
performance machine due to their heavy ballwinding workload. Yet, we
knew we needed to provide a migration path from manual to electric
so that users would not have to abandon their original tool when
upgrading.
Brief overview of
features
The unit has a Run button, a Speed control, a Jog speed (a very slow
speed for setting up the ball initially or for reversing direction
to clear a jam, etc.), a Save button (which saves your preferred
speed setting when making one ball after another of the same yarn),
a Stop button, and a power-on indicator LED.
The high torque DC motor* (combined with our 5x gear train inside of
the ball winder) can turn the unit at speeds up to 360 RPM at the
spindle arm (which is slightly faster than turning the handle once
per second manually). This is the safe and effective maximum speed
that should ever be used to operate our unit.
* Because we are using a DC motor powered by an AC adaptor that
converts AC power into harmless DC power, there is no risk to
the user of any electrical hazard in our design.
Even though our existing winder is easy to wind yarn with, our new
electric version is the solution for any shop owner or other
commercial user who winds excessive amounts of yarn each day. Of
course, any knitter who has a lot of yarn to wind or has a physical
impairment, could also make good use of our new design.
Converting back to manual
use - The user can easily remove the ball winder from the
NKK Power base by loosening 2 clamps, and disconnecting the o-ring
belt. Then they would attach the original handle. In other words, if
anything ever happens to the NKK Power Base, or if you lose your
power, you can easily convert the unit back to a manual system. This
is the first time this has ever been possible on this type of
equipment.
The unit contains state of the art electronics and membrane switches
for failure-free operation. The membrane switch is similar to the
switch panel used on your microwave and is not susceptible to fiber
debris or other soiling of the switches. A big advantage when many
different users are using the unit or when it is operated in a
somewhat dusty/dirty environment.
We also plan to use the NKK Power Base to power other equipment we
have planned for the future. So a single motor system will be able
to power multiple pieces of fiber equipment. This represents a good
investment for both shop owners and users alike.
Final pricing is not available yet but will be by June.
Availability - Production begins late June.
NKK Power Base™
