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"It's this enormous yellow machine that goes clunk-clunk, woosh-wash, urgh-orgh and then out comes a big sock." This is how the CSIR's patented helical sewing machine was once described by an onlooker during a demonstration run. The noisy, yellow "sock maker" now resides with a backfill bag producer in Fochville, to whom it was licensed and donated.
This story starts in Port Elizabeth, where the CSIR developed and patented a method of making a continuous tube of flexible sheet material, a.k.a. a helical sewing machine.
"It doesn't just sew 'socks', it sews giant 'socks' that are used in the mining industry to dispose of silt and other waste products, and then use it as a support structure in mining operations. These 'socks' have to be extremely strong and durable as it is exposed to very high pressure," says Phumuza Langa from the CSIR's Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer (IP&TT) office.
He explains that the conventional method of sewing backfill bags is a labour intensive process that would entail various fabric widths being stocked. The seam running on one side of the bag usually causes seam failure due to all the pressure generated during backfilling being concentrated more on the 'weakest' part of the bag.
"The CSIR's helical sewing machine addresses this issue by sewing backfill bags in a helical fashion. Importantly, the machine remains stationary while the sewing head runs across the width of the fabric during sewing. This mechanism results in a quick and productive method of linking fabrics together and a bag with higher seam strength," he says.
With the technology literally 'in the bag', the CSIR set out to find a
producer of backfill bags that will benefit from the design. A company
called Quickstitch in Fochville in the Free State province was the first
to give this new technology a try. The CSIR licensed it to Quickstitch,
loaded the machine on the back of a truck and transferred it to the
Fochville premises.
"The technology definitely provides a quick and productive method," says Anita Niemand, managing director of Quickstitch. "A recent test has revealed that it provides a probable 30% higher seam strength. However, the bags still need to go the South African Bureau of Standards for verification and approval."
Langa recently made a site visit to the Quickstitch facility to witness the implementation of the technology. "Seeing the technology in action made me realise the impact technology transfer has on industry," he says. "Five months ago when the IP&TT office made technology commercialisation efforts, this innovation only existed as a technology package and a large piece of equipment with no daily function. Today, knowledge and techniques have moved from one organisation (the CSIR) to another (Quickstitch) through licensing to create an economic impact. The actual smell of the fabric and sounds of the machinery at the backfill bag production factory brought home the realisation that this was now a real-time technology transfer impact story."
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