How Does the Automatic Shirt Machine Work?

How does the Automatic Shirt Machine work?

Look at the shirt on your back. Have you noticed the colour, the stitches, the cut and the design? Maybe your shirt was made by the automatic shirt machine. If you ordered it specially, then the chances are that it was. But how does the Automatic Shirt Machine work?

Upon receipt of an order, the operator turns on the machine. As it starts to power up, several components begin to come into operation. The first one is the computer as the operator has to specify the design of the shirt. Sitting at the computer, the designer chooses the shape and size of the shirt. Once this is done, decisions need to be made regarding the colour and type of material that is needed to make the shirt. Should the shirt be long or short sleeved or should it have no sleeves at all? Once these parameters have been input into the computer, the operator presses the “GO!” button with his foot.

At this point, the machine becomes very noisy as pipes begin to fill with steam. These pipes power the hydraulic system that will be used in moving the cogs, pistons, belts and armatures that need to run to produce the final shirt. As the pressure builds up, a keen observer begins to notice movement in the machine. At first, this movement is a little sporadic and noisy, as if played in staccato upon an out of tune piano. However, as the movement of pistons begin to gain some momentum, slowly, circular saws start to rotate. Once the saws have reached an effective speed, a pole and claw reach out and grab the selected material.

As the pole and claw drag the material to the saws, they need to keep tautness in the cloth in order to allow for a neat cut. The saws are LASER guided and cut to an accuracy of one-thousandth of a millimetre. The computer controls the cutting saws as they slice the cloth this way and that forming the perfect pattern for a shirt. Once the cloth has been cut, it is taken to the sealing unit.

In the sealing unit, needles taken from a thousand sewing machines come into play. They take a linked thread and use it to seal the shirt so that it is as strong as an ox. A special fabric covering is placed over the shirt and it is sealed with a hot steam iron. The steam is recycled from the pistons as the power needs of the automatic shirt machine are considerably reduced at this point in the process.

Once sealed with the special lining, the shirt, which is still really hot, is taken to the folding section. The shirt is bent and folded round a multitude of pipes until it is small enough to be posted through any letter box.

Finally, the shirt is sent to the packaging appliance. Here, it is pushed through a cellophane sheet and then sealed to be delivered to the lucky recipient who placed the order. The completed, sealed package is then posted, first class.