Design and Implementation of a Low-Cost Quality Control System for Card Clothing (Carding Rope/Wire)

Quality control of card clothing (carding rope/wire) is a critical requirement in textile industries, as uneven tooth height directly affects fiber alignment and sliver quality. Conventional inspection systems are mainly manual lacks consistency, accuracy and reliability. And modern inspection systems are largely vision-based, which are very expensive, complex, and difficult to maintain for small/medium-scale industries. This paper presents the design and implementation of a low-cost, contact-based, closed-loop quality control system for real-time monitoring of card clothing tooth height. The proposed system uses a Bluetooth-enabled dial gauge for displacement measurement, specially designed & developed gauge mounting fixture/mechanism for tooth projection pick up. The system is integrated with a PLC and HMI for continuous monitoring, alarm generation, and machine interlocking. The system ensures that production is machine is stopped when measured values exceed predefined tolerance limits and prevents restart until the acceptable limit is restored. Experimental implementation on an actual production line demonstrates the reliable & real-time performance, improved quality assurance, and significant cost reduction compared to vision-based solutions.