Machine units

The ‘machine unit’ is the smallest frame movement an embroidery machine can perform. This in turn determines the closest distance between stitches. For multihead machines this is 0.1mm and, as all machines use the same unit value, most users take it for granted. With Schiffli machines, however, there are two types of machine unit:

ES Schiffli supports both formats. This has several advantages for the design system:

High resolution format for WESS

Wilcom Electronic Servo System (WESS) is a servo system which can drive the frame of a Schiffli machine with very high accuracy, thereby enabling very high quality embroidery. However, if the Schiffli design is stored in the traditional formats which are based on the resolution of the Jacquard card, the smallest step is constrained by the ‘machine unit’ – 0.17mm for Plauen and 0.1mm for Saurer. Wilcom has overcome this problem by introducing a high resolution format for use directly between ES Schiffli and WESS. This means that fine details in the ES Schiffli design can be transferred to the Schiffli machine without loss of resolution. ES Schiffli users simply save designs to the new ESS file format which supports high resolution.