The Circular Knitting Machine: Single-Jersey vs Double-Jersey Architecture, OEMs and Production Ranges

A polyester knit's identity is largely set at the yarn level — the hand of POY→DTY textured yarn, the smoothness of FDY, the softness of fine dpf — but the fabric's structure, weight and stretch behaviour are born on the circular knitting machine, on a needle cylinder turning at tens of revolutions per minute. Industrial 100% polyester greige knitting rests almost entirely on large-diameter weft circular knitting machines. Reading a machine's architecture — how many needle beds, which gauge, how many feeders — is the precondition for reading a Technical Data Sheet (TDS) like an engineer. This guide is about the machine; for how the yarn is made see our POY/FDY and DTY texturing guides, and for which structure suits which use see our single-jersey vs interlock comparison.

Single-Jersey vs Double-Jersey: The Core Architectural Split

All circular knitting machines fall into two large families. Single-jersey machines use one needle cylinder: needles sit only in the vertical cylinder and the face and back of the fabric are distinctly different (loop legs on the face, loop heads on the back). Jersey, single-knit mesh and pique structures are knitted on this architecture; lightweight and stretchy, but naturally more prone to curling and spirality. Double-jersey machines carry a horizontal dial in addition to the cylinder; two needle beds work at an angle to each other and produce fabrics with both faces clean, more stable and heavier. Interlock, rib (1×1, 2×2), 8-lock and double-needle-bed 3D spacer structures are products of the double-jersey architecture.

The practical consequence: structure choice translates directly into fabric behaviour. Single-jersey jersey gives width/length stretch and lightness but curls at the edges; double-jersey interlock offers a roughly twice-as-thick, dimensionally stable, non-curling ground that lies flat in printing and dyeing; rib is a high-recovery (rib) cuff/waistband fabric across the width. Which structure is right for which use — stretch, recovery, stability, weight balance — is a separate decision; for that depth see our single-jersey/interlock/rib/ponte guides. Here the focus is the machine that physically produces these structures.

Real OEMs: Single-Plate and Double-Plate Builders

The circular knitting machine market is defined by a few established OEMs. Germany's Mayer & Cie. is the reference brand for single-jersey; its Relanit technology ("relative technology") makes the sinker move vertically, roughly halving yarn tension, with typically ~30% energy savings reported — Relanit 3.2 S (30 in, 96 feeders) and Relanit 4.0 (120 feeders) are common builds. Mayer & Cie.'s OVJA 1.6 series, by contrast, is a double-jersey (double-knit) electronic jacquard family: it works by electromagnetic single-needle selection in the cylinder and is among the fastest solutions for patterned double-face fabrics such as mattress ticking (~1.6 feeders/inch). Germany's Terrot offers both single-plate and interlock machines (S/SBF 296 class) plus open-width slitting; Japan's Precision Fukuhara (Monarch) offers over 200 specialised types.

• Pai Lung (Taiwan) — over 100 models including single and double jacquard; a premium Taiwanese OEM not to be confused with cheap volume brands.
• Orizio (Italy) and the Chinese volume tier — Quanzhou Baiyuan (1000+ machines/year), Fujian Taifan.
• Santoni (Lonati group, Italy) — seamless small-diameter leader (compression/sportswear); a separate category.
• Memminger-IRO, BTSR and LGL — positive (storage) yarn feed systems: critical for constant stitch length and barré (tension-line) control.
• Groz-Beckert (Germany) — dominant supplier of needles and sinkers (knitting elements); the hidden efficiency per revolution lives here.

Machine Ranges: Diameter, Gauge, Feeders, RPM, Output

A circular knitting machine is defined by several key parameters, and the values below are given as typical/representative; they vary by builder and model. Diameter is mostly 30–34 in (broad range 8–48 in); gauge (needles per inch) is typically E18–E28 (E12–E54 at the extremes, up to E60 on specialty lines). Feeder count is about 96 on a 30-inch machine and generally ranges ~48–120 (~1.6–4 per inch); each feeder knits one course per revolution, so feeder count directly drives production speed. Rotational speed is typically 25–50 rpm; OEMs often express output as SF (speed factor = rpm × diameter, ~1000–1500). Jersey weight is roughly 100–240 g/m², stitch length ~2.1–2.9 mm, and yarn ~50–300 dtex. The knitting hall is typically conditioned to ~60–65% relative humidity and ~24–26 °C.

Fabric weight is the combined result of these parameters. A common approach models weight as GSM ≈ K / (Ne × stitch length); however a constant such as K ≈ 12,069 is a published model rather than an established standard and should be treated as representative. In practice weight is set on the machine through stitch (loop) length and yarn count — weight is inversely proportional to stitch length and yarn fineness. So the same structure, at the same gauge, can be spread across a wide weight-map with different stitch lengths; for what weight means in fabric selection see our separate GSM guides. Small rpm or feeder gains accumulate meaningfully in annual output.

Single-Jersey vs Double-Jersey Machine Comparison

In short: machine architecture largely determines the fabric's fate. Single-jersey gives lightness and stretch, double-jersey gives stability and body; gauge sets fineness/density, feeder count sets production speed, and stitch length with yarn count sets weight. Positive yarn feed (Memminger-IRO/BTSR) secures the repeatability of these settings through constant stitch length and barré control. After the greige stage the fabric goes to dyeing as tube or open-width, then to stenter heat-setting, where weight, width and shrinkage are locked to the final TDS values.