Scheduled for June 7-9, 2005, Techtextil 2005 will once again be held in Frankfurt, Germany and sponsored by Messe Frankfurt. The last Techtextil, held in 2003, occupied 44,400 square meters of floor space, drew 18,500 trade visitors from 69 countries and included 879 exhibitors from 42 countries.
For the first time, BASF will participate in Techtextil at Stand B79, Hall 3. With the theme of innovative ideas for the textiles of the future, the company's focus will be on solutions for the Clothtech, Hometech, Mobiltech and Sporttech sectors - solutions that BASF has also developed together with customers.
BASF has developed a system for coloring and coating polyolefin textiles that is proving its worth in terms of fastness and flexibility. It permits polyolefins to be colored, printed, coated and functionalized in standard textile processes - and all with water-based formulations. Special pretreatment is unnecessary. The innovative system for coloring and coating opens up new applications for polyolefin fibers, which up until now were used mainly in nonwovens.
Lurotex TX products are also new in the BASF range. Textiles finished with these fluorocarbon-based products repel water, oil and dirt. Also possible are effect combinations such as dirt repellency and easy care, which are in demand by many textile manufacturers. The repellent effect of the fluorocarbons generally depends on the type of pretreatment as well as on auxiliaries and effect chemicals used in the finish. In this respect as well, Lurotex TX products offer the best possible effect, since they ideally complement BASF products for pretreatment, finishing and coating.
First-time exhibitor Breco Company will be at Techtextil at Stand A77, Hall 3.1. The textile product manufacturer has been in business since 1898, when the first lines of cloths, wadding and padding were launched. Currently, Breco is among the largest producers of high quality runners and rugs. The company produces the following products: loop floor mats, room and bathroom rugs, step mats made from runners, Maliwatt-type nonwovens used in the footwear industry, upholstery and insulation, protection of soil in water gardens and drainage mats.
Other product offerings include nonwovens for protection of scarps, embankments and drainage ditches; separators used for protection purposes in transport; decorative nonwovens such as non-fusible interlinings used in decorating as well as two- and three-layer textile thermally bonded composites for soundproofing uses.
Breco's service includes commissioned cutting, trimming and co-packing of runners and rugs and tearing of textile production waste. The company holds a license from the Minister of Environmental Protection to purchase and process textile wastes. Breco also handles thermal bonding and laminating with the use of the latest technologies and machines.
At Stand J32, Hall 3, French producer Calemard will highlight its full line of in-line and off-line slitting and rewinding machines. The company specializes in lengthwise slitting and rewinding; crush, shear and razor slitting systems and sealing/cutting technologies (hot cutting and ultrasonic cutting through Decoup+, its sister company).
Calemard also specializes in rewinding technologies. Originally focused on narrow web slitting, the company has expanded its knowledge in spooling technology. As an alternative to the use of pancakes, spooling technology is the solution that enables 10 times more product to be rewound than a pancake, offering a stable package of narrow products.
Additionally, Calemard operates a complete testing facility, featuring cutting and winding machines and relevant test equipment. In order to demonstrate the value and quality of its machines, and to ensure the most appropriate cutting results, Calemard offers representative trials with customer products.
In the hygiene market, Calemard has been present for more than 10 years with the Pegase line. This high performance, sensitive machine is dedicated to the slitting and spooling of fragile nonwoven hygiene products used in the manufacture of baby diapers, feminine protection and adult incontinence products.
Coatema Coating and Zimmer will co-exhibit at Stands B14 and B18, Hall 3.0 to promote numerous coating solutions for technical textiles such as prepregs, double-dot, geotextiles, nanocoatings, sol-gel processes and many more. Among the companies' highlights will be a combination of the Zimmer Magnoroll system and the Coatema coating knife system and Coatema's Moduldry dryer. The companies will also showcase the Easycoater, the modular, discontinuous screen printing/doctor blade/jet unit for the production of samples in A4 or A3 size. Also on display will be the Basecoater, a compact and cost-effective modular lab coating unit for technical textiles with a working width of 220 mm. Live coating trials will be done at the booth. Additionally, the Hotcoater, a unit for hotmelt coating with wide slot die and 80 m/min. production speeds, will be shown.
A specialist in the design and manufacture of ultrasonic cutting and splicing solutions, Saint Chamond, France-based Decoup+ will be at Stand J32, Hall 3. Decoup+ ultrasonic modules are compact components and easy to integrate on existing manufacturing lines. The Decoup+ slitters/sealers cleanly cut and seal the edge of synthetic films and fabrics in a single pass. Fraying, unraveling and material beading along the cut edge are eliminated.
The solutions developed by Decoup+ are part of an industrial range of ultrasonic equipment; they are proven solutions with power from 75 to 1200W and are specifically adapted to continuous operations. These solutions are offered as modular units to be mounted on existing lines, as adapted benches or as handheld units.
Decoup+ offers specifically designed solutions for cutting on looms (edge trimming and/or center cut). Compact and easy to install on any type of loom (flat and circular), the Decoup+ devices produce stable and consistent edges while maintaining fabric properties. Reliable and affordable, this equipment is the solution to avoid hot cutting drawbacks (color changes, edge burns and over-thickness). Decoup+ ultrasonic devices have proven their reliability and quality results on various synthetic fabrics, including technical textiles, coating supports and polypropylene fabrics.
Decoup+ has also developed an ultrasonic forging solution to reinforce fabric edges. This technology enables edge reinforcement and customized marking. Fabric edges are strongly reinforced, thus increasing the product durability, while web flexibility is preserved. All of these types of equipment are designed to be integrated onto existing lines, either as compact bench modules or as devices to be mounted directly on stenters and slitting or doctor machines.
Degussa will present its broad range of customized copolyamide hot melt adhesives at Stand H82, Hall 3. The company will highlight its newly introduced Vestamelt 900 series, which features different viscosity settings and various new developments for technical applications.
Vestamelt 930 to 970 have proven their worth in the last two years as copolyamides that boast an excellent price-performance ratio. The high viscosity setting of 970 is particularly suitable for technical applications that require a higher resistance to strike back, for example, for in-mold lamination.
The High Performance Polymers Business Unit produces customized copolyamide hot melt adhesives that are sold both in powder and granular form. The products are optimized for particular properties, depending on the application.
Used in a variety of industries, Vestamelt provides all applications with a good balance of high-quality service properties, easy and reliable processing and high cost effectiveness.
At Stand F68, Hall 3.1, French company Dounor will focus on the introduction of its range of polypropylene material for industrial applications including filtration, medical, packaging and garments. Dounor also offers various treatments such as antistatic, antimicrobial and UV-treatments. A new pattern for better drapability and improved softness will also be introduced at the show.
Dounor manufactures and markets polypropylene fibers, polypropylene-based nonwovens and polypropylene recycled chips for hygiene, medical, mattress and bedding and filtration applications. In addition to fiber production, nonwovens manufacturing processes include carded, thermal bonded, spunbonded and SMS.
German machinery manufacturer Fleissner GmbH will exhibit machine and process developments for new generations of technical textiles and nonwovens at Techtextil, Stand B03, Hall 3. Fleissner will highlight its production program and new product applications for all areas of technical textiles and nonwovens including the hygiene, personal care and wipes sector, where the company offers its AquaJet Spunlace System. In the residential area, Fleissner will present a range of machines for wet and dry wipes and all bonding technologies such as spunlacing, binder bonding and thermal bonding.
Home furnishing applications include needlefelt floor coverings and wall coverings as well as highloft nonwovens. In the architecture, construction and geotextiles sectors, Fleissner has made many new developments in bonding lines for roofing membranes according to staple fiber technology as well as spunbond-based technologies.
Also, for geotextiles made from staple fibers or spunbond filaments, Fleissner has introduced new developments using the AquaJet Spunlace Technology and new production lines are already operating. The advantages for roofing membranes and geotextiles bonded by spunlace technology are: high production speed compared to mechanical needling and lower weight products with excellent uniformity and higher tensile strength. Another area of strength for Fleissner is apparel and shoes.
Application examples for fabric enhancement are: airbag fabrics with engineered permeability and improved seam strength, filtration fabrics with engineered pore size, PES fabrics for flame retardant drapery and softness and upholstery fabrics with yarn reduction, better resistance and seam slippage improvement.
Fleissner will also showcase the advantages of using AquaJet Spunlace technology for nonwoven filters (new generations of filters, adjustment of porosity, high strength and splitting technology for conjugate fibers to achieve microfiber structures) and woven fabric filters using the Fleissner AquaTex technology. For automotive applications, the company offers AquaCarpet technology for latex-free carpet backing for tufted-carpets, foam impregnation bonding and thermal bonding, new generations of insulation materials made from blends of natural fibers and polypropylene by spunlace technology as well as finishing lines for flexible foams and AquaTex Enhancement Technology for automotive seat covers.
Fleissner's AquaTex technology also offers benefits in the area of hydroenhancement of glass fabrics. This new technology enables manufacturers of glass fiber fabrics to achieve a much higher degree of density and uniform spread of the filament bundles without breaking any of the fine glass filaments, which can be as small as 5µ.
At Stand A 17, Hall 3, Eduard K¨sters Maschinenfabrik, Krefeld, Germany, will offer a joint presence of its two divisions, nonwovens and textiles. With years of experience in varied processes of dry and wet finishing, both divisions' comprehensive know-how will team up to present sophisticated technologies for the finishing of technical textiles.
As a leader in calender technology, K¨sters specializes in deflection-compensating roll systems: S-Roll, HyCon Roll or Hot S-Roll. The re-design of textile and nonwoven calenders has been concluded and is supplemented by the new twin calender. K¨sters now holds a differentiated product portfolio for the most varied processes in the textile and nonwovens industry.
In wet finishing, some technologies from the textile industry have been successfully adapted for the nonwoven sector, such as padding with S-Roll technology or foam application.
K¨sters also offers a modular plant concept into which washing machines and suction devices are completely integrated. Quick commissioning, compact design and easy handling are among the advantages of this system.
The company's new TurboFlush washing machines feature an excellent washing effect with good fabric guiding and optimized water consumption. These integrated high-performance vacuum systems can be used for dewatering as well as in the finishing of technical textiles and nonwovens.
Roll goods producer Libeltex will be at Techtextil at Stand H39, Hall 3.1. The company's focus will be on new developments in its Quiet Web product range, Libeltex's acoustic nonwoven, which is used in many interior trim parts. Libeltex will also be exhibiting its versatile range of filtration media. This will include the traditional quality range for HVAC and spraybooth filtration, as well as new developments in pleat filter media and liquid filtration. With six factories in Europe and three in the U.S., the nonwovens group is one of the largest players in the market.
Libeltex has been involved in nonwovens manufacturing since 1945. Today, as a part of British Vita plc, the company has expanded rapidly from traditional markets into the technical segment focusing on automotive, filtration, hygiene and industrial markets. As for its automotive business, Libeltex develops nonwovens for interior trim applications, underbonnet and trunk parts. Libeltex supplies some major automotive interior component manufacturers in Europe and the U.S. Libeltex Belgium became ISO/TS 16949 certified in November 2004, confirming its professionalism towards Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive suppliers.
Reliant Machinery Ltd., Chesham, Bucks, U.K., will be at Techtextil at Stand JO5, Hall 3. Reliant has recently introduced its latest development in medium- to light-weight laminating equipment, which incorporates its GOS system. Both the Excel and Coolstream ranges bring a new dimension to laminating and other bonding processes with their relatively low cost compared to other types of equipment as well as a high level of flexibility.
The Reliant GOS system allows a gap setting to be adjusted on the machine to enable thicker and less flexible materials to be processed. It avoids crushing or distortion of the materials during processing and enables customers to handle a wide range of substrates.
Reliant has also launched the latest version of the Coolstream laminator, which has an optional one meter internal cooling section. With its wide range of options for power rating, the Coolstream can be used for lightweight materials through to medium- and heavyweight materials such as foam.
Reliant also offers the Powerbond modular laminating machinery range. The Powerbond is the only system on the market that offers customers a machine to suit their specific requirements for laminating rather than trying to fit their requirements to a specific machine. With an ability to engineer a machine with standard heating and cooling zones in one meter sections, Reliant is able to offer customers total flexibility in their choice of specifications in widths from one up to three meters as standard.
At Techtextil Stand C29, Hall 3.1, German roll goods producer Sandler will showcase its latest innovations. The company will present a range of innovative nonwovens for a variety of technical applications, as well as products designed for the hygiene industry and wipes market. Once again, Sandler is using this fair as a platform to present new developments, product optimizations and unique solutions.
In the area of filters, the established sawascreen fine filter series is now available with a laminated pre-filter. Voluminous, needlepunched polyester nonwovens and the particularly low-priced polypropylene nonwovens, thermally bonded using a special hotmelt process, make ideal pre-filter media. As a result of this material composition, the dust holding capacity of the pocket filters produced is 3-5 times higher than that of similar versions without pre-filters.
Coarse dust filter media from the sawaloom and sawaflor product groups are characterized by the use of particularly fine fiber compositions. The enlarged "inner surface" makes it possible to meet the requirements of grades G2 to F5, achieving particularly high dust holding capacities.
A range of pleatable, self-supporting filter media from the sawascreen and sawaloom product ranges has been developed for the production of cartridge filters. Fiber-based products made from needlepunched polyester nonwoven cover grades G2 to F5. For higher filter classes up to H10, Sandler manufactures fine filter media on a meltblown base, also using sawascreen technology.
Sandler will also be presenting some innovative products for special filter applications in the field of home care. These include synthetic vacuum cleaner bags, which are being used increasingly instead of conventional materials. The major product advantages include resistance to moisture and bacteria, as well as depth filtering properties. Established coarse and fine dust filters are used as pre-cut and pressed parts in cooker hoods and small air conditioning units.
In the automotive sector, Sandler presents sawasorb absorbing nonwovens. These authentic polyester-based nonwovens cover almost all applications for acoustically effective components in the automotive industry and are found in more than 30 vehicle models throughout Europe.
At this year's Techtextil, the focus will also be on new developments in the spunlace sawatex family for baby wipes, wipes for the cosmetic industry, special hygiene products and household and all-purpose wipes. Depending on customers' wishes, nonwovens made from viscose, polyester or polypropylene, as well as blends from such fibers under the name sawatex can be manufactured in basis weights of 40-120 g/m2.
In the hygiene area, Sandler will be exhibiting an array of composites for special applications in baby diapers and feminine hygiene, as well as adult incontinence pads. Combining two or more functions in one product simplifies production and reduces logistics costs. Nonwoven sheet laminates are used as backsheets in baby diapers. Sawaflex is the brand name for these fully- or strip-laminated materials.
German producer Tangerding Bocholt GmbH will present its most recent technical advances in the filtration and automotive sectors at Stand E68, Hall 3.1. In the area of filtration, the company will showcase highly efficient pre-filters, G2-F6 class filter media, recently developed pleatable F5 filter media for cabin air filtration (for passengers as well as heavy duty applications) and needled carded webs for liquid filtration (hydraulic and coalescer).
In the automotive field, Tangerding Bocholt and Recytex Textilaufbereitung GmbH have combined their technical know-how in the production of nonwovens and subsequent lamination.
At Stand D15, Hall 3, J.H. Ziegler GmbH & Co. KG, Achern, Germany, will present new developments in all of its business units. Last year, the corporate organization was changed from a regional structure into a business unit structure in order to provide more competent application-oriented advisory service.
In the automotive business unit, the main focus is on products for acoustical applications. The newly developed HACOloft 2840 offers outstanding absorption properties, particularly in the low-frequency range. Not only have the acoustic properties been improved compared to conventional acoustic materials, a weight reduction of more than 50% has also been achieved. These articles are particularly forward-looking because the emission levels in the vehicles' interior are noticeably less than the limiting values. Further advantages include weight savings, recyclability and an increase in vehicle safety.
HACOflex 2930, a high quality foam/nonwoven composite, has been developed for automotive seats. This product features excellent compression recovery and good drapability. It supplements the range of high quality padding materials made of breathable and climatically-effective polyester nonwovens used as padding under leather or to laminate the face fabric.
The company's business unit for other industrial applications proves its capabilities with products for the glass fiber-reinforced plastics industry. The assortment consists of a broadened range of products, including HACOloft PP coarse-fiber nonwovens (used as core materials), HACOloft surface nonwovens (surfacing veils) based on PES and PAN as well as the renowned absorptive, breathable nonwovens. New developments will also be presented for other applications covered by this business unit, e.g. in the construction sector and for decorating.
The furniture industry continues to be an important market for Ziegler. In addition to growth in the sales of high quality laminated nonwovens and nonwoven/foam composites, this business unit increased its turnover in Middle/Eastern Europe by intensifying its marketing activities.
Roll goods producer Libeltex will be at Techtextil at Stand H39, Hall 3.1. The company's focus will be on new developments in its Quiet Web product range, Libeltex's acoustic nonwoven, which is used in many interior trim parts. Libeltex will also be exhibiting its versatile range of filtration media. This will include the traditional quality range for HVAC and spraybooth filtration, as well as new developments in pleat filter media and liquid filtration. With six factories in Europe and three in the U.S., the nonwovens group is one of the largest players in the market. Libeltex has been involved in nonwovens manufacturing since 1945. Today, as a part of British Vita plc, the company has expanded rapidly from traditional markets into the technical segment focusing on automotive, filtration, hygiene and industrial markets. As for its automotive business, Libeltex develops nonwovens for interior trim applications, underbonnet and trunk parts. Libeltex supplies some major automotive interior component manufacturers in Europe and the U.S. Libeltex Belgium became ISO/TS 16949 certified in November 2004, confirming its professionalism towards Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive suppliers.
Reliant Machinery Ltd., Chesham, Bucks, U.K., will be at Techtextil at Stand JO5, Hall 3. Reliant has recently introduced its latest development in medium- to light-weight laminating equipment, which incorporates its GOS system. Both the Excel and Coolstream ranges bring a new dimension to laminating and other bonding processes with their relatively low cost compared to other types of equipment as well as a high level of flexibility. The Reliant GOS system allows a gap setting to be adjusted on the machine to enable thicker and less flexible materials to be processed. It avoids crushing or distortion of the materials during processing and enables customers to handle a wide range of substrates. Reliant has also launched the latest version of the Coolstream laminator, which has an optional one meter internal cooling section. With its wide range of options for power rating, the Coolstream can be used for lightweight materials through to medium- and heavyweight materials such as foam. Reliant also offers the Powerbond modular laminating machinery range. The Powerbond is the only system on the market that offers customers a machine to suit their specific requirements for laminating rather than trying to fit their requirements to a specific machine. With an ability to engineer a machine with standard heating and cooling zones in one meter sections, Reliant is able to offer customers total flexibility in their choice of specifications in widths from one up to three meters as standard.
At Techtextil Stand C29, Hall 3.1, German roll goods producer Sandler will showcase its latest innovations. The company will present a range of innovative nonwovens for a variety of technical applications, as well as products designed for the hygiene industry and wipes market. Once again, Sandler is using this fair as a platform to present new developments, product optimizations and unique solutions.
In the area of filters, the established sawascreen fine filter series is now available with a laminated pre-filter. Voluminous, needlepunched polyester nonwovens and the particularly low-priced polypropylene nonwovens, thermally bonded using a special hotmelt process, make ideal pre-filter media. As a result of this material composition, the dust holding capacity of the pocket filters produced is 3-5 times higher than that of similar versions without pre-filters.
Coarse dust filter media from the sawaloom and sawaflor product groups are characterized by the use of particularly fine fiber compositions. The enlarged "inner surface" makes it possible to meet the requirements of grades G2 to F5, achieving particularly high dust holding capacities.
A range of pleatable, self-supporting filter media from the sawascreen and sawaloom product ranges has been developed for the production of cartridge filters. Fiber-based products made from needlepunched polyester nonwoven cover grades G2 to F5. For higher filter classes up to H10, Sandler manufactures fine filter media on a meltblown base, also using sawascreen technology.
Sandler will also be presenting some innovative products for special filter applications in the field of home care. These include synthetic vacuum cleaner bags, which are being used increasingly instead of conventional materials. The major product advantages include resistance to moisture and bacteria, as well as depth filtering properties. Established coarse and fine dust filters are used as pre-cut and pressed parts in cooker hoods and small air conditioning units.
In the automotive sector, Sandler presents sawasorb absorbing nonwovens. These authentic polyester-based nonwovens cover almost all applications for acoustically effective components in the automotive industry and are found in more than 30 vehicle models throughout Europe.
At this year's Techtextil, the focus will also be on new developments in the spunlace sawatex family for baby wipes, wipes for the cosmetic industry, special hygiene products and household and all-purpose wipes. Depending on customers' wishes, nonwovens made from viscose, polyester or polypropylene, as well as blends from such fibers under the name sawatex can be manufactured in basis weights of 40-120 g/m2.
In the hygiene area, Sandler will be exhibiting an array of composites for special applications in baby diapers and feminine hygiene, as well as adult incontinence pads. Combining two or more functions in one product simplifies production and reduces logistics costs. Nonwoven sheet laminates are used as backsheets in baby diapers. Sawaflex is the brand name for these fully- or strip-laminated materials.
German producer Tangerding Bocholt GmbH will present its most recent technical advances in the filtration and automotive sectors at Stand E68, Hall 3.1. In the area of filtration, the company will showcase highly efficient pre-filters, G2-F6 class filter media, recently developed pleatable F5 filter media for cabin air filtration (for passengers as well as heavy duty applications) and needled carded webs for liquid filtration (hydraulic and coalescer). In the automotive field, Tangerding Bocholt and Recytex Textilaufbereitung GmbH have combined their technical know-how in the production of nonwovens and subsequent lamination.
At Stand D15, Hall 3, J.H. Ziegler GmbH & Co. KG, Achern, Germany, will present new developments in all of its business units. Last year, the corporate organization was changed from a regional structure into a business unit structure in order to provide more competent application-oriented advisory service.
In the automotive business unit, the main focus is on products for acoustical applications. The newly developed HACOloft 2840 offers outstanding absorption properties, particularly in the low-frequency range. Not only have the acoustic properties been improved compared to conventional acoustic materials, a weight reduction of more than 50% has also been achieved. These articles are particularly forward-looking because the emission levels in the vehicles' interior are noticeably less than the limiting values. Further advantages include weight savings, recyclability and an increase in vehicle safety.
HACOflex 2930, a high quality foam/nonwoven composite, has been developed for automotive seats. This product features excellent compression recovery and good drapability. It supplements the range of high quality padding materials made of breathable and climatically-effective polyester nonwovens used as padding under leather or to laminate the face fabric.
The company's business unit for other industrial applications proves its capabilities with products for the glass fiber-reinforced plastics industry. The assortment consists of a broadened range of products, including HACOloft PP coarse-fiber nonwovens (used as core materials), HACOloft surface nonwovens (surfacing veils) based on PES and PAN as well as the renowned absorptive, breathable nonwovens. New developments will also be presented for other applications covered by this business unit, e.g. in the construction sector and for decorating.
The furniture industry continues to be an important market for Ziegler. In addition to growth in the sales of high quality laminated nonwovens and nonwoven/foam composites, this business unit increased its turnover in Middle/Eastern Europe by intensifying its marketing activities.
