Nonwovens Staff, Nonwovens Staff03.17.09
The latest technology, applications and the overall direction of the technical textile and nonwovens industry will be presented by experts and leaders from around the world during Techtextil North America Symposium, which will be held April 21-23, 2009 at the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV.
Held concurrently with the exhibition, the symposium will contain 13 sessions with more than 65 presentations in a variety of formats that will cover a range of topics from composites, automotive, defense textiles and nanotechnology to performance textiles and materials technology.
“I am confident in the success of the upcoming Techtextil North America in Las Vegas,” commented Bill Smith, symposium director. “Though we are certainly in tough economic times, most individuals I speak with are still upbeat. Some are even reporting record sales while others are new suppliers entering the market. And the chance to expose our industry in greater detail to those in the Western part of the U.S. is receiving growing enthusiasm.”
Keynote Address and General Session
Performance Fiber’s CEO, Richard Brown, will present the keynote address, “Adapting to Changing Times,” which will focus on how the fiber industry has changed and how companies adjust to changes in order to remain competitive. Other topics in this opening session will include global participation, the state of the manufacturing industry in North America and a look at the current state of the industry.
Buildtech/Architecture—Led by Dr. Barbara Pause, president of Textile Texting Solutions, this session will delve into the new developments of technical textiles in use for building and architecture. This is a fast growing segment of the industry and applications in this field are becoming more sophisticated and setting new design standards.
Introduction to Technical Textile Markets—For the first time ever there will be a session for those who are new to the industry. The session will provide a general introduction to technical textiles with an international team of presenters.
Military/Defense Textiles—This topic has always been one of the most successful in the history of the symposium and will once again be led by Eugene Wilusz from Natick Soldier RD&E Center. The 2009 program will present an update on many new developments for the military that may be applicable for commercial use.
Composites/Aerospace—A quickly growing, major sub-set of technical textiles involving materials ranging from commercial products to ballistic protection to aerospace. This program will include information on the growing use of composites in products, including carbon and new materials and techniques. One topic will feature the growing use of structural composites in aircraft, such as the Airbus 380 and the Boeing Dreamliner
Nonwovens—There will be two sessions specifically dedicated to the nonwovens field. The first will focus on new technical techniques for improved performance. The second will explore the increased use of nonwoven fabrics in a broad range of technical textile areas.
Technical Textiles Research—A special program of the symposium, which involves a fresh look at some of the research being conducted by various universities, institutions and laboratories. Seshadri Ramkumar from Texas Tech University will lead this session.
Performance/Protection Textiles—The performance and protection areas are typical of fields where new and improved features of materials make for more effective end uses. Often, this results in the creation of new markets. These application areas benefit from many of the developments and new technologies in other fields. Consequently, better leisure and performance products, as well as superior protection from the elements and life-threatening hazards can be achieved.
Other sessions include: Materials Technology; Nanotechnolgy in Textiles; Automotive/Mobiletech; and Medical Textiles. For a full Techtextil North America Symposium 2009 schedule and additional information on each of the sessions, visit www.techtextilNA.com
AccuSentry, Inc.—Booth 520
www.accusentry.com
AccuSentry will feature the SentryPoint Management Reporting System (MRS) for its flagship Sentry 9000 system at Techtextil North America. The Sentry 9000 system delivers a complete integrated machine vision solution for automated 100% Product Inspection for continuous web, sheet and surface inspection. The SentryPoint MRS allows management to access key real time actionable production and inspection information from virtually anywhere with secured web-based interface. It delivers customized, differentiated and targeted solutions. Production information such as downtime analysis, production analysis, scrap analysis and a key performance indicator can be accessed instantly. The system comes with many design features such as auto update from another database, custom reports and charts, and different user access levels and custom page views. The SentryPoint supports machine, line and plant expansion to accommodate manufacturing growth.
Aeroglide Corporation—Booth 436
www.aeroglide.com
Aeroglide provides custom designed equipment for through-air drying (TAD), thermal bonding, heat setting, curing and finishing. Applications include spunlace, airlaid, wet laid, spunbond (SMS composites), coated and foam impregnated webs.
The company’s equipment offering includes suction drum dryers in single and multiple drum configurations. Multiple drums are ideal for applications requiring high line speed, extended dwell time and in-line temperature profiling for drying, thermal bonding or cooling. Single drum drier designs feature high evaporation rates for short dwell time, high speed, delicate web or single sided contact applications.
Aeroglide also offers single and multi-pass flat bed through-air driers (TAD) for highloft and loose web nonwovens applications that require gentle through-flow processing and support throughout the heating processes. Also available are impingement-style driers for foam or coated webs.
Having a worldwide presence has been critical to successfully supporting customers at their facilities. Permanent sales and service offices in Europe and Asia-Pacific provide a base for this unmatched service and responsiveness supported by its manufacturing, engineering and headquarters in the U.S.
American Nonwovens Inc.—Booth 237
www.vft.com and www.amerinon.com
American Nonwovens Inc (ANI) and Vertical Fiber Technologies (VFT) have been operating in the U.S. since 1997. Its corporate headquarters, Shinih Enterprise Co., Ltd., is located in Taiwan and has been manufacturing Performance Fiberfill products since the early 1960s. Shinih now has 14 factories located in Asia. ANI and VFT are nationwide highloft batting producers, servicing primarily the furniture and bedding industries. The company offers patented Vertical Fiber up to a 3 pound density, with a loft as high as six inches. In addition to foam replacement, the company now has a highloft FR solution.
Balkan Textil—Booth 129
www.balkan.com.tr
Balkan Textil will be showing its line of robust, economical tearing and cleaning machines for textile recycling to include the new mini edge trim machine for the recycling of selvage. Balkan machines are perfect for the current economic climate, where mills endeavor to get as much out of a dollar as possible. The economical machines can be installed into any line to include exotic materials.
Stewarts of America is the agent for Balkan Textil (Turkey) in North America, South America and Canada. Stewarts of America will be displaying its vast selection of pinned products for nonwoven processing machinery. Stewarts will also display it’s line of hot needle and cold needle perforation and micro-perforation tooling and units for nonwovens.
Erema—Booth 432
www.erema.net
In the classic, patented EREMA recycling system, scrap material is fed into a large vertical cutter/compactor unit that uses friction to compress, size reduce and prewarm the plastic material. A unique advantage of the large cutter/compactor is the ability to dynamically blend scrap materials while they are in the chamber. Scrap, inconsistent in its material make-up and amounts, is blended to produce a steady, predictable melt. The preheated, densified material is then fed directly to the extruder screw. Compression and melting occur gradually, at a precisely controlled temperature, adding minimal heat history to the reclaim.
For light bulk density nonwovens, the Erema process ensures a steady production flow, allows direct feed of wide web rolls or loose material and allows a consistent feed of material to the extruder.
When our non-vented, T systems are installed with Erema backflushing screenchangers, the complete system is capable of efficiently handling most surficants and other contaminants and produces clean, stable and predictable near-virgin-quality pellets.
For nonwoven materials with exceptionally high amounts of surficants or other additives that create gases and must be removed from the reclaim, Erema offers a complete line of vented extruders, models TE and TVE. The TE system is a vented extruder with the melt filter in the traditional “end of the barrel” location. This configuration performs well for normally contaminated or gaseous materials. The TVE recycling system is uniquely capable of cleaning waste. In it, the melt filters are located before the degassing systems. This configuration has proven to be exceptionally capable of handling large amounts of contaminants at higher production rates than traditional vented extruders.
General Nonwovens—Booth 532
www.generalnonwovens.com
General Nonwovens is looking forward to meeting its existing customers as well as new customers at Techtextil North America in Las Vegas. General Nonwovens will promote nonwoven roll goods for automotive applications, technical textiles, carriers for extrusion coating, lamination and layers for composites at the show.
General Nonwovens is a producer of polypropylene and polyester spunbond nonwovens. The company produces spunbond nonwovens ranging from 12 to 200 gpsm up to 3.3 meters in width for hygiene, automotive, filtration, agriculture and technical applications. General Nonwovens’ brands include HyGen for hygiene and personal care products, FilterGen for filtration products, TexGen for coated and laminated fabrics as well as home textiles, AutoGen for the automotive industry, AgriGen for agriculture and horticulture applications, IndiGen for industrial and technical textiles and MediGen for medical and surgical media.
General Nonwovens’ technology and spinning process includes state-of-the-art downstream equipment. The multi-beam line includes sophisticated process controls and versatile fabric finishing capabilities, where fabric characteristics and performance can be optimized to specific needs.
In terms of technical capabilities, unique fiber spinning and a uniform lay-down systems allow General Nonwovens’ customers to substitute fabrics with lower basis weight products while achieving the same or better performance. Features such as hydrophilicity, ultraviolet stabilization, anti-static, anti-bacterial and flame retardancy can further enhance the nonwoven fabrics.
Khodiyar Grinding & Engineering—Booth 148
www.khodiyarindia.com
Indian company Khodiyar is one of the largest manufacturers of industrial rollers, trolleys, textile beams, rollers, shafts, rubber rollers, ebonite rolls and brush rolls for various industries. Established in 1975. Khodiyar’s hard work and quality is expected to support its growth. Located in Ahmedabad city of the Gujarat State, the company’s facility is spread across a 3000-square-foot area.
Khodiyar’s product range includes all types of industrial rollers for various industries such as textile, paper, printing, steel, cement, plastic and packaging, plywood, converting, fiber, polyester, film and foil.
Kretzer Scissors, Inc.—Booth 445
www.kretzer-scissors.com
Kretzer Scissors offers high quality, lightweight and ergonomic scissors from Solingen, Germany. The company begins with high-grade steel called Dura-steel, which is a lightweight stainless steel that will stay sharper five to 10 times longer than other steel. This allows for more production time and less sharpening as well as longer life for the shear.
Special grinding allows for a smooth and easy cut. The company’s Bo-Tec cut is a curved blade that maintains a 20 to 25 degree angle during the cut, which it has found to be the best angle for cutting. Additional grinding of facets on both blades allows the material to fall away easily after the cut.
The final touch is its soft Perfect Grip handle, which is ergonomically designed and very comfortable in the hand. With a soft cushion handle, there is no need for tape or band aids on the thumb or fingers.
The newest addition to the product line is Kretzer’s XXXL Extra Heavy tailors shears. These shears have a blade thickness of 5 mm. Although much lighter than traditional forged shears the XXXL will outperform heavy, old-style shears.
Whether you are cutting silks, wovens, leather, Kevlar, laminates, spectra or other material, Kretzer has the scissor to make the cut easier and save money
Oerlikon Neumag —Booth 121
www.neumag.oerlikontextile.com
Oerlikon Neumag will be at Techtextil North America promoting its carding technology with a series of improvements to FOR preparation and carding, Fehrer needlepunching and Autefa crosslapping. Technical innovations include a new modular card system, crosslappers with improved profiling plus a new drive technology and needlelooms with features such as elliptic needling, optimized needle patterns and automatic needle board exchange. For producing hydroentangled nonwovens, the FOR injection card and the Autefa crosslapper are also leading products with regard to speed and uniformity and are being applied worldwide with many leading hydroentangling systems.
Based on its experience with engineering projects, Oerlikon Neumag offers full-scope service in planning, creating and optimizing turnkey installations, documented by many prominent line start-ups by key players in the global nonwovens industry. Whether spunbond for the roofing industry or meltblown for filter applications, needlepunched for geotextiles or underlayments, or airlaid for the acoustics industry, Oerlikon Neumag has machines and processes that meet demanding customer needs.
Richard Hough Ltd.—Booth 421
www.richardhough.co.uk
A new range of calender rolls offering high levels of temperature resistance is being launched at Techtextil North America by Richard Hough Ltd. (RHL), of Bolton, U.K. The rolls are filled with Nomex, DuPont’s high-performance meta-aramid fiber and are targeted specifically at high-temperature calendering for technical textile applications. The rolls feature outstanding temperature resistance, excellent resistance to surface damage and resistance to high nip loads, ensuring minimum maintenance and a very long service life.
RHL produces new Nomex rolls or can refill existing filled rolls with Nomex material. Nomex can be resurfaced using standard equipment such as diamond tool, abrasive belt or stone grinding. Key applications for the Nomex rolls include: high-temperature supercalenders (e.g. for glassine papers, candy-wrap papers, release papers, condenser papers); high-temperature textile calenders (e.g. glazing calenders, friction calenders, thermalbonding calenders for nonwovens) and high-temperature/high-speed embossing calenders.
Nomex is a man-made fiber based material with a rigid and regular (meta-aramid) molecular structure. Because of the strong structural linkages, Nomex fibers are both chemically and thermally stable and will not flow or melt even above 350°C. For this reason Nomex is suited to high-temperature calendering, where alternative roll cover materials would quickly break down.
This unique construction also gives Nomex excellent marking resistance. Marking resistance and recovery are closely related to modulus of elasticity (the ability of the material to rebound to its original shape after being dented). The Nomex structure has a high modulus of elasticity, which is maintained at elevated temperatures.
Operational benefits include: outstanding temperature resistance, enabling the heated steel rolls to be run at up to 360˚C and excellent mark resistance due to its high modulus of elasticity; outstanding service life. Typically a Nomex roll will last five to 10 times longer than a normal elastic-filled roll, leading to lower operating costs.
Quality benefits range from positive gloss production (similar to cotton paper filled rolls) and excellent smoothing effect to superior lustrous finish on fabrics when used in combination with a highly polished steel roll.
Tatham—Booth 607
www.guilford.com.ar
Tatham, a global supplier of drive and control equipment, will highlight its latest developments in nonwovens processing technology at Techtextil North America in Las Vegas. New TS Drive and control equipment offers the following benefits: major savings in energy and operating costs, improved product quality, reduced waste and user-friendly operation.
In April, Tatham delivered a new weigh control system to Asten Johnson-Jonesboro Press. It was commissioned from the U.K. via a modem link, reducing the installation cost significantly. The remote support technology enables the system to be monitored and upgraded from Tatham’s new dedicated service center. The control system, known as the TS Microweigh, is the latest technology to monitor and control the delivery of fiber to a carding machine.
Tatham also offers drive technology for cards, crosslappers and needlelooms to replace existing DC drives. DC drives can be difficult to operate and maintain, so the company introduced the TS range of drives, which provide advantages in terms of both reduced operating costs and improved product quality by replacing them with more efficient and flexible AC drives.
A recent installation in China consisting of two cards and two crosslappers has 23 separate AC inverter drives all linked in complete synchronization. Other recent installations include an automotive carpet line in the U.K., a paper machine clothing line in the U.S. and a filtration media line in the U.K.
Texel—Booth 316
www.texel.ca
Texel specializes in needlepunch nonwovens for medical, industrial, wipes, clothing, filtration, agrotextile and geotextile markets. Founded in 1967, Texel, a division of ADS inc., is a leader in manufacturing needlepunch nonwoven fabrics for technical use. Its products have been used in America, Asia and Europe for more than 40 years. Located near Quebec City, Texel has earned its reputation through the performance of its dynamic, disciplined and innovative management team. Texel’s strategic position is achieved through its ability to adapt to the needs of its clients and to market solutions. Its needlepunch nonwoven products provide confidence and safety to medical personnel, help beautify consumers, strengthen the industrial sector, provide added value to garments, control vegetation problems, purify environmental waste through its filtration principle and, thanks to its line of geotextiles, solve the most complex civil engineering problems.
In addition to its six production lines, Texel has a world-class pilot line for its R&D department, which strengthens the company in terms of innovation and modernization. While excelling in the development of engineered fabrics, the Texel team also receives high marks in quality control, customer service and customer response time.
Always on the lookout for new technologies, Texel continues to invest in cutting-edge technologies with greater performance. To remain a major player in the specialized nonwoven fabrics market, Texel plans to position itself as a recognized specialist in the manufacture of innovative needlepunch nonwovens. In the coming years, Texel aims to increase the manufacturing capacity of value-added proprietary products and to add new finishing lines in order to continue building trust with its clients as a supplier of choice. Through its niche products, Texel will meet the consumer’s next generation needs.
Zimmer Machinery Corporation— Booth 137
www.zimmer-usa.com
Zimmer Machinery and Italy-based Texnology s.r.l., announce a new developments in nonwoven production lines, the new Evolution crosslapper and the Universal Profile system. With this new generation of machines, the density of the folded material can be changed as required, not only at the sides, but along the entire working width of the exiting material, in a fully automatic way. It can be used on all types of systems (new or reconditioned), on all types of fibers and on all types of veil construction. Both the control logic and the mechanical construction are protected by international patents.
This new Universal Profile system will be on display for a brief time at the company’s Italian R&D center on an Evolution-type machine (3000x7000 for a geotextile line), before being exported to a customer abroad.
In other news, Zimmer Machinery and Italy-based TecTex, have sold three needlepunching machines to Ecofibre Srl in Motale, Northern Italy. All three machines have a working width of 295 inches/7500 mm.
These machines are the latest generation looms incorporating the latest innovations such as: new, super-rigid mainframes with central support feet; new no-friction device to control needles’ axiality; new needlebeams, supports and forks in ultra light aluminum; temperature sensors on all bearings; pneumatic clamping system on boards with pneumatic pin to center the last board; and ultra rapid air exit systems on rails with motors to move them away from machines for regular maintenance. The machines also feature a new cooling system for bearings to lower noise and improve cooling as well as multiple motorization on the batt feeding system to optimize web drafting.
The needlelooms can be seen in operation at Tectex before they are delivered and installed at the customer’s facility.
Held concurrently with the exhibition, the symposium will contain 13 sessions with more than 65 presentations in a variety of formats that will cover a range of topics from composites, automotive, defense textiles and nanotechnology to performance textiles and materials technology.
“I am confident in the success of the upcoming Techtextil North America in Las Vegas,” commented Bill Smith, symposium director. “Though we are certainly in tough economic times, most individuals I speak with are still upbeat. Some are even reporting record sales while others are new suppliers entering the market. And the chance to expose our industry in greater detail to those in the Western part of the U.S. is receiving growing enthusiasm.”
Keynote Address and General Session
Performance Fiber’s CEO, Richard Brown, will present the keynote address, “Adapting to Changing Times,” which will focus on how the fiber industry has changed and how companies adjust to changes in order to remain competitive. Other topics in this opening session will include global participation, the state of the manufacturing industry in North America and a look at the current state of the industry.
Buildtech/Architecture—Led by Dr. Barbara Pause, president of Textile Texting Solutions, this session will delve into the new developments of technical textiles in use for building and architecture. This is a fast growing segment of the industry and applications in this field are becoming more sophisticated and setting new design standards.
Introduction to Technical Textile Markets—For the first time ever there will be a session for those who are new to the industry. The session will provide a general introduction to technical textiles with an international team of presenters.
Military/Defense Textiles—This topic has always been one of the most successful in the history of the symposium and will once again be led by Eugene Wilusz from Natick Soldier RD&E Center. The 2009 program will present an update on many new developments for the military that may be applicable for commercial use.
Composites/Aerospace—A quickly growing, major sub-set of technical textiles involving materials ranging from commercial products to ballistic protection to aerospace. This program will include information on the growing use of composites in products, including carbon and new materials and techniques. One topic will feature the growing use of structural composites in aircraft, such as the Airbus 380 and the Boeing Dreamliner
Nonwovens—There will be two sessions specifically dedicated to the nonwovens field. The first will focus on new technical techniques for improved performance. The second will explore the increased use of nonwoven fabrics in a broad range of technical textile areas.
Technical Textiles Research—A special program of the symposium, which involves a fresh look at some of the research being conducted by various universities, institutions and laboratories. Seshadri Ramkumar from Texas Tech University will lead this session.
Performance/Protection Textiles—The performance and protection areas are typical of fields where new and improved features of materials make for more effective end uses. Often, this results in the creation of new markets. These application areas benefit from many of the developments and new technologies in other fields. Consequently, better leisure and performance products, as well as superior protection from the elements and life-threatening hazards can be achieved.
Other sessions include: Materials Technology; Nanotechnolgy in Textiles; Automotive/Mobiletech; and Medical Textiles. For a full Techtextil North America Symposium 2009 schedule and additional information on each of the sessions, visit www.techtextilNA.com
AccuSentry, Inc.—Booth 520
www.accusentry.com
AccuSentry will feature the SentryPoint Management Reporting System (MRS) for its flagship Sentry 9000 system at Techtextil North America. The Sentry 9000 system delivers a complete integrated machine vision solution for automated 100% Product Inspection for continuous web, sheet and surface inspection. The SentryPoint MRS allows management to access key real time actionable production and inspection information from virtually anywhere with secured web-based interface. It delivers customized, differentiated and targeted solutions. Production information such as downtime analysis, production analysis, scrap analysis and a key performance indicator can be accessed instantly. The system comes with many design features such as auto update from another database, custom reports and charts, and different user access levels and custom page views. The SentryPoint supports machine, line and plant expansion to accommodate manufacturing growth.
Aeroglide Corporation—Booth 436
www.aeroglide.com
Aeroglide provides custom designed equipment for through-air drying (TAD), thermal bonding, heat setting, curing and finishing. Applications include spunlace, airlaid, wet laid, spunbond (SMS composites), coated and foam impregnated webs.
The company’s equipment offering includes suction drum dryers in single and multiple drum configurations. Multiple drums are ideal for applications requiring high line speed, extended dwell time and in-line temperature profiling for drying, thermal bonding or cooling. Single drum drier designs feature high evaporation rates for short dwell time, high speed, delicate web or single sided contact applications.
Aeroglide also offers single and multi-pass flat bed through-air driers (TAD) for highloft and loose web nonwovens applications that require gentle through-flow processing and support throughout the heating processes. Also available are impingement-style driers for foam or coated webs.
Having a worldwide presence has been critical to successfully supporting customers at their facilities. Permanent sales and service offices in Europe and Asia-Pacific provide a base for this unmatched service and responsiveness supported by its manufacturing, engineering and headquarters in the U.S.
American Nonwovens Inc.—Booth 237
www.vft.com and www.amerinon.com
American Nonwovens Inc (ANI) and Vertical Fiber Technologies (VFT) have been operating in the U.S. since 1997. Its corporate headquarters, Shinih Enterprise Co., Ltd., is located in Taiwan and has been manufacturing Performance Fiberfill products since the early 1960s. Shinih now has 14 factories located in Asia. ANI and VFT are nationwide highloft batting producers, servicing primarily the furniture and bedding industries. The company offers patented Vertical Fiber up to a 3 pound density, with a loft as high as six inches. In addition to foam replacement, the company now has a highloft FR solution.
Balkan Textil—Booth 129
www.balkan.com.tr
Balkan Textil will be showing its line of robust, economical tearing and cleaning machines for textile recycling to include the new mini edge trim machine for the recycling of selvage. Balkan machines are perfect for the current economic climate, where mills endeavor to get as much out of a dollar as possible. The economical machines can be installed into any line to include exotic materials.
Stewarts of America is the agent for Balkan Textil (Turkey) in North America, South America and Canada. Stewarts of America will be displaying its vast selection of pinned products for nonwoven processing machinery. Stewarts will also display it’s line of hot needle and cold needle perforation and micro-perforation tooling and units for nonwovens.
Erema—Booth 432
www.erema.net
In the classic, patented EREMA recycling system, scrap material is fed into a large vertical cutter/compactor unit that uses friction to compress, size reduce and prewarm the plastic material. A unique advantage of the large cutter/compactor is the ability to dynamically blend scrap materials while they are in the chamber. Scrap, inconsistent in its material make-up and amounts, is blended to produce a steady, predictable melt. The preheated, densified material is then fed directly to the extruder screw. Compression and melting occur gradually, at a precisely controlled temperature, adding minimal heat history to the reclaim.
For light bulk density nonwovens, the Erema process ensures a steady production flow, allows direct feed of wide web rolls or loose material and allows a consistent feed of material to the extruder.
When our non-vented, T systems are installed with Erema backflushing screenchangers, the complete system is capable of efficiently handling most surficants and other contaminants and produces clean, stable and predictable near-virgin-quality pellets.
For nonwoven materials with exceptionally high amounts of surficants or other additives that create gases and must be removed from the reclaim, Erema offers a complete line of vented extruders, models TE and TVE. The TE system is a vented extruder with the melt filter in the traditional “end of the barrel” location. This configuration performs well for normally contaminated or gaseous materials. The TVE recycling system is uniquely capable of cleaning waste. In it, the melt filters are located before the degassing systems. This configuration has proven to be exceptionally capable of handling large amounts of contaminants at higher production rates than traditional vented extruders.
General Nonwovens—Booth 532
www.generalnonwovens.com
General Nonwovens is looking forward to meeting its existing customers as well as new customers at Techtextil North America in Las Vegas. General Nonwovens will promote nonwoven roll goods for automotive applications, technical textiles, carriers for extrusion coating, lamination and layers for composites at the show.
General Nonwovens is a producer of polypropylene and polyester spunbond nonwovens. The company produces spunbond nonwovens ranging from 12 to 200 gpsm up to 3.3 meters in width for hygiene, automotive, filtration, agriculture and technical applications. General Nonwovens’ brands include HyGen for hygiene and personal care products, FilterGen for filtration products, TexGen for coated and laminated fabrics as well as home textiles, AutoGen for the automotive industry, AgriGen for agriculture and horticulture applications, IndiGen for industrial and technical textiles and MediGen for medical and surgical media.
General Nonwovens’ technology and spinning process includes state-of-the-art downstream equipment. The multi-beam line includes sophisticated process controls and versatile fabric finishing capabilities, where fabric characteristics and performance can be optimized to specific needs.
In terms of technical capabilities, unique fiber spinning and a uniform lay-down systems allow General Nonwovens’ customers to substitute fabrics with lower basis weight products while achieving the same or better performance. Features such as hydrophilicity, ultraviolet stabilization, anti-static, anti-bacterial and flame retardancy can further enhance the nonwoven fabrics.
Khodiyar Grinding & Engineering—Booth 148
www.khodiyarindia.com
Indian company Khodiyar is one of the largest manufacturers of industrial rollers, trolleys, textile beams, rollers, shafts, rubber rollers, ebonite rolls and brush rolls for various industries. Established in 1975. Khodiyar’s hard work and quality is expected to support its growth. Located in Ahmedabad city of the Gujarat State, the company’s facility is spread across a 3000-square-foot area.
Khodiyar’s product range includes all types of industrial rollers for various industries such as textile, paper, printing, steel, cement, plastic and packaging, plywood, converting, fiber, polyester, film and foil.
Kretzer Scissors, Inc.—Booth 445
www.kretzer-scissors.com
Kretzer Scissors offers high quality, lightweight and ergonomic scissors from Solingen, Germany. The company begins with high-grade steel called Dura-steel, which is a lightweight stainless steel that will stay sharper five to 10 times longer than other steel. This allows for more production time and less sharpening as well as longer life for the shear.
Special grinding allows for a smooth and easy cut. The company’s Bo-Tec cut is a curved blade that maintains a 20 to 25 degree angle during the cut, which it has found to be the best angle for cutting. Additional grinding of facets on both blades allows the material to fall away easily after the cut.
The final touch is its soft Perfect Grip handle, which is ergonomically designed and very comfortable in the hand. With a soft cushion handle, there is no need for tape or band aids on the thumb or fingers.
The newest addition to the product line is Kretzer’s XXXL Extra Heavy tailors shears. These shears have a blade thickness of 5 mm. Although much lighter than traditional forged shears the XXXL will outperform heavy, old-style shears.
Whether you are cutting silks, wovens, leather, Kevlar, laminates, spectra or other material, Kretzer has the scissor to make the cut easier and save money
Oerlikon Neumag —Booth 121
www.neumag.oerlikontextile.com
Oerlikon Neumag will be at Techtextil North America promoting its carding technology with a series of improvements to FOR preparation and carding, Fehrer needlepunching and Autefa crosslapping. Technical innovations include a new modular card system, crosslappers with improved profiling plus a new drive technology and needlelooms with features such as elliptic needling, optimized needle patterns and automatic needle board exchange. For producing hydroentangled nonwovens, the FOR injection card and the Autefa crosslapper are also leading products with regard to speed and uniformity and are being applied worldwide with many leading hydroentangling systems.
Based on its experience with engineering projects, Oerlikon Neumag offers full-scope service in planning, creating and optimizing turnkey installations, documented by many prominent line start-ups by key players in the global nonwovens industry. Whether spunbond for the roofing industry or meltblown for filter applications, needlepunched for geotextiles or underlayments, or airlaid for the acoustics industry, Oerlikon Neumag has machines and processes that meet demanding customer needs.
Richard Hough Ltd.—Booth 421
www.richardhough.co.uk
A new range of calender rolls offering high levels of temperature resistance is being launched at Techtextil North America by Richard Hough Ltd. (RHL), of Bolton, U.K. The rolls are filled with Nomex, DuPont’s high-performance meta-aramid fiber and are targeted specifically at high-temperature calendering for technical textile applications. The rolls feature outstanding temperature resistance, excellent resistance to surface damage and resistance to high nip loads, ensuring minimum maintenance and a very long service life.
RHL produces new Nomex rolls or can refill existing filled rolls with Nomex material. Nomex can be resurfaced using standard equipment such as diamond tool, abrasive belt or stone grinding. Key applications for the Nomex rolls include: high-temperature supercalenders (e.g. for glassine papers, candy-wrap papers, release papers, condenser papers); high-temperature textile calenders (e.g. glazing calenders, friction calenders, thermalbonding calenders for nonwovens) and high-temperature/high-speed embossing calenders.
Nomex is a man-made fiber based material with a rigid and regular (meta-aramid) molecular structure. Because of the strong structural linkages, Nomex fibers are both chemically and thermally stable and will not flow or melt even above 350°C. For this reason Nomex is suited to high-temperature calendering, where alternative roll cover materials would quickly break down.
This unique construction also gives Nomex excellent marking resistance. Marking resistance and recovery are closely related to modulus of elasticity (the ability of the material to rebound to its original shape after being dented). The Nomex structure has a high modulus of elasticity, which is maintained at elevated temperatures.
Operational benefits include: outstanding temperature resistance, enabling the heated steel rolls to be run at up to 360˚C and excellent mark resistance due to its high modulus of elasticity; outstanding service life. Typically a Nomex roll will last five to 10 times longer than a normal elastic-filled roll, leading to lower operating costs.
Quality benefits range from positive gloss production (similar to cotton paper filled rolls) and excellent smoothing effect to superior lustrous finish on fabrics when used in combination with a highly polished steel roll.
Tatham—Booth 607
www.guilford.com.ar
Tatham, a global supplier of drive and control equipment, will highlight its latest developments in nonwovens processing technology at Techtextil North America in Las Vegas. New TS Drive and control equipment offers the following benefits: major savings in energy and operating costs, improved product quality, reduced waste and user-friendly operation.
In April, Tatham delivered a new weigh control system to Asten Johnson-Jonesboro Press. It was commissioned from the U.K. via a modem link, reducing the installation cost significantly. The remote support technology enables the system to be monitored and upgraded from Tatham’s new dedicated service center. The control system, known as the TS Microweigh, is the latest technology to monitor and control the delivery of fiber to a carding machine.
Tatham also offers drive technology for cards, crosslappers and needlelooms to replace existing DC drives. DC drives can be difficult to operate and maintain, so the company introduced the TS range of drives, which provide advantages in terms of both reduced operating costs and improved product quality by replacing them with more efficient and flexible AC drives.
A recent installation in China consisting of two cards and two crosslappers has 23 separate AC inverter drives all linked in complete synchronization. Other recent installations include an automotive carpet line in the U.K., a paper machine clothing line in the U.S. and a filtration media line in the U.K.
Texel—Booth 316
www.texel.ca
Texel specializes in needlepunch nonwovens for medical, industrial, wipes, clothing, filtration, agrotextile and geotextile markets. Founded in 1967, Texel, a division of ADS inc., is a leader in manufacturing needlepunch nonwoven fabrics for technical use. Its products have been used in America, Asia and Europe for more than 40 years. Located near Quebec City, Texel has earned its reputation through the performance of its dynamic, disciplined and innovative management team. Texel’s strategic position is achieved through its ability to adapt to the needs of its clients and to market solutions. Its needlepunch nonwoven products provide confidence and safety to medical personnel, help beautify consumers, strengthen the industrial sector, provide added value to garments, control vegetation problems, purify environmental waste through its filtration principle and, thanks to its line of geotextiles, solve the most complex civil engineering problems.
In addition to its six production lines, Texel has a world-class pilot line for its R&D department, which strengthens the company in terms of innovation and modernization. While excelling in the development of engineered fabrics, the Texel team also receives high marks in quality control, customer service and customer response time.
Always on the lookout for new technologies, Texel continues to invest in cutting-edge technologies with greater performance. To remain a major player in the specialized nonwoven fabrics market, Texel plans to position itself as a recognized specialist in the manufacture of innovative needlepunch nonwovens. In the coming years, Texel aims to increase the manufacturing capacity of value-added proprietary products and to add new finishing lines in order to continue building trust with its clients as a supplier of choice. Through its niche products, Texel will meet the consumer’s next generation needs.
Zimmer Machinery Corporation— Booth 137
www.zimmer-usa.com
Zimmer Machinery and Italy-based Texnology s.r.l., announce a new developments in nonwoven production lines, the new Evolution crosslapper and the Universal Profile system. With this new generation of machines, the density of the folded material can be changed as required, not only at the sides, but along the entire working width of the exiting material, in a fully automatic way. It can be used on all types of systems (new or reconditioned), on all types of fibers and on all types of veil construction. Both the control logic and the mechanical construction are protected by international patents.
This new Universal Profile system will be on display for a brief time at the company’s Italian R&D center on an Evolution-type machine (3000x7000 for a geotextile line), before being exported to a customer abroad.
In other news, Zimmer Machinery and Italy-based TecTex, have sold three needlepunching machines to Ecofibre Srl in Motale, Northern Italy. All three machines have a working width of 295 inches/7500 mm.
These machines are the latest generation looms incorporating the latest innovations such as: new, super-rigid mainframes with central support feet; new no-friction device to control needles’ axiality; new needlebeams, supports and forks in ultra light aluminum; temperature sensors on all bearings; pneumatic clamping system on boards with pneumatic pin to center the last board; and ultra rapid air exit systems on rails with motors to move them away from machines for regular maintenance. The machines also feature a new cooling system for bearings to lower noise and improve cooling as well as multiple motorization on the batt feeding system to optimize web drafting.
The needlelooms can be seen in operation at Tectex before they are delivered and installed at the customer’s facility.