Flexibility, product uniformity and automation are the keys to success for coating businesses in today’s rapidly-changing technical textiles industry, explained Jürgen Hanel, Monforts Head of Technical Textiles, at the recent 1st World Congress on Textile Coating.
Introducing the latest Montex®Coat magnetic roller coating option to virtual delegates from around the world at the conference organised by International Newsletters, Hanel explained why this technology makes perfect sense now.
“The magnetic roller system allows a wide range of coatings and finishes to be carried out, while being easy to handle for operators and much easier to clean at the end of the process. It provides textile finishers with an expanded range of options due to the fully-adjustable positioning of the magnet within the roller and with four different magnet positions possible, can be set to operate both as a direct coating system and as an indirect coater,” said Hanel.
With traditional dip coating systems, he added, as well as with many standard knife coating technologies, there is always a difference in the tension between the centre and the edges of the wide width fabrics being treated – and hence the amount of pressure with which the coating is applied. With the use of a magnetic roller, equal pressure is applied across the full width of the fabric, with consistent results even at wide widths of over 2.4 metres. In addition, adjusting the roller surface, rather than changing the coating formulation to match the required add-on and viscosity for each coating effect required, leads to much higher output from the line.
Cleaner and less wasteful
“A typical integrated Monforts coating line is automated from the inlet feed to the winder. Adjustments can also be made simply and easily from the touchscreen and with the new hand-held remote controller which has recently been introduced for the Montex®Coat unit,” Hanel stated.
The accuracy that is now being demanded by today’s most exacting customers is met with an optional carbon fibre roller – especially in dealing with the winding tension required in the processing of materials such as prepregs for composites and other heavyweight fabrics. Typical applications for the Montex®Coat include the finishing of tents and awnings, black-out roller blinds and sail cloth, automotive interior fabrics and medical disposables. Full PVC coatings, pigment dyeing or minimal application surface and low penetration treatments can all be accommodated.
