Uster offers a combined solution for nonwovens QC

Uster (Switzerland)

Nonwovens
producers need their products to be flawless – but they know this objective
takes some doing in practice. ‘Ordinary’ fabric inspection routines simply
can’t deliver: only automated systems using high-performance spectroscopes are
able to achieve the required standards, ensuring that quality is always
significantly better. So, nonwovens manufacturers might be interested to hear
first hand at the upcoming INDEX from the only provider of an effective fiber
and fabric quality monitoring solution.

 

EDANA and INDA, the leading global nonwovens
associations, recently issued the 2021 edition of their ‘Standard Procedures’
guidance for nonwovens and related industries. These authoritative documents
aim to define, in technical terms, relevant products – including 107 individual
test regimes. This special article covers a range of intermediate measures and
test processes for spunlace and other nonwoven technologies – leading
ultimately to products with top class designations.

 

Pure fibers only

Nonwoven
materials can’t really be better than the fibers they are made of. But there is
a real threat to the quality of nonwovens caused by contamination. Fiber cleaning is the solution and
bundle size is the key detail: small contaminant particles can hide inside
bigger bundles, making them especially difficult to locate when the material is
more compressed. Uster Jossi Vision
Shield N is ideally positioned in the line to overcome this, directly behind
the fine opener. This ensures that the fiber bundles pass the spectroscopes in
their most open state.

Uster Jossi Vision Shield N is the result
of surveys, close collaboration with international nonwovens companies and
countless hours of field tests. Installation is easy, since the fiber cleaner’s
slim design fits perfectly into existing lines – and readily copes with the
high output of standard production lines. For best detection results, the fiber
cleaner is tuned to identify the typical contamination types in nonwovens,
including colored fibers.

 

Growing demand, growing needs

In
Europe last year, medical applications recorded an increase in demand of 118%
and wipes personal care plus 22%. These are the top two growing segments
according to EDANA – and they are also the ones showing a trend towards zero tolerance levels for defects larger than 1 mm. While other technologies use conventional
color cameras, the built-in spectroscopes of Uster
Jossi Vision Shield N operate on
a much greater wavelength range. This enables detection of contamination within
the ‘invisible’ range of infrared and ultraviolet light, and even contamination
fragments of the same or similar shade as the fibers themselves – down to the
fineness of a human hair.

 

 

For the record: Uster Jossi Vision Shield
N is made in Uster, Switzerland. So is Uster
EVS Fabriq Vision N,
the nonwovens quality assurance system which ensures a consistently high rate of fault detection using automated
inspection during the production process. “Our customers aim for confidence in delivering the right quality
to strengthen their own customer relationships. With Uster
EVS Fabriq Vision N, they can guarantee quality compliance and protect
their business,” says Grégory Winiger, Area Sales Manager at Uster
Technologies.

 

The right quality on the roll

The Uster nonwovens systems lead to total
fabric quality assurance by using automated control during intermediate
inspection. Uster EVS Fabriq Vision N
locates any visible faults objectively and consistently. Defects in every roll
are located and recorded in a defect map, at full line running speeds.

 

Uster EVS Fabriq Vision N enables seamless integration of an inspection
system into any production process – and ideally into nonwovens manufacturing
lines – detecting contamination, holes, irregularities and any other defect.
Installation is simple and flexible: a fixture bar bridges the full width of
the process line, holding as many spectroscopes as required for the
application.

 

“With improved quality, as well as improved
first-quality efficiency, Uster EVS Fabriq Vision N
offers an additional advantage for all applications,” says Winiger. The
combination of a full map of fabric defects and the cut optimization module
means more first-quality rolls can be produced and bad quality taken out.

 

Complete quality solution

The combination of Uster automated contamination
removal and quality assurance is the best solution today for nonwovens
producers to protect quality, avoid material waste and take full advantage of
the potential for process optimization. “The combination of Uster
Jossi Vision Shield N and Uster EVS Fabriq Vision N means that Uster can offer a complete and unique quality monitoring
solution for the nonwoven industry,” says Winiger.

 

Uster will present this solution at INDEX in Geneva,
Switzerland from October 19-22, 2021.