Peak performance, whatever the technical fabric

Hall: 3 | Booth: F01

At next month’s Techtextil 2019 in Frankfurt, Germany, A. Monforts Textilmaschinen GmbH & Co. KG will be highlighting all of the innovative features that have made the Montex stenter the undisputed leader in the field of technical fabric finishing.

“Techtextil is a very important show for us, because technical textiles are a key pillar of our production programme and many of our existing customers will be exhibiting or attending, as well as those we have yet to meet,” says Jürgen Hanel, Head of Technical Textiles at Monforts. “The show provides us with an opportunity to explain the diverse end-products that can be successfully finished on our stenters, as well as with our coating units.”

A number of successful recent Monforts Montex stenter installations in Europe, for example, are dedicated to the production of wide-width digital printing substrates, to high volume automotive fabrics and to heavy duty filter media, to name just three advanced technical materials.

Digital print

Three Montex stenters have just been installed at the plant of a leading finisher of substrates for digital printing substrates in Germany – two of them in extra-wide widths of 5.4 m – for drying after both washing and coating processes.

A new standard in pure white, 100 per cent clean and fault-free textile substrates has been demanded in recent years by the rapid growth in digitally-printed banners and hoardings – often referred to as ‘soft signage’.

“The substrates of choice for digital printing are 100 per cent polyester warp knits which have extremely smooth surfaces,” says Hanel. “This is becoming increasingly critical due to the general move away from PVC coatings which were the standard in the past. Quality inspection and control systems analyse every square metre of fabric to ensure completely uniform and blemish-free production.”

The fabrics produced are resilient and allow excellent take-up of inks for vibrant colours and clear and precise images to be achieved with digital printing techniques. The knitted construction also has the advantage of elasticity, which is a plus in terms of flexibility for soft signage installers. These fabrics are being supplied fully finished, in weights of between 50-350 gsm and in rolls of up to 600 kg or 1,800 m.

Automotive

Polyester warp knits, as well as woven materials, are also continuously pre-treated and finished on Montex stenters by leading Tier 1 suppliers of seating materials to the automotive industry. As part of the ‘just-in-time’ operations of integrated automotive supply chains, the emphasis for these manufacturers is not just on 100 per cent quality standards, but also on precise control and guaranteed reproducibility. Here, the Monforts Qualitex 800 visualisation system – representing the latest Monforts response to the demand for instant connectivity and the easy distribution of know-how among production teams and management – has an essential role to play in the meticulous orchestration of such operations.

Filter media

The ability to thermally-set PTFE fabrics without oil greasing in the stenter chain and in the width adjustment is meanwhile particularly appreciated by manufacturers of filter media using Montex stenters.

“This protects workers and the environment from harmful oil vapours and keeps the filter material clean,” explains Hanel. “The guarantee of reaching 320°C with a very low temperature tolerance and with an excellent housing insulation is a major advantage, so that an outside temperature over 60°C is never reached at any point.”

Montex stenters in special executions are ideal for the preparation of filter materials for the drying and finishing of both wovens and nonwovens and characterised by high stretching devices in both length and width of up to 10,000N, with the ability to accommodate the higher operating temperatures required.

“The European-built Montex range of stenters has earned its leading position in the technical textiles market due to the overall robustness, reliability and economy of these machines,” Jürgen Hanel concludes. “Whatever the intended end-product – and at each successive Techtextil we discover potentially new areas in which technical textiles can be utilised – we have the machine specification and know-how to turn your ideas into reality.”