Capabilities
Engineering Expertise | Lab Testing
Weaving Equipment
For the majority of our work, we employ rigid rapier looms with positive transfer; weaving widths up to 4m.
Airjet looms are available for weaving the lightest weight fabrics.
Finishing Processes & Equipment
We employ reiterative processing techniques to coax the most out of a fabric’s potential. Such properties are not achievable with conventional in-line processing of technical fabrics.
Open beck jigs are used for cleaning and dyeing of fabrics. Our cleaning techniques provide for the highest absence of producer oils and sizing starches achievable in the industry; this is especially important for those customers looking for excellent adhesion in subsequent fabrication steps.
Open beck jigs are used as well to add surface finishes, such as soil and water resists, and to accomplish some heat setting or stabilization of the fabric.
Heat Setting equipment
Synthetic thermoplastic fibers constitute 99% of our fabrics – nylon, polyester, Nomex, and Teflon PTFE. They shrink upon seeing elevated temperature, sometimes extremely, which means that fabrics made from them have to be heat stabilized to match the fabrication or operating parameters of our customer’s applications. Almost every performance characteristic of a fabric changes when going through Finishing, but especially in Heat Setting.
Contact heat setters and tenter frames are the primary equipment for heat stabilization of our synthetic fabrics. The maximum temperatures available in our equipment approaches or exceeds the melting or charring temperature of the fibers in the fabric, depending on the fiber or fibers in the fabric.
Contact heat setters are a series of heated drums over which the fabric passes to shrink the fabric without benefit of width control. This allows for a full, natural shrinkage of the fabric and optimal elongation properties.
.
Tenter frames are essentially linear ovens that heat stabilize the fabric with width control. This method allows for more uniform width control than with contact heat setting equipment. We employ clip tenter frames to ensure that there is no material loss in the vicinity of the selvedge, as is characteristic of fabric finished on pin tenter frames. Tentering on a clip frame such as we use is especially valuable to coaters who prefer to coat as wide as the useable fabric width allows.Calendering is customarily the final step in the finishing process. Employing high tonnage squeeze rollers, the calender imparts final properties to a fabric, such as gauge, permeability, visual appearance, or hand (manual texture).
Finished widths are typically available from 30” to 74”.
