A Monforts texCoat magnetic coating unit as part of a Montex range at German coating specialist van Clewe. © Monforts

Monforts will demonstrate a number of enhancements that have recently been made to its texCoat and Allround coating units at the forthcoming Techtextil show in Frankfurt from 14-17 May.

In a major development for the coating of technical textiles and nonwovens, Monforts is now offering the coating roller for its texCoat and Allround coating units as an optional carbon fibre version, in order to meet even the highest level of coating accuracy that is being demanded by the most exacting customers today.

“The carbon rollers provide the extreme stiffness necessary to deal with the winding tension required in the processing of materials such as prepregs for composites and other heavyweight fabrics, but at the same time, a significant improvement in coating accuracy is achieved, even for very lightweight flexible materials,” explained Jürgen Hanel, Monforts Head of Technical Textiles. “In addition, the surfaces of the rollers are protected against both abrasion and damage from aggressive chemicals by a special ceramic coating.” A further benefit is that the rollers are much easier to clean, he adds.

The extremely flexible texCoat unit at Mariani in Italy is allowing the company to carry out both knife over air and knife over roller coating based on simple and user-friendly PLC techniques. © Monforts

“Since we acquired the coating technology that our texCoat and Allround systems are based on in 2015 we have made a lot of refinements,” he said. “All of these developments are reflected in higher coating accuracy and the resulting quality of the treated fabrics. At the same time, our latest multi-functional coating heads offer an unprecedented range of options, with a wide range of modules available.”

Machine layouts for the technical textiles and nonwovens industries now account for more than 25% of Monforts’ turnover and notable recent successes have included the supply of a complete six-metre-wide coating unit to a leading manufacturer of substrates for digitally-printed soft signage in Germany.

One of the two Montex stenters installed at the plant of Bethge in Switzerland is equipped with the latest Monforts texCoat system, as an extension of the company’s services to its customers. © Monforts

Other systems are in place for applications ranging from carbon fabrics for high-performance composites and filter media which must perform in extreme temperatures, to flame retardant barrier fabrics, heavy duty membranes for the collection and storage of methane in biogas plants, and materials equipped with sensors and electrical conductors employed as base liners in DSC solar cells, to name just a few.

All of these materials, however, have one thing in common – they all require expert coating and finishing for maximum efficiency and the technology to allow for ultimate flexibility and the ability to switch quickly from one fabric formula to the next, without compromising on the economical use of energy or raw materials.

The Monforts Allround coating unit. © Monforts

“Monforts is the only manufacturer to offer completely integrated coating lines from a single source and the coating machine is tailored to the subsequent Monforts drying technology – with all the benefits resulting from a fully integrated plc control,” said Mr Hanel. “Our systems have the shortest fabric path from the coating unit into the stenter and we have all variations of coating application systems too – and all of these options are available in wider widths, with the engineering and manufacturing from a single source here in Europe.”

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