Techtextil and Avantex Innovation Awards go to six brand-new developments

13 June 2009, Frankfurt - A total of six innovations have been selected for this year’s Techtextil and Avantex Innovation Awards. The awards go to innovative solutions from the fields of material and product development, new processes and innovative garments. The aim of the awards is to promote un­conventional thinking and to intensify the dialogue between research, manufacturers and users.

“Trade visitors will find the award-wining developments in a special exhibition during the International Trade Fair for Technical Textiles and Nonwovens. The winners of the Techtextil Innovation Award will be in Hall 4.1 (Stand J34) and the Avantex winners in Hall 3.1 (Stand B21)”, explains Olaf Schmidt, Vice President, Textile Fairs.

The Awards Ceremony will be held in the Congress Centre Messe Frankfurt (Room Illusion) at 18.15 hrs on 15 June 2009. Of the four Techtextil Innovation Awards, one will be given for a new material, one for a new product and two for new processes. The two Avantex Innovation Awards will be presented for a new product and for innovative apparel.

The Techtextil Innovation Awards winners are as follows:

Category: New Materials

Thermo-formable yarn

In cooperation with Luxilon Industries NV, Massebeuf has developed a new material, thermo-formable yarn. This is a new polymer that becomes bi-stable after being spun into a monofilament it is flexible and rigid after activation. It can be used as a standard yarn on conventional textile knitting, weaving or braiding machines. The thermo-formable yarn is subjected to a temperature of 65° C and, as soon as this has been reached and held for a given length of time, the textile structure can be formed into any shape required. Heat can be applied via a hot-water bath, hair-dryer or oven.

During cooling, the textiles become stiffer and become a supporting structure. The advantages are a textile-based structure with two states, less weight, greater wearing comfort, a breathable porous structure, easier handling in the case of smaller objects.

Award winners: Patrick Massebeuf, Luxilon Industries, Massebeuf Textiles & Luxilon Industries, Ponte de Labeaume (Belgium).

New Products

High-performance composite cooling conveyor belt for melt hardening

In most cases, the production of solid products in the chemical and food industries is carried out on endless steel cooling conveyor belts. To this end, heat is taken from the product by indirect cooling until it has hardened completely. This stage is necessary to harden products so they can be transported, packaged or dosed. Together with KAISER Steel Belt Systems, Heimbach Specialities has developed a new cooling conveyor-belt material made of textile copper-aramide backing fabric coated with high-temperature-resistant special silicon.

The new composite belt is not only much superior to the steel belt in terms of heat transfer and complete removal of the product from the belt but also significantly more flexible and pliable. Although originally developed for highly adhesive products, numerous tests and installations have also shown considerable advantages for con­ventional products, such as sulphur, wax and resin.

Award winners: Dr. Ralf Kaldenhoff, Werner Walther, Heimbach Specialities AG (Belgium), Andreas Robens, KAISER SBS GmbH (Germany) 

New Processes

Three-dimensional thread-laid stitch-bonded fabric

A principle for demand-oriented warp-thread feeding developed at Dresden Technical University makes it possible to create flat and spatially curved textile structures with load-oriented reinforcement thread laying. The basic idea of this development, which presupposes stitch bonding with parallel weft insertion and weft-thread oriented loop formation, is based on the variable delivery of the individual warp thread lengths. This new technological solution lays the foundation not only for greater variation in two and three dimensional semi-finished textile products with bi-axial endless-thread reinforcement but also for greater efficiency in their production and processing.

Award winners: Thomas Engler, Prof. Chokri Cherif, Martin Waldmann, Karsten Trips, TU Dresden, Institut für Textil- und Bekleidungstechnik, Dresden (Germany).

Centrifuge spinning for the production of nano-fibre webs

In cooperation with Messrs. Reiter, the Institut für Textil- und Verfahrens­technik (Institute for Textile and Process Technology – ITV), Denkendorf, has transferred centrifuge technology to a centrifuge spinning machine for nano-fibres, a breakthrough in productivity!

The centrifugal forces accelerate the process and the formation of the fibres. An airstream helps to bundle the fibre cone. Electrostatic charging is used to collect the fibres into a web and the energy for the production of nano-fibres is independent of the energy for producing the fibre web. The centrifugal forces act almost independently of the polymer-mass conveyed. Thus, increasing the throughput does not necessarily affect the diameter of the fibres. This technology is now being offered for sale.

Award winners: Martin Dauner, Institut für Textil- und Verfahrenstechnik, Denkendorf (Germany), Frank Reiter, Messrs. Reiter (Germany). 

The Avantex Innovation Awards winners are as follows:

New Products

Fire-protection fabric for safety clothing in luminous yellow, orange and red

For the first time, it has proven possible to reliably manufacture fire-proof aramid (Nomex) in high visibility luminous yellow complying with all relevant standards. Other products made using this innovative process are fabrics with material combinations of Nomex/Lenzing FR, as well as a fabric construction made of ProtexM / cotton with the addition of natural fibres.

Another revolutionary development is the successful production of high visibility luminous orange and luminous red on ProtexM / cotton in accordance with all current standards. Previously, these warning colours were not available on fire-resistant fabrics. This innovation represents an enormous safety improvement, especially in hazardous fields where not only protection against fire is required but also a high degree of visibility.

Award winners: Sven Brosig, Pro-Belting International GmbH & Co. KG, Schauenstein (Germany).

Innovative Apparel

Klight: Interactive garments with SCB technology

Technologies for the production of stretchable circuit boards (SCB) have been developed at Fraunhofer IZM and at TU Berlin as part of the European integrated project, STELLA. The innovative SCB can be used as the substrate for micro-electronic components with elastic conductors and for the integration of the system into textiles by lamination.

This technology was used to produce an interactive garment in which the electronic systems are hidden beneath the surface. An integrated LED display and a sensor and control unit are used to establish visual communication between the movements of the body and the surroundings via a light pattern. Award winners: Christian Dils, René Vieroth, Manual Seckel, Mareike Michel, Fraunhofer-Institut für Zuverlässigkeit und Mikrointegration (IZM), Berlin (Germany). 

The Techtextil Innovation Award is being given for the tenth time this year, the Avantex Innovation Award for the fifth time.