Nonwoven Systems

The successful introduction of the CA-11 family of high speed cards into the US market for hygiene and medical applications, processing staple fiber webs at industrial speeds up to 350m/min, is being followed by further developments in working widths.

Several machines in the 3.75m – 4.5m range have now been running for many years, and the latest machine with a working width of 198 in. (5m00) recently began operating industrially employing the patented LDS and WID technologies which permit handling and transfer of fiber webs without the distortion and draft associated with older card designs. To improve operating efficiencies the ISM internal cleaning system was developed for these cards to allow extended running with almost no card cleaning.

LDS and WID systems permit carded thermobond webs to retain all their advantages of softness and bulk and now to reach strength values and MD/CD ratios which closely rival Spunbond fabrics.

The great productivity increases associated with these speeds and widths contributes to a highly competitive cost structure for modern generation carded thermobond, reversing a trend away from carded materials for hygiene applications in recent years.

The company's modern generation carding can produce webs in a range of approximately 15 – 36 gm/m² or greater on suitable fibers.

Crosslaid Nonwovens
The ProDyn System has the ability of a batt-forming system to consistently and economically produce a batt of fibers, with a regularity matching that of some woven goods, whether it is consolidated by needlepunch, spunlacing, spraybonding or stitchbonding.

A fabric regularity well under 1% CV measured by scanning nuclear gauge, is the result in most cases where ProDyn is evaluated critically.

The ProDyn System combines card, crosslapper and control drives into one integrated machine delivering a stress-free fiber web of the desired weight distribution without the need for conventional profiling. The nature of this system is independent of the bonding method employed downstream, permitting the production of a flat product with all bonding technologies. The first few units are now operating successfully in North America in a range of different applications from consumer goods to civil engineering fabrics.

Another advance in needling - the Intermittent Advance System on the latest Asselin A.50 needle-looms, makes it possible to produce fabrics with greatly reduced needle marking because the fabric is basically stationary at the time of each needle penetration stroke thereby reducing the intensity of the mark in the fabric.

The Intermittent Advance System still allows the user the benefit of closely controlled mechanical Draft through the loom which can be desirable in some applications for productivity or fiber orientations, without introducing excessive needle marks.

N. Schlumberger (Usa), Inc., 1299 Schlumberger Drive, Fort Mill, SC . Tel: 803-548-7233; Fax: 803-548-7239.