Weaving novelties

Picanol, a Belgian high-tech weaving machines producer, exhibited 12 machines at the show, including the company’s brand-new airjet machine OmniPlus-i, which premiered at ITMA. It features a redesigned reed motion, optimised relay nozzle set up and can be combined with SmartShed, the fully electronically controlled shedding motion. “At Picanol, we believe that in this fast-changing world of weaving, the needs of weaving mills in general and the expectations of our customers and their operators are evolving rapidly,” said Frederic Dryhoel, Spokesperson & Corporate Communication Manager, Picanol Group. With the new machine, the company says it wanted to demonstrate that a machine can be performant, versatile, sustainable, digital and user-friendly at the same time.

Picanol. © Innovation in Textiles

Another weaving technology specialist Itema, from Italy, presented two new market launches, a never-before-seen weaving insertion concept and a series of weaving novelties. The new Itema airjet A9500-2bedsheeting has been developed to provide the most demanding bed sheeting weavers with an airjet weaving machine capable to reach the highest performances. Key machine components, such as main and tandem nozzles, have been redesigned along with the whole pneumatic platform. The second airjet weaving machine A9500-2 is the second generation of the Itema airjet A9500 and A9500p. Thanks to a new and optimised pneumatic platform, the weft insertion cycle is improved, leading to a quicker system response.

Itema. © Innovation in Textiles

The company also recently launched Itematech – the new division dedicated to technical textiles born as a result of the agreement signed with PTMT, with a product portfolio, which ranges from negative and positive rapier, to air-jet and projectile weaving machines.

Dyeing, finishing and printing

German specialist Monforts presented an energy-optimised new version of its industry-leading Montex stenter for the first time at ITMA. With the introduction of the new MonforClean exhaust air treatment system and other unique process innovations, Monforts says it has been able to further reduce the energy consumption of Montex stenters by a further 13%. Exhaust air treatment on stenter frames has posed particular challenges over the years. In addressing this issue, Monforts is now incorporating the MonforClean module into the stenter frame, so there is no additional space requirement. The waste heat from the drying process is used to pre-heat the drying air, resulting in a radical reduction in the conventional heat supply required compared to gas and thermal oil heating. The further integration of an automatic exhaust air filter washing system automatically cleans the module elements.

Monforts Eco Applicator. © Innovation in Textiles

Imogo, a new Swedish company, introduced its new Dye-Max spray dyeing technology. While still at the prototype stage, the Dye-Max promises to slash the use of fresh water, wastewater, energy and chemicals by as much as 90%, compared to conventional jet dyeing systems. Its application unit consists of a closed chamber containing a series of spray cassettes with precision nozzles for accurate and consistent coverage, in combination with the patented imogo pro-speed valve that controls the volume to be applied.

Huntsman Textile Effects launched the high-performance digital ink ranges at the show. Novacron Advance ink is the next generation of reactive inks for cellulosics with outstanding shade depth and colour gamut, developed for the latest industrial digital printing machines. Eriofast Vista ink enables printers to achieve brilliant lasting designs on polyester/cotton blends. Using inks from this range enables printers to adopt a simple urea-free process with significantly reduced energy consumption, washing, machine maintenance and carbon dioxide emissions.

Mimaki. © Innovation in Textiles

Datacolor, a US leader in colour management technology, has collaborated with Adobe to launch a set of innovative tools at ITMA. The collaboration pairs Datacolor’s professional colour lookup tool ColorReaderPRO with Adobe’s newest plugin for Adobe Photoshop: Adobe Textile Designer. The integration of software allows designers to measure colour inspiration in the real world and transfer the data to Photoshop automatically via Bluetooth connection. “Adobe Textile Designer was conceived to help streamline the print design process,” said Mike Scrutton, Director of Print Technology and Strategy for Adobe’s Print & Publishing Business Unit. “We are excited to incorporate the ColorReaderPro into the solution to simplify the process of capturing inspiration colour for designers.”

Mimaki, a Japanese manufacturer of industrial wide-format inkjet printers, showed for the first time its brand-new hybrid digital textile printer, uniquely featuring both direct-to-textile and direct-to-transfer print capabilities. These features enable textile and garment manufacturers to achieve flexibility and enhanced application opportunities. The new printer also allows multiple sets of inks to be loaded simultaneously, supporting increased fabric range versatility and maximum product variety.