Reimotec at the Techtextil Frankfurt Trade Fair

May 24, 2011 - Germany

New developments in the monofilament market through innovations of Reimotec

Reimotec, the expert for high performance extrusion lines for the production of monofilaments and strapping tapes presents its complete programme at the Techtextil trade fair in Frankfurt.

Reimotec as the world's leading manufacturer of monofilament lines has set itself the target to give the market new impetus through new and further developments.

High-speed monofilament lines
High-speed technology is gaining increased importance, particularly in the field of high-quality filaments in a diameter range of up to 0.40 mm.

Reimotec, the leading supplier of the complete range of these types of lines, impresses with segmentally heated specific spin heads of own development as well as diameter and slub control systems plus its automatic high-speed winder.

The high-speed winder enables a speed of 500 m/min to be obtained when winding monofilaments from, e.g. nylon and polyester, with 0.06 to 0.4 mm in diameter. However, the company is already targeting at lines with an installed speed of up to 900 m/min. These will allow to significantly increase the output capacity and thus reduce the customers' production costs.

The further developed machine components installed in several production lines at customers in the USA and Europe have proven their series maturity. They are mainly used in the production of monofilaments for the paper forming industry.

Improved tolerances, time-saving reel changes and an optimized and safe operation of the complete line up to continuous production monitoring can thus be obtained.

Monofilaments for artificial grass
The market for artificial grass for sports applications and gardening and landscaping has continually grown worldwide.

High-performance monofilament lines of Reimotec with an output of up to 500 kg/h have significantly contributed to replace tapes by monofilaments used in artificial grass production.

The direct two-colour extrusion of artificial grass filaments has become well accepted in the market thanks to specifically developed spin heads. They form the basis of this technology in which two colours are simultaneously fed using separate extruders.

Sophisticated die geometries designed to fulfil the specific demands of the customer allow him to produce "his artificial grass filament" in the desired shape. 3D CAD systems are used to develop these designs - often jointly with the customer - to ensure the most exacting tolerances.

Reimotec's portfolio also includes downstream equipment such as rewinding, texturizing and twisting machines so that the company as a system supplier has a decisive influence on the quality of the finished products.

BiCo and TriCo technology
In the field of multifilaments the use of BiCo technology is almost standard. This technology has not been enforced in the field of monofilaments yet.

The mechanical demands of monofilaments used for technical fabrics are much higher than for multifilaments, so there are only a few BiCo monofilament applications in this field.

For the manufacture of technical monofilaments, the combination of materials which are not compatible is of particular interest.
However, these composites delaminate after stretching. Reimotec has available a patented TriCo technology in which a third layer is used as adhesive layer and thus materials which are not compatible can be processed.

Inline quality assurance
The production of high-quality monofilaments not only requires high-quality equipment, engineering and process know-how but also a safe in-line quality assurance.

Reimotec offers a slub control system especially for monofilament lines. With this system up to 200 filaments with more than 10,000 measurements per filament can be scanned and slubs detected.

The diameter in-line recording of monofilaments is difficult due to a slight vibration of the filaments during production. This leads to measurement errors when using conventional measurement equipment. Reimotec has developed a high-quality equipment to record the filament diameter. The system is based on the latest CCD technology. This system has a resolution of 0.1 microns and attaches with a repeatability accuracy of
0.5 microns. With an extremeely short exposure time in microseconds the influence of filament vibration is minimized.

PET strapping tape replaces steel hoops
Up to now, steel hoops, due to their stability, have been considered the only reliable material for transport packaging and tightening strap for heavy goods.

Reimotec has developed and patented a technology which allows the manufacture of a high-quality strapping tape made of 100% recycled bottle flakes.

Innovative twin-screw technology
Core component of these extrusion lines is the co-rotating twin-screw extruder "Reitruder".

Through the application of this innovative twin-screw technology and future-oriented equipment and operating concept up to fully automatic reel changeover, labelling, packaging and palletizing, Reimotec stands out in the manufacture of PET strapping tape equipment. With this development, Reimotec has set new standards in this industry and has given new impetus to the market.

This clearly shows that the investment in innovative and modern technology ensures sustainable economic success.

Reimotec with new location at Lampertheim since 01.01.2011
For more than forty years now, Reifenhäuser has been developing, planning and manufacturing equipment for the production of monofilaments and strapping tapes in Germany. In 2001, the Reimotec subsidiary that continues Reifenhäuser's success story was founded especially for this group of products. The relocation from Ober-Absteinach to Lampertheim early this year and the complete take-over by the Reifenhäuser Group, offer Reimotec improved opportunities to the benefit of its customers.

Reimotec is a system supplier from A to Z, from raw material compounding through to automatic winding and product packing. This means that Reimotec not only supplies the equipment, but also provides the entire engineering and extensive know-how in process technology. This complete package is one reason why Reimotec has become the market leader in the field of monofilaments and strapping tapes.

With a large number of machines sold to customers all over the world, Reimotec is a major player with respect to advanced technologies in the manufacture of monofilaments and strapping tapes.

Reimotec, a member of the Reifenhäuser Group can benefit from the comprehensive experience of a market leader in extrusion technology - and so can its customers. Nevertheless, it can also offer the flexibility, power of innovation and close relationship with customers expected from an expert typical of this market segment.