Textile technology III
2020-12-08
Of seams and eyelets at Textile Technology 3 : making up narrow textile
In everyday language, most people probably associate the german-language „Konfektion“ – which means i. a. tailoring – with the mass production of garments. But if you deal with technical textiles 3, as we do, „Konfektion“ means the work step during which the finished narrow textile becomes a component for the customer.
The Latin verb „conficere“ means, among other things, to make, to execute, to finish. This is the origin of the words „Konfektion“ and „confectionery”. Something is finished for the customer: a garment, sweets – or textiles.
The target: best possible function
When making up narrow textile technology 3, the aim is often to create a connection to another element. An elastic tape needs to be connected to a button on a protective suit later on, a cord to a hook on a backpack, a net to a car seat system. Or, as a final step, the textile item needs to be given a certain shape. It is pulled over something, cut or perforated for its respective use. The key issue in tailoring of narrow textiles is always a component that fulfils its special function in the best possible way.
Connection options: sewing, eyeletting, assembling and more
To be able to develop textile components, it is therefore crucial to know their specific use. A non-elastic 25 mm woven tape, for example, can be made into a loop in various ways: if the loop is used as a release in a car seat later on, then we will sew it. This is because eyelets or plastic parts could cause annoying noises on the metal frame of the seat and on top of that, they add unnecessary weight. It’s different with a loop made from the same tape for a ski pole: it must be adjustable to the size of the skier’s hand and the thickness of the skiers’ gloves. For use with a ski pole, we make up the 25 mm woven tape with an adjustable quick release fastener.
For other applications, crimping or eyeletting is the finishing technique of choice. The metal parts are often specially developed for our individual solutions and then cold pressed together or onto the textile.
Rubber braid – sewn or pressed with an eyelet depending on the application.
Cutting techniques: hot, ultrasound, laser
And we select the cutting technique individually. This depends firstly on whether we want to cut to length, punch or slit, secondly on the width of our textile technology 3 and thirdly on the shape of the cut. Textiles up to 70 mm width can be hot cut. This prevents the material fraying at the cut edges. The cut edges are welded. If the cut edges only need to be minimally welded, ultrasonic cutting is suitable for textile widths of up to 100 mm. For both cutting technologies, appropriate tools are required for contour cuts. Computer-controlled laser cutting is therefore the technique of choice for demanding tasks and filigree geometries. It enables us to create particularly filigree and complex contours. This is why it is also used for particularly narrow textiles (< 10.0 mm) in addition to the above-mentioned textile widths.
Applications: Typical JUMBO products
Solution-providing partner for high-tech narrow textiles
Whether tapes, cords or nets, whether with seams, eyelets, assembled elements – as a solution partner, we always develop our textile components to suit the respective requirements of your project.
Photos: JUMBO-Textil
