Lightbulb moments continue for James Heal

• September 26, 2022

“Remarkably, this was seven years before Thomas Edison’s successful invention of the lightbulb, which itself can be considered something of a textile innovation,” says Neil Pryke, UK MD of James Heal’s parent company since 2014, PPT Group. “Its world-changing introduction centred around an uncoated cotton thread that when carbonized to become the filament, could last 14.5 hours.”

Needless to say, on its journey to becoming the leading testing equipment manufacturer for textiles and nonwovens it is today, there have been many internal lightbulb moments within the James Heal organisation over the years – as early as 1899 there are records of the delivery of the first twist tester by the company to a local mill.

Fast forward to 2022 and James Heal continues to expand its range, with a focus on making testing simple, fast and intuitive – most notably with the introduction of its Performance Testing collection of instruments, most recently the AirPro and HydroView systems.

AirPro

The new James Heal AirPro air permeability tester is used to test the resistance of the flow of air through woven, knitted and nonwoven textiles. Its software offers flexibility with standards and comprehensive reporting options and different test head sizes are available, making it suitable for a range of applications and standards

“The way clothing interacts with the body, particularly in respect of the dissipation of heat and moisture, plays a major role in the wearer’s perceived comfort,” says James Heal technical specialist Peter Goodwin. “Today, textile fabrics used for clothing have new functional properties to improve the wearer’s sensory and thermal comfort, meaning that air and water vapour permeability is crucial to achieving clothing comfort – particularly for performance apparel such as sportswear and outdoor clothing.

HydroView

The HydroView hydrostatic head tester is meanwhile designed to measure the penetration of water in materials which have an end use that requires water resistance, such as those in the medical, geotextiles and nonwovens sectors. It is also proving essential in the testing of end-use applications for technical textiles, such as in protective gloves, diving dry suits and winter sports apparel, to fishing waders, roofing, tenting, ground sheets and more.

The James Heal HydroView hydrostatic head tester.

“As more and more brands are investing in new materials and making performance claims on water resistance and waterproofing, the hydrostatic head test is one of the most common ways to test,” says James Heal’s technical specialist Lisa Keeling. “An example of where hydrostatic pressure might be important, is in testing the groundsheet of a tent, for example. This needs a high resistance to water penetration, especially when placed on saturated ground. When pressure is applied to the ground sheet by people standing, sitting or sleeping on it, water could then be forced through. Failure in this area would mean anything in contact with the groundsheet will become wet.”

This is also the case with a performance garment claiming waterproof properties, she adds.

“You need a high hydrostatic head value to demonstrate its defence-ability against driving wind, rain and other physical factors. Water pemetration testing is key to understanding the performance of a garment in adverse weather conditions.

“HydroView was developed following extensive user research from which James Heal’s innovation team discovered that users were looking for a more flexible and user friendly instrument than was available on the market. With its manual droplet data-capture, combined with ‘pinch & zoom’ hi-res camera analysis, HydroView was designed for the user.”

“James Heal’s testing instruments are trusted and valued by thousands of manufacturers of textiles and nonwovens around the world,” adds Jason Kent, CEO of the British Textile Machinery Association (BTMA). “The company has made a solid contribution over many decades to the quality and performance properties of today’s textile products, and just as importantly, enabled its customers to prove their claims.”

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Zero-tolerance contamination control

Uster solution gives nonwovens producers total confidence in demanding applications

Uster, Switzerland, 6th September 2022 – Drylaid nonwovens producers operate to the most stringent quality levels – with zero-tolerance standards for defects bigger than 1 mm. In this nonwovens segment, end-product quality depends absolutely on the efficiency of contamination sorting, early in the process. Uster’s exclusive solution ensures bestpossible initial inspection and removal of contamination.

Nonwovens applications such as medical, hygiene and cosmetics demand two non-negotiable rules: zero-tolerance and reliability. Contamination control is the supreme discipline in producing nonwovens for sensitive applications. The Uster contamination sorter masters this essential job with ease and security. It ensures customer satisfaction and a perfect experience for the final consumer – whether the end-product is made of natural or synthetic fibers.

Natural and pure

Bio-cotton is a trend growing from the sustainability movement. Customers are willing to pay higher prices for ‘all natural’ products. It’s a promising business scenario, but a tricky one! Bales of cotton typically contain various kinds of contamination – none of which should get into the final product, and ideally should be removed at the earliest stage of production.

Eliminating contamination during fiber preparation – and before the contaminants are shredded into smaller particles by the further processes – absolutely improves the quality of the raw material and reduces waste. The Uster Jossi Vision Shield N contamination sorter ensures the best possible detection and removal of contamination, right after the fiber opener.

Contaminated raw material

Conventional camera-based systems cannot match the performance of the top-level spectroscope technology from Uster. The high-end Imaging Spectroscopes in Jossi Vision Shield N are backed by over 20 years’ experience. These spectroscopes can find contamination even within the ‘invisible’ range of IR and UV light.

The same expertise also works with bleached cotton. Fragments of contamination in light pastel colors and white are also no problem. The ‘Quick Teach’ feature automatically learns the correct color of each new raw material, to prevent false ejections when material lots are changed.

Synthetic and clean

Nonwovens producers expect high quality and no contamination when purchasing synthetic fibers. Control is the only secure method when operating a business in highly sensitive applications such as medical textiles. Durable or non-durable, the product must be super clean. Contamination is not acceptable, and snow-white color generally a must. Producers have the security they need with Uster Jossi Vision Shield N. Detection of tiniest contamination fragments, even in light pastel colors and whites is not a problem.

Easy access to real-time data and settings of Uster Jossi Vision Shield N

Slim and powerful

Uster Jossi Vision Shield N is the result of surveys, close collaboration with international nonwovens companies and countless hours of field tests. Installation is easy, since the fiber cleaner’s slim design fits perfectly into existing lines. The system readily copes with the pace of standard production environments – up to a capacity of 2,000 kg per hour. Stainless steel inserts, in areas which come into contact with the fibers, guarantee unmatched durability.

The future-oriented graphical user interface gives a quick overview of running performance in real time, on a large high-resolution touchscreen, showing the most relevant data at a glance. Userfriendly, quick and intuitive navigation makes data handling easy.

No fault, no risk

Managing quality with Uster Jossi Vision Shield N at the fiber preparation stage gives manufacturers the total confidence that only contamination-controlled products are delivered. The paramount need is to prevent defects from the production processes reaching the end-product – and the Uster system simply does that.

Uster Technologies has built experience and technological know-how over nearly three decades of fiber cleaning in spinning. Contamination is unwelcomed in yarn, just as it is in nonwovens! Worldwide, 5,000 installations of Jossi Vision Shield fiber cleaning systems in spinning mills underline Uster’s success.

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