France-based nonwovens machinery manufacturer Andritz Asselin-Thibeau, a member of the Austria-based Andritz Group, reports its Air Control System (A.C.S.) technology eliminates the formation of air bubbles when heavy and thick webs are fed into the top carriage of the crosslapper in a drylaid nonwoven production line, enabling web control and batt uniformity to be maintained during production.

According to the company, the A.C.S. system allows feeding of previously unprocessible carded condensed web structures to the crosslapper, thereby enabling increased production rates by increasing input speed or by processing heavier weights at the same speed used to process lighter weights. In addition, these webs feature a more balanced machine direction/cross direction (MD/CD) fiber orientation, thereby improving the elongation potential of a web that remains intact.

Andritz Asselin-Thibeau further notes that because batts can be produced offering uniform weight and performance across the width of the fabric, it is possible for the nonwovens manufacturer to lower basis weights, which can reduce manufacturing costs.

June 5, 2012