Stäubli product solutions for manufacturing technical fabrics

Optimal passenger safety in modern motor vehicles is always a prime concern, and the technical solutions are expanding. Airbags around the head considerably increase the degree of protection. With Stäubli LXL Jacquard machine, OPW airbags can be made with woven-in seams to perfectly achieve the needed shape – providing maximum safety at a reasonable manufacturing cost.

Seatbelts that hold you safely in case of a car crash tolerate zero defects, meaning 100% quality is required. Special manufacturing methods are required. For example, the belts designed to absorb impact forces are usually woven with two or more layers using highly specialized fibers in a complex weave structure which can be easily made by Stäubli LX12, LX32, and LX62 Jacquard machines.

Multilayer 3D textiles now are being used in automotive applications with increasingly more stringent mechanical requirements. Critical in such industrial textile production is the ability to precisely control the arrangement of the warp threads within the shed of the various layers. Customers can rely on Stäubli UNIVAL 100 which has individual control of each warp thread by its own actuator for weaving Multilayer 3D textiles.

In aircraft design, every kilogram of extra weight counts, so floor coverings must also be lightweight and at the same time meet elevated technical requirements such as abrasion and fire resistance. The ALPHA 500 SINGLELOOP can produce carpets with very fine loops of only 2 mm and meet highest quality requirements.

In boat building, lightweight hulls with the necessary form and stiffness are essential. An ideal base material for hulls is spacer fabric with a uniform and defined distance between the layers. Spacer fabrics produced on a Stäubli TF weaving machine have the required compressive and shear strength for hull construction – thanks in part to high-precision shed formation under constant high warp tension.

Amongst the various production methods for artificial grass, weaving has proven to be the optimal solution. The ALPHA 500 LEANTEC weaving system supports the weave of bindings that ensure the grass surface will not bias the direction of ball play, allow adequate fixation of the pile yarn and ensure optimal water permeability.

The capability of combining a wide range of different yarn materials into one fabric, the production of multilayer fabrics and new types of spacer fabrics open the door to new applications in fields such as technical building systems, energy, medical, agriculture, and many others. Stäubli products, such as the MAGMA warp tying machine, are ideal to support manufacturing technical fabrics.