Last Friday, 17th May 2019, Texprocess/Techtextil ended in Frankfurt am Main. With a total amount of 1,818 exhibitors from 59 countries and around 47,000 visitors from 116 countries, it was, according to the organisers, the best-attended double trade fair of all times. In search of textile innovations, the trade visitors came to the AMANN booth in hall 5.1: In addition to exhibits from the classic clothing, automotive and outdoor sectors, AMANN presented innovations in the AMANN Innovation Lab.
Conductivity was THE topic at the AMANN booth. With Steel-tech and Silver-tech or Silver-tech+, AMANN offers an interesting range of conductive special yarns for sewing, embroidery, but also weaving and knitting. Typical applications for electrically conductive yarns include medical textiles (Medtech), clothing and the automotive sector.
Welcome to the AMANN conductive touch board!
With the help of the AMANN conductive touch board, the topic of conductivity was presented in a very lively way. Wherever switches and buttons made of plastic were used until now, embroidered touch switches made of the conductive thread Silver-tech will take over their function. The textile switch, which is embroidered onto the lampshade, is made from the silver-coated special sewing and embroidery thread and can readily replace toggle switches and dimmers. A single touch with the finger is all it takes to operate it.
The textile switches not only represent a special design element, they are also easy to manufacture and more pleasant to touch. Another advantage is that the threads make a significant contribution to the sustainability of components and products, especially when it comes to avoiding the use of materials that are difficult to recycle, such as plastic and other synthetics.
Multifunctional application fields for Steel-tech: Transmit or heat up!
How different the application areas of a product can be, got illustrated with two Steel-tech exhibits. On the one hand, Steel-tech was used as an antenna for an RFID label. This allows garments to be tracked at any time in the leased laundry. Moreover, the number of wash cycles can be easily read out or the garment can be assigned to its owner. In this context, a high wash resistance is certainly a basic requirement.
Another area of application for Steel-tech is the outdoor jacket with integrated heating element, which keeps you pleasantly warm even at cold temperatures. While many models come with individual heating elements, AMANN supplies Steel-tech, a material that can be worked into the jacket in a space-saving and flat manner. The “textile heating” has a comparatively low weight and is very comfortable to wear.
Design & function: embroidered switch replaces cable and plastic buttons
The connection between classic application fields and the Innovation Lab was demonstrated with the car seat: The car seat not only impresses with beautiful seams and embroideries - the special highlight is the embroidered touch switch with Silver-tech, with which the backrest can be adjusted. A single touch with the finger is all it takes to operate it.
An essential advantage of textile switches and conductors is a massive weight reduction by avoiding plastic cables and switches.
With this in mind: See you again at the next Texprocess! 4-7 May 2021 in Frankfurt am Main.
