Consumables

TRELLEBORG LAUNCHES HIGH PERFORMANCE SOLVENTLESS ROLLER HEAD LINE

Friday 01. November 2013 - Developed to revolutionize the process of coating rubber compounds on various textile substrates, the Solventless Roller Head Line is the latest innovation from industry leader Trelleborg's printing blankets operation, representing a sustainable solution for manufacturing its printing blankets.

The new Solventless Roller Head Line has been developed not only to deliver cutting-edge double coated rubber substrates, but also provide the right rubber viscosity to do so, without the need for solvents.
Biagio Montano, HSE, Maintenance and Technical Manager for Europe at Trelleborg Coated Systems, commented: “At Trelleborg, we invest significant time, effort and resource into the development of new technologies to further improve the printing process in everything from print quality through to environmental impact.
“As such, we developed a solution that promises to revolutionize the rubber coating process on various substrates. Removing several stages of the production process, the new Solventless Roller Head Line promises to not only increase speed of production and improve product quality on delivery, but importantly, is also solvent free and so provides a much more environmentally-friendly solution.”
The new Solventless Roller Head Line is part of a wider programme to significantly reduce the environmental impact of operations at the headquarters of Trelleborg’s Coated Systems business area in Lodi Vecchio, Italy. Other initiatives include the installation of new electrical power and thermal central units, a new resin pavement and a new low energy consumption lighting system.
Designed to considerably simplify the process of coating rubber compounds across a number of textile substrates, Trelleborg’s innovative solventless Roller Head Line consists of a Roller Head which provides a  three metre wide, up to five milimetre thick rubber product.
In addition, the Roller Head Line also boasts a 3.5 metre three roll calendar – the largest of its kind currently on the market.  This forms a smooth sheet of rubber providing a more uniform thickness, which, under the right temperature and pressure, can double the rubber and substrate, completely eliminating the use of solvents.
The new process simplifies the production process considerably: decreasing the number of steps from 19 to just 11, including removing the need to wind and unwind units for the final product at the end of the line.