Sewing Needles and Threads for Technical Textiles
INTRODUCTION
ANATOMY OF A SEWING NEEDLE
Butt
Shank
Shoulder
Blade
Groove
Scarf
Eye
Point
Tip
SEWING NEEDLES FOR TECHNICAL TEXTILES
Organ Needle
NY2 series of sewing needles
Schmetz
Serv 7 sewing needle
Groz-Beckert
MR sewing needle
Loop position control (LPC) lockstitch needle
SAN 5 sewing needle
COATINGS FOR SEWING NEEDLES
Schmetz
NIT anti-adhesive coating
EXPANDED POLYTETRAFLUOROETHYLENE (EPTFE) SEWING THREADS FOR TECHNICAL TEXTILE APPLICATIONS
WL Gore & Associates
Rastex sewing thread
Gore Tenara
SEWING THREADS FOR USE IN HIGH TEMPERATURE APPLICATIONS 3M
Nextel 312 and Nextel 440 sewing threads
GT-15 and GT-23 sewing threads
AVS Industries (AVS)
E Fiberglass and S2 Fiberglass sewing threads
Twisted S2 Fiberglass & Stainless Steel, Twisted S2 Fiberglass & Inconel Steel and Cotton
Cover Stainless Steel sewing threads
Cristex Thermal
CT-2560D sewing thread
W.F. Lake
Quartz sewing thread
Polux
PTFE Coated Glass Fibre sewing thread
STEEL AND CARBON SEWING THREADS
Polux
PTFE coated stainless steel sewing thread
SageZander
Kevlar/steel and Twaron/steel sewing threads
TIBTECH innovations
Thermosew sewing thread
Tenax Carbon and carbon/PBO Zylon
INNOVATIVE SEWING THREADS FOR TECHNICAL TEXTILE APPLICATIONS
Amann techX range of sewing threads
Worthington Industrial Products
T505 High Tenacity Polypropylene sewing thread
Kevlar sewing thread
Homopolymer acrylic sewing thread
Anti-static polyester sewing thread
Coats
Nylbond sewing thread
Gral sewing thread
Threads India
High temperature fire retardant steel core thread
G?termann
100% M-ARAMID RANGE OF SEWING THREADS
Tekstil
Durak range of sewing threads
American & Efird (A&E)
Anefil Poly sewing thread
EU Nylon-Amifil sewing thread
SunStop sewing thread
Figure 1: Anatomy of a sewing needle
Technical textiles are being used increasingly for the replacement of traditional materials in challenging applications, and their end uses are becoming increasingly diverse. As a result, manufacturers of needles and threads have been faced with the need to develop highly specified products, according to Issue No 93 of Technical Textile Markets from the global business information company Textiles Intelligence.
Needles must be able to withstand the physical demands of the stitching processes used to manufacture technical textile products, and threads must maintain their integrity in the extreme environments in which many technical textile products are used.
In order to cater to the requirements of the industry, many manufacturers of sewing needles tailor the geometry of the needles they produce to the demands of the technical textile which is being sewn. They are also applying special coatings to sewing needles in order to improve their performance and enhance
production efficiency.
For instance, Organ Needle's NY2 series of sewing needles helps to counteract the problem of skipped stitching. And in Groz-Beckert's MR sewing needle, the risk of needle deflection has been reduced through the use of a special blade and scarf geometry. Schmetz's Serv 7 sewing needle has a blade with a conical reinforcement which increases needle stability and helps to prevent the needle from deflecting.
In addition, titanium nitride coatings are used to strengthen the needle, and anti-adhesive coatings are applied to prevent substances from adhering to the needle during sewing.
Sewing threads which are designed to be used in technical textile applications must possess a number of important characteristics in order to ensure that they maintain their integrity under extreme conditions. Such characteristics include high strength and flexibility, as well as resistance to chemicals, high temperatures, fungi and mildew.
One example of such threads is Amann's K-tech range of threads made from tow spun para-aramid fibres. Another is Gore Tenara sewing thread by WL Gore & Associates. This is made using ePTFE fibre, making it highly resistant to UV light, extreme weather conditions and chemicals. Also, glass fibre is increasingly being used to manufacture sewing threads in order to provide resistance to extremely high
temperatures.
In the future, the proliferation of technical textiles will give rise to further opportunities for introducing greater innovation, higher quality and added value to needles and threads used in the manufacture of such textiles.
