Fibre-laying technology will reduce waste in composites, Coats says
Industrial thread producer Coats has developed new fibre-laying technology for use in composite materials for footwear.
This new technology, which the company has called Lattice Lite Eco, enables yarns to be positioned in exactly the right place. This means the thickness, flexibility, torsion and rigidity of each section of a footplate can be created to ensure they support every part of the foot, Coats explained.
It went on to say that this eliminates the need for additional resin steps, such as prepeg or resin transfer moulding. Coats has calculated material waste of 5% using Lattice Lite Eco, compared to over 30% for what it called “more traditional composite operations”.
The company has used a range of materials including recycled carbon, recycled nylon and materials from natural sources such as basalt and flax in the composites it has made so far using the new technology. This development work took place at the company’s innovation hub in Turkey.
Other footwear components that the technology can be used to produce include toe caps, torsion bars, heel counters and bindings. The Coats president for apparel and footwear, Adrian Elliott, said that, in addition to reducing waste, manufacturers would be able to produce these components more quickly using Lattice Lite Eco.
