#Other suppliers

2020-02-05

James Heal launches WickView

Global manufacturer of premium textile testing instruments James Heal have launched their latest innovation, WickView, a state-of-the-art instrument that uses an advanced imaging system to track and record the transfer of moisture through fabric and other materials.

WickView helps garment and textile manufacturers in understanding how effective their materials are at dealing with moisture and in predicting real-world wicking behaviour.

A key feature of WickView is its ability to perform both vertical and horizontal wicking testing. Being able to rotate the instrument allows testing to occur in different orientations, providing a new level of understanding into wicking behaviour. Whether for example that fabric is used in elite sportswear (predominantly vertical), or nonwovens or linens deployed on a hospital bed (predominantly horizontal). This is a huge advantage over current market solutions and offers unrivalled insight into performance.

WickView’s water delivery system introduces moisture to specimens in an accurate, controlled way, regardless of whether the specimen is in horizontal or vertical position. Cutting edge high definition cameras are positioned on either side of the material specimen to record the movement of the moisture. These cameras give full visibility of the test, and use Ultraviolet and Infrared light to give a perfect view of the test process, regardless of specimen colour or pattern.

WickView is fully supported with a new version of James Heal’s intuitive TestWise software and shows the wicking process in detail, including a live video capture of the test, wet region boundary comparison and video playback of how the moisture spreads.

TestWise can calculate a range of 9 metrics including maximum wetted area, area boundary, y axis of spread and wicking speed. Outcomes can be presented visually or in graph format, and results templates can be applied to show the user information relevant to them. Analysis of results is easy with Testwise for WickView. Previous tests can be reloaded in to the software and viewed again. Several previous sample files can be compared on screen both visually and in reported results.

Neil Pryke, Innovation Director commented: “At James Heal we are constantly innovating, searching for ways to lead the field and constantly enhance our testing methods to deliver solutions for textile professionals. WickView is the latest innovation in our precision testing instrument range, and has already had a great reception with all of the top brands that have seen it in action. We have already received several pre-orders.

“WickView calculates and records results providing the user with an accurate representation of real life, in comparison to existing available testing methods. By examining the direction, shape, speed and actual wet area of fabric, WickView is accurately measuring how sweat and other liquids behave when in contact with a specimen. Whether being used in R&D to assess the performance of the latest fabrics, or in the supply chain to ensure compliance to standard, WickView has the flexibility and insight that industry professionals have been crying out for.”

For more information and a technical spec on WickView please visit:

https://www.james-heal.co.uk/instrument/wickview/

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