#Weaving

2020-05-28

Fighting corona: DORNIER supports its customers in the change of production to face masks and protective clothing

The world is fighting against the spread of the pulmonary disease Covid-19. The fact is that there is a lack of protective clothing and face masks. As these urgently needed items can be produced on machines and lines of Lindauer DORNIER, the company supports its customers in developing textile alternatives.

In the fight against the corona virus, more and more textile companies switch their line of production to urgently needed protective gear and face masks. As these can be woven on both, DORNIER rapier and air-jet weaving machines, Lindauer DORNIER actively helps its customers to potentially adapt the manufacturing process to the current requirements.

"These are challenging times for all of us. As a family-owned company, we want to work together with our partners as well as customers and find solutions to protect people from Covid-19 and slow down the spread of the disease," Head of the Technology Center in Lindau, Lars Öller says. This has a double effect: in addition to protecting patients, healthcare professionals and citizens, companies can use idling capacities and partially compensate for lost revenues due to the crisis.

Face masks as precise as airbags

The DORNIER system family is suitable for the fast, simple and process-reliable production of face masks made of cotton or polyester for example. On air-jet weaving machines type A1, life-saving face masks can be woven in one piece as “One Piece Woven” and then be laser cut into the desired shape. Two thirds of all airbag cushions worldwide are produced in this way. Identations and structures to insert filters and valves can also be integrated to further increase the effectiveness of the masks. Antimicrobial materials such as silver threads might further increase the protective effect.

Faster certifications, designable fashion

To facilitate placing corona protective equipment on the market, measures have been taken in many places to speed up and simplify conformity assessment procedures. The textile face mask is now even becoming a global fashion trend, possibly even beyond the corona crisis: more and more designers are taking it up as an individually designable fashion accessory.

VIDEO:

DORNIER celebrates its anniversary at ITMA Asia + CITME

To mark its 75th anniversary, machine and plant manufacturer Lindauer DORNIER will be presenting the latest developments in its rapier and air-jet weaving machines at ITMA Asia + CITME in Singapore (Hall 2, Stand B401) from 28 to 31 October 2025. The focus will be on energy-efficient weaving technologies, new IoT solutions for networked textile production and systems for the series production of modern fibre composite components.

From the Venus flytrap to foldable aircraft wings: Peter Dornier Foundation Prize 2025 honours bionic research on 3D weaving technology

Long wings with foldable tips have the potential to reduce aircraft fuel consumption and make aviation more sustainable. An interdisciplinary research team has now developed a new solution based on the Venus flytrap: Freely movable wingtips made of fibre composites which are produced using innovative 3D weaving technology. For this pioneering combination of textile technology, aviation and bionics, researchers Patrick Meyer (TU Braunschweig) and Michael Vorhof (TU Dresden) were awarded the Peter Dornier Foundation Prize 2025 in mid-July.

Pattern-controlled “pic-a-pic” setting of rapier release timing on right-hand side

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More safety and comfort for protective clothing thanks to auxetic fabrics

When everyday materials are pulled, they stretch or elongate in the direction of the pull and become narrower in cross-section. We can also observe this property in two-dimensional textiles. Auxetic structures behave differently here. They have the striking property of not changing under tensile stress or even increasing their width or thickness. These properties are advantageous, for example, in protective textiles or textile filter media. The DITF are researching auxetic fabrics for various applications.

Award-winning research for sustainable carbon fibre cycles

Sustainable recycling of carbon fibres is possible through targeted electrochemical surface modification, which makes the sizing of carbon fibres resistant to solvolysis. ITA PhD student Sabina Dann was awarded the MSW Award from RWTH Aachen University for her master's thesis on this development. The award ceremony took place on 12 November 2025 in Aachen.

Eastman introduces Naia™ Lyte at Première Vision Paris, marking a major breakthrough in fiber tenacity for cellulose acetate filament yarn performance

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