The Trelleborg Engineered Coated Fabrics manufacturing facility in Nottingham, England, has received a patent for its Dartex Zoned Coatings.

Dartex Zoned Coatings offer the ability to ‘zone’ different polyurethane coatings on support surface covers used in healthcare and medical applications, allowing a single fabric to perform multiple functions. Inventors of patent number US 11,499,265 B2 are Richard Haxby, technical director and Ilias Alexandrakis, senior development project manager.

Haxby said: “Trelleborg has a long history of developing intellectual property and understands the value of investing in research to help drive innovation in its chosen industries, including healthcare and medical. Dartex Zoned Coatings technology is revolutionary, making it possible for medical device manufacturers to develop the ultimate support surfaces.”

Alexandrakis, added: “This is an exciting advancement for the industry. It will mean that medical device manufacturers can streamline their production processes, potentially saving money and bringing products to market more quickly.”

Using patent-pending manufacturing methods, Dartex Zoned Coatings allows zoning of a support surface cover so that a single cover can have multiple physical and stretch properties across different zones without joins, welds, or seams. They incorporate trusted Dartex polyurethane coating technology from Trelleborg for patient comfort and quality.

The coatings are suitable for multiple healthcare and medical applications, including mattress covers (tops and encasements), moving and handling, positioning devices, specialist medical furniture, theatre tables, trollies, and stretchers. Mattress covers can be zoned in harmony with the mattress core.