Italy’s Thema System has launched the ‘Dry-Flat’ continuous conditioning machine. The new product dries and conditions skins or hides of varied moisture content at delivery, in order to produce controlled, uniform humidity and evenness by removing the moisture in a natural, unforced manner, with temperature and relative humidity parameters controlled and managed by PLC.

The leather is spread flat on a permeable conveyor at the infeed of the conditioning machine and a second permeable belt is then used to keep the leather flat between the two. During the subsequent conditioning process, the leather is stretched flat between the conveyor belts until they separate at the outfeed of the machine. The tension and synchronization of the two belts is maintained by specially designed and patented chain drive mechanisms for the conveyor rollers in order to ensure that the leathers are kept flat and at a uniform tension.

As the leather is constrained between the belts, forced ventilation can be used to

produce a higher rate of air movement, allowing drying to take place at temperatures only a few degrees above ambient temperature and at higher  relative humidity, thus conditioning the leather without over-drying the faster drying areas. The machine is fitted with exhaust and inlet vents to circulate the air and the ambient conditions are measured and controlled with a thermo-hygrometer, whilst relative humidity is controlled by a PLC which operates the vents automatically.

The working width of the machine is 3100mm and the number of modules in the conditioning chamber is tailored to suit the specific types of leather and the throughput speeds required by each customer.