The UK-based Richard Hough Ltd. (RHL) presented its latest equipment at SIMA Texfair 2013 that incorporated recent technological 
breakthroughs in calender bowls and squeeze roller coverings, including the revolutionary RoberteX micro-porous fibre dewatering roll with full chemical resistance ph0-14 for the ultimate in liquid extraction where chemicals are used. The company also presented an exclusive range of dewatering rolls, featuring the world famous Roberto, and the latest additions Resilio and RoberteX rolls, along with their range of MaxExtractor rubber coverings.
Headquartered at Bolton, Lancashire, RHL has a proud 200-year history of manufacturing calender and dewatering rolls for the textile processing industry and supplying them to major OEMs such as Ramisch Guarneri, Andritz Kuesters and Benninger, as well as pioneering its own technology for these applications.
RHL expertise in cotton bowl manufacture enables the longest cotton fibres to be oriented around the bowl circumference, while still achieving maximum bowl hardness of 83 Shore D. This gives the bowl superior elasticity, combined with extreme durability, producing a soft feel in the finished fabric – features which no other bowl manufacturer can match.
Additionally, the company’s patented heat dissipation system (HDS) can be utilised within the surface of the cotton bowl, allowing for even higher temperatures to be used. This system is ideal for the Lungi processing operations.
The world-famous Roberto roll was named after its inventor, Robert Oliver, of David Bentley/Modern Rollers, and thousands of these 
rolls have been sold worldwide. Since 2005, RHL has owned the Roberto technology, which uses a special microporous covering as a high-performance replacement for conventional rubber or PU rolls, for efficient liquid extraction from woven, knitted and nonwoven fabrics. Its latest developments are the Syncast polyamide rolls and sleeves and Resilio rubber squeezing rolls.
Syncast products are made on the world’s most technically-advanced centrifugal casting machine, operating at 2,000 metres per minute to produce a polyamide sleeve of far superior quality to the outdated extruded type, without impurities or air bubbles. The Syncast rolls are based on a highly-elastic thermoplastic polymer, specially developed for textile calender rolls. They offer high performance and rapid payback, avoiding the need for a major calender rebuild.
Syncast sleeves can be supplied as a complete roll or just as a fully-machined sleeve as a replacement sleeve for the existing Kuester and ramischGuarneri calenders.
The Resilio rubber covering breakthrough is RHL’s latest patent-applied-for development. It is a 2-layer compound giving 30 per cent 
better extraction than the previous leading cover. Taking squeeze roll expertise a revolutionary stage further, the latest Resilio high-expression rubber squeezing rolls combine the best features of the existing hard and soft covering compounds to create a unique, dual-layer squeezing concept. The hard sub-layer acts as the nip, while the softer top layer pushes into the fabric interspaces, where water droplets gather. Continuing advances with the Resilio, based on a novel compound material have now enhanced the dewatering effect still further.
Both the Roberto and the Resilio extract the maximum liquid from the fabric, achieving 30 per cent less residual moisture than normal rubber rolls, with consequent massive cost savings.
Kuester padding rolls, for instance for the denim industry, can be refurbished and brought back as good as new with genuine Kuester parts, offering a full strip-down and replacement service of seals and O rings, including re-covering with MaxExtractor rubber.
Says RHL Managing Director Anthony Ashton: “The full RHL range provides unbeatable options in squeezing and calendering technology for finishers in India and the whole of Asia, and we are looking forward to introducing the enormous benefits of these products to them. We are delighted to have the chance to participate in the exciting future growth potential of a region which is the global leader in textile manufacturing.”