Rotary hot air welder and stitchless seaming

A rotary hot air welding apparatus for welding two panels of industrial textiles together to form a seam comprising:

• a weld head cluster having an upper drive wheel module, a lower drive wheel module, and a hot air assembly, wherein the upper drive wheel module is positioned above the lower drive wheel module to form a pinch area therebetween into which the two panels are fed in movement driven by the drive wheels, and the hot air assembly is positioned in front of the pinch area to apply heat from hot air to the two panels to form a seam thereof;
• each drive wheel module including a drive wheel and a motor for providing power to drive the respective drive wheel;
• a control means for controlling the welding of the seam having an operator input means for controllably adjusting and changing differential wheel speeds of the drive wheels relative to each other during a seam operation by causing the control means to output an upper drive wheel control signal and a lower drive wheel control signal for controlling the respective drive wheels independently of each other, such that the control means is capable of making differential wheel speed corrections to the respective drive wheels while the seam is being welded in order to control the movement of the panels into the bite area and, thereby, the amount of heat being delivered to the seam;
• and
• the operator input means including switch means for providing commands regarding wheel speed corrections to be made from an operator to the control means;
• and
• wherein the control means has a memory, and the memory retains data when a product is produced so that the data can be retrieved when an identical product is produced.

A method for joining a first and a second piece of fabric for use in technical clothing, comprising:

• (a) heating a thermally activated adhesive tape,
• (b) applying pressure to the tape and said first piece of fabric so that they bond,
• (c) reheating the thermally activated adhesive tape, and
• (d) applying pressure to said first piece of fabric, the tape, and said second piece of fabric so that the tape bonds to said second piece of fabric and a seam is formed.

A method for joining a first piece and a second piece of fabric for use in outdoor clothing, wherein said fabric pieces have been treated previously with a durable water-resistant solution that does not have good heat-bonding characteristics, comprising:

• (a) heating a thermally activated adhesive tape and said first piece of fabric until the solution vaporizes from said first piece of fabric,
• (b) applying pressure to said first piece of fabric and the adhesive tape until they bond,
• (c) heating the thermally activated adhesive tape and said second piece of fabric until the solution vaporizes from said second piece of fabric,
• (d) applying pressure to said first piece of fabric, the adhesive tape and said second piece of fabric until they bond to form a seam.