MENTOR, LEONHARD KURZ and PolyIC present the ‘Rainbow Textile Demonstrator’
MENTOR GmbH & Co. Präzisions-Bauteile KG, an international specialist in high-quality lighting solutions and electronic components, has joined forces with LEONHARD KURZ, the world’s leading supplier of innovative finishing solutions, and its subsidiary PolyIC to present a pioneering cooperation project: the ‘Rainbow Textile Demonstrator’.
Textile innovation with design and functionality
The Rainbow Textile Demonstrator showcases a new generation of functional, design-led textiles for vehicle interiors. MENTOR developed the luminous woven fibres in collaboration with its subsidiary MUNDA. This project marks a technological milestone by combining the resulting textile lighting systems with transparent, flexible touch sensors from KURZ subsidiary PolyIC for the first time.
The project focuses on combining MENTOR’s highly developed, light-conducting fibre technology with surface materials and PolyIC’s transparent, flexible sensor technology. MENTOR uses extremely thin, malleable light guides that are woven into textiles and are already being used successfully in the automotive industry, for example in the Audi A3. “These luminous textiles used as surface lighting are unique in the industry to date. With additional sensor technology enabling individual brightness control and colour change for individual fields, the demonstrator shows what will be possible in the future,” explains Dr. Markus Höner, Head of Development at MENTOR.
Touch function and dynamic lighting effects for automotive interiors
The highlight of this collaboration is the integration of transparent capacitive PolyTC® sensors from PolyIC. These sensors are fully embedded in the textile fabric, remaining both invisible and flexible while still enabling precise touch operation. This allows colour changes, brightness gradients and animated rainbow effects to be controlled precisely – in line with adaptive, interactive vehicle design. “The sensor technology is touch-sensitive through the textile and can be customised using software. This opens up completely new design possibilities for vehicle manufacturers, ranging from gently backlit door panels to animated lighting elements in the vehicle interior,” reports Dr. Wolfgang Clemens, Director of Product Management & Business Development at PolyIC.
Technology transfer through partnerships for sustainable innovation
LEONHARD KURZ and PolyIC are providing the ideal foundation for innovative mobility solutions with their expertise in functional surfaces and smart sensor technology, as well as their resource-saving decoration technologies. Together with MENTOR, a leading Tier 1 supplier of OEM lighting solutions, they are developing a textile platform that can be integrated into new interior concepts in terms of both function and design.
In addition to its design advantages, the demonstrator also promotes sustainability: Its thin textile substrates and simple integration eliminate the need for additional brackets or complex assembly, saving resources, weight, and production costs.
About MENTOR
Founded in 1920, MENTOR is a recognised development partner and series supplier for key automotive manufacturers and renowned companies in many other industries. With sites on three different continents and for a presence in over 40 countries, MENTOR develops and produces LED-based lighting systems for ambient and functional lighting as well as state-of-the-art control and display elements for housing fronts and other mechanical, electronic and optoelectronic human-machine interface (HMI) components.
About KURZ:
PolyIC develops and markets smart, customised and flexible sensor solutions. The KURZ subsidiary also offers products in the field of passive devices. Thanks to its affiliation with the KURZ Group, innovative, valuable high-tech synergies are created in the area of decor and function. LEONHARD KURZ is a world-leading thin-film technology specialist with more than 5,800 employees at more than 50 locations worldwide. KURZ develops and produces decorative and functional layers, including for the printing, packaging, and the plastics industry, for banknotes and ID documents, as well as for the automotive, electronics and medical technology sectors. The company’s comprehensive product portfolio ranges from decorative and smart interactive surface finishes to design consulting and security concepts for product and brand protection. Together with its subsidiaries, KURZ offers solutions for digital embellishment, cold transfer, hot stamping, related printing and embossing machines, and embossing tools. KURZ is also developing its own recycling programs, is a UN Global Compact participant, and has been repeatedly recognized by EcoVadis for its sustainability activities.
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