Advertorial
Renzo Borgonovo / Figli di Nando Trabattoni (FNT) (I)
“THE ART OF HOT EMBOSSING”
Mr. Matteo Trabattoni of FNT Srl (left) and Mr. Luca Borgonovo of Renzo Borgonovo (right)
Placed on the northern edge of the Po River Plain, the most developed industrial region of Italy, not far from the major cities of Milano and Como, the companies Renzo Borgonovo and Figli di Nando Trabattoni (FNT) have developed, during their 60 years of partnership, a strong collaboration based on mutual respect and appreciation which has made possible the constant evolution of the hot embossing technology offered and popularized by the two brands. Founded in the late 50s and early 60s of the last century, FNT and Renzo Borgonovo moved their first steps within the sector of frames and linear profiles finishing, where they enjoyed outstanding results, supplying all over the world mainly cold embossing machines (among other machinery) and embossing moulds to engrave the products with the help of wood pulp. Following the changing of the international markets, the machinery manufactured and the technology exploited started to evolve, and the two companies began to focus more on units able to process wider work-pieces and to operate with the use of a heating source. This brought to the creation of the first Hot Embossing machines, which made use of methane or propane gas for the heating of the
20
Floor Forum International 113
embossing roller, which now needed to engrave directly onto the wood, without any intermediary agent. The first hot embossing machines, developed in the late 60s and still working on a width no bigger than 150 mm, were featuring a heating system made by Bunsen burners, and may look fairly rudimental in the eyes of a current day customer. The burners emitted open flames that directly hit and thus heated the embossing roller, and, despite being very effective, the system had not real control over the roller’s temperature and was probably not so energy efficient and surely not up to the current safety standards. With the years, the machines grew wider and sturdier, being able to accommodate work-pieces as big as small panels, but the real evolution came with the changing of the burner, passing from an open flame system to a gas limited and controlled heating system. This change was a great step forward for the safety and quality of the machine, since it allowed the control of the embossing roller’s temperature and, starting from these models, the machines got equipped with a HMI software, and thus a Touch Screen. While in later years the machine became bigger and reached even 1300 mm of working width, the unit preferred and most purchased within the parquet and flooring sector remained, throughout the years, a middle size unit, with an embossing capacity of up to 500 mm in width.
