Plastic Nettings became commercially successful with the invention and commercialization of extruded diamond netting by Frank Bryan Mercer and his Netlon Ltd company (UK).  He began manufacturing and then licensing in the late 1950s.

It was this success that piqued the interest of many and spurred the creation and development of many other Nonwoven Plastic Nettings during the next 50 years!

What are Plastic Nettings?

Plastic Nettings are nonwoven (and non-knitted) nets, mesh, scrims, and grids extruded from thermoplastics - usually polyethylene or polypropylene.  Most of these are further processed to make the finished net.  Orientation is the most valuable of these secondary processes

Plastic Nettings are nonwoven, non-knitted nets, mesh, scrims, and grids made of thermoplastics - usually polyethylene or polypropylene.  Other common resins used are nylon, polyester, PVC, and the like.  Most of these are extruded and further processed to make the finished net.  Orientation of the plastics is the most valuable of these processes - significantly improving the strength and resistance to stretching.

Some of the processes or combination of processes used in the manufacture of Plastic nettings are

    Extrusion - Fiber/Filament, Film, and Sheet
    Orientation - Biaxial or Uniaxial
    Embossing/Fibrillation - Film
    Perforation/Punching - Film and Sheet
    Cross-Laying - Fibers/Filaments

The two major types of Plastic Nettings are Diamond Nets and Square Nets. 

Diamond Nets were first made by the Mercer/Netlon process. These are extruded by counter-rotating slotted dies, each slot extruding strands and making joints where they cross.  Diamond Nets stretch by changing shape in both the machine and transverse direction when stressed.

Square Nets are made by the Hureau/Rical process.  It extrudes machine direction strands through slots in the die plate and transverse strands (doughnut strands) by the opening and closing of a piston/plug.  Square nets Do Not stretch in either the machine or transverse direction when stressed.

Companies Making Extruded Plastic Nettings

As you might expect, the only companies making Extruded Plastic Nettings in the late 1950s and early 1960s were Netlon(UK) and Rical(France).

These were followed by their early adopters/licensees:

Mercer/Netlon - Dupont (USA & Canada), Nortene (France), Tenax (Italy), Intermas(Spain),  and others.

Hureau/Rical - Rexall (USA & Belgium), Perstorp (Sweden), and others in Spain, Greece, Ireland, South Africa, and Australia.  Wood Conversion took over the Rexall license in 1966 (USA, Canada, and Mexico).

Currently, Conwed Plastics (formerly Wood Conversion, US and Belgium) and Tensar (US), and Tenax (Italy, US) are the major Square Net manufacturers.  Conwed Plastics (US & Belgium), Tenax (Italy & US), Naltex (US), and Intermas (Spain) are the major Diamond Net manufacturers.

Inventors of the Major Processes and Products

The inventors of the major processes and products are (Sir) Frank Bryan Mercer, Jacques Hureau, and Ronald L Larsen.  Their inventions define the extent of the processes and products of today.

Frank Bryan Mercer - invented the Diamond Net process and commercialized it in the late 1950s in his company - Netlon Ltd (UK) when there was no other product like it, any where in the world.  His success in licensing his process begat Nortene (France).  Where . . .

Jacques Hureau - invented the Square Net process and took it to Rical (France) to develop, commercialize, and license it.

Ronald L Larsen - invented the biaxial orientation process for Square Nets and developed the Square Net extrusion and orientation process to world class status at Conwed Plastics. 

For more information on early Patents dealing with Extruded Plastic Nettings, click here.