FORM-STABLE COMPOSITE MATERIAL WITH A LAYER OF FIBER-REINFORCED RECYCLED MATERIAL

Abstract

A form-stable composite material with two flexible layers, between which is accommodated a layer with fiber-reinforced recycled ground material, comprising thermoplastically bound fibers, wherein grains of the ground material are firmly bonded to one another and to the flexible layers, the layer of ground material being porous.

Claims

1-12. (canceled)

13. A form-stable composite material with two flexible layers, between which is accommodated a layer with fiber-reinforced recycled ground material, comprising thermoplastically bound fibers, wherein grains of the ground material are firmly bonded to one another and to the flexible layers, the layer of ground material being porous.

14. The form-stable composite material according to claim 13, wherein the layer of ground material has grains of ground material which are melt-bonded to one another at their grain boundaries, wherein the grains of ground material have a first porosity within their grain boundaries.

15. The shape-stable composite material according to claim 14, wherein the layer of ground material between the grains of the ground material has a second porosity.

16. The shape-stable composite material according to claim 15, wherein the mean pore size of the second porosity is greater than the mean pore size of the first porosity by more than a factor of 5.

17. The shape-stable composite material according to claim 15, wherein the mean pore size of the second porosity is greater than the mean pore size of the first porosity by more than a factor of 10.

18. The form-stable composite material according to claim 13, wherein the grains of ground material comprise fibers that are bound by a thermoplastic binder plastic and are made of at least one of a material which is form-stable at the melting temperature of the binder plastic and made of a thermoplastic material with a higher melting point than the binder plastic.

19. The form-stable composite material according to claim 18, wherein at least one of the thermoplastic binder includes a polyolefin, the grains of ground material comprise fibers made of at least one of glass fibers, mineral fibers, natural fibers, fibers made of a thermoset and the thermoplastic material with a higher melting point than the binder plastic includes thermoplastically bonded fibers.

20. The form-stable composite material according to claim 18, wherein the grains of ground material are firmly bonded to one another by the thermoplastic binder plastic.

21. The form-stable composite material according to claim 13, wherein the grains of ground material have a most frequent grain size in the range from 1 to 4 mm.

22. The form-stable composite material according to claim 21, wherein the grains of ground material have a most frequent grain size in the range from 2 to 4 mm.

23. The form-stable composite material according to claim 13, wherein the grains of ground material have a most frequent grain size in the range from 2 to 8 mm.

24. The form-stable composite material according to claim 23, wherein the grains of ground material have a most frequent grain size in the range from 4 to 8 mm.

25. The form-stable composite material according to claim 13, wherein the grains of ground material have a most frequent fiber length in the range from 1 to 4 mm.

26. The form-stable composite material according to claim 25, wherein the grains of ground material have a most frequent fiber length in the range from 1.5 to 3 mm.

27. The form-stable composite material according to claim 13, wherein the layer of ground material layer comprises metal foil pieces.

28. The form-stable composite material according to claim 27, wherein the layer of ground material has grains of ground material which are fused to one another at their grain boundaries, wherein metal foil pieces are located at the grain boundaries of grains of ground material.

29. The mold-stable composite material according to claim 13, wherein one or both flexible layers have at least one of a nonwoven, a metal foil and a plastic foil.

30. The mold-stable composite material according to claim 29, wherein the one or both flexible layers includes a microperforated metal foil.

31. A flat composite component which has a substantially smaller dimension in its thickness direction than in its two surface directions of extension which are both orthogonal to the thickness direction and mutually orthogonal, comprising a composite material according to claim 13, wherein the composite component is curved locally around at least one curvature axis orthogonal to the local extension axis of the thickness direction.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0040] The invention may take physical form in certain parts and arrangement of parts, a preferred embodiment of which will be described in detail and illustrated in the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof and wherein:

[0041] FIG. 1 shows a rough schematic cross-sectional view through a form-stable composite material according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0042] Referring now to the drawing wherein the showings are for the purpose of illustrating preferred and alternative embodiments of the invention only and not for the purpose of limiting the same, FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view through an exemplary embodiment of a form-stable composite material according to the invention that is indicated generally by reference numeral 10. The composite material 10 comprises a first and a second flexible layer 12 and 14, respectively, which are shown as layers of nonwovens in the illustrated example. The layers of nonwoven 12 and 14 can each have different fibers, for example thermoplastic binder fibers 16 made of a polyolefin, in particular polypropylene, and reinforcing fibers 18 made of a material which is form-stable at the melting temperature of the thermoplastic binder plastic of the thermoplastic binder fibers 16. For example, the reinforcing fibers 18 may be formed from polyethylene terephthalate.

[0043] In addition or alternatively to the layers of nonwoven 12 and 14, the flexible layers 12 and 14 can have other or additional layers, for example a solid plastic foil or/and a metal foil, in particular a microperforated aluminum foil.

[0044] Between the flexible layers 12 and 14 there is a layer of ground material 20 made of LWRT recyclate. The layer of ground material 20 comprises a plurality of grains of ground material 22, 24, etc., which are present in a size distribution depending on the selected grinding method. For example, the grains of ground material 22, 24, etc. of the layer of ground material 20 have a mean grain diameter of 0.5 to 8 mm, 90% of the grains 22, 24 having a mean diameter of 2 to 8 mm.

[0045] In the illustrated example, the grains of ground material 22, 24, etc. comprise thermally stable fibers, for example glass fibers 26, which are shown as straight fibers in comparison to the tangled fibers of the layers of nonwoven 12 and 14. These glass fibers 26 are bonded to one another by a thermoplastic binder plastic 28. The thermoplastic binder plastic 28 was originally present as fibers, similar to the thermoplastic binder fibers 16 in the layers of nonwoven 12 and 14, that is, in the primary production of the LWRT that is now present as LWRT recyclate. As is known for LWRTs, the binder fibers were melted and have wetted the thermally stable glass fibers 26 so that cooling of the LWRT resulted in thermoplastic bonding of the glass fibers 26. This structure is still present in grains 22, 24.

[0046] Pores 30 of a first porosity which is found exclusively in the grain interior are formed between the thermoplastically bonded glass fibers 26 in grains 22 and 24.

[0047] In addition, there is a second porosity with pores 32 which can be properly referred to as interbody pores 32, in the areas between the grains of ground material 22, 24, etc. The pore size of the pores 32 of the second porosity is significantly greater than the mean pore size of the pores 30 of the first porosity in the grains of ground material 22, 24, etc.

[0048] Pores 22, 24, etc., are firmly bonded to one another at their grain boundaries 22a, 24a. Likewise, grains 22, 24, etc. are firmly bonded with their grain boundaries 22a to the layers of nonwoven 12 and 14, in particular with the aid of binder fibers 16 in the two layers 12 and 14.

[0049] In the production of composite material 10, ground material was loosely spread or poured onto the lower layer of nonwoven 14, and this spread or poured material was covered with the upper layer of nonwoven 12. This crude layer arrangement was fed to a heatable mold in which grain boundaries 22a, 24a of grains 22, 24, etc., were melted by heat input while regions lying more in the grain interior were not heated until the binder plastic 28 melted. The grain boundaries 22a, 24a of adjacent grains 22, 24, etc., which are in contact with one another, have thus bonded firmly via the common binder plastic 28, which is melted in the grain boundary region. At the same time, pressure was exerted on the crude layer arrangement so that the composite material or the layer of ground material 20 accommodated therein has a sinter-like structure with a visible granularity whose grains are firmly bonded together by fusion in their surface regions—and preferably only in these regions.

[0050] The binder fibers 16 also were partially melted upon heat input into the crude layer arrangement, resulting in firmly bonding of the layers of nonwoven 12 and 14 to grains 22, 24 at their grain boundaries 22a, 24a.

[0051] By using LWRT recyclate, the composite material 10 can be produced cost-effectively with sufficiently high mechanical strength, having very good sound-absorbing properties due to both the porosity described within grains 22, 24, etc., and between the grains.

[0052] Grains 22, 24, etc. can be partly covered by metal foil 34 at their grain boundaries 22a, 24a, as is roughly indicated schematically in FIG. 1.

[0053] Preferably, metal foil pieces 34 originate from the grinding of an LWRT component covered at least on one side with a metal foil. The metal foil pieces 34 form sound reflectors which are randomly arranged and oriented in the layer of ground material 20, which effectively extend the path of sound in the thickness direction D through the composite material 10 and thereby enhance its absorption.

[0054] The form-stable composite material 10 of FIG. 1 can be brought into a three-dimensional shape by pressing with the action of heat. Preferably, shell components which are well suited as sound-absorbing cladding of functional areas in vehicles are produced from the flat composite material 10.

[0055] While considerable emphasis has been placed on the preferred embodiments of the invention illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated that other embodiments, and equivalences thereof, can be made and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the invention. Furthermore, the embodiments described above can be combined to form yet other embodiments of the invention of this application. Accordingly, it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation.