ARTIFICIAL TURF INFILL COMPRISING NATURAL FIBERS EMBEDDED IN A VULCANIZED PORTION

Abstract

The artificial turf infill includes composite infill components. The composite infill components include natural fiber and a vulcanized portion. The natural fiber includes any one of hemp fiber, sisal fiber, cotton fiber, burlap fiber, elephant grass fiber, cellulose fiber, or combinations thereof.

Claims

1. An artificial turf comprising an artificial turf infill, wherein the artificial turf infill comprises composite infill components, wherein the composite infill components comprise natural fiber and a vulcanized portion, wherein the natural fiber is at least partially embedded in the vulcanized portion, wherein the natural fiber is bonded to the vulcanized portion using a vulcanization process, wherein the natural fiber comprises any one of hemp fiber, sisal fiber, cotton fiber, burlap fiber, elephant grass fiber, cellulose fiber, or combinations thereof.

2. The artificial turf of claim 1, wherein the vulcanization further comprise a filler material.

3. The artificial turf of claim 2, wherein the filler material comprises any one of Kaolinite, chalk, or combinations thereof.

4. The artificial turf of claim 2, wherein any one of the following: wherein the composite infill components comprise 15% to 25% of the EPDM granulate by weight; wherein the composite infill components comprise 23% to 26% of the mineral oil by weight; wherein the composite infill components comprise 50% to 55% of the filler material by weight; and combinations thereof.

5. The artificial turf of claim 1, wherein the vulcanized portion has a jagged surface.

6. The artificial turf of claim 1, wherein natural fiber has a maximum length selected from any one of the following: 0.3 cm, 0.5 cm, and 1 cm.

7. The artificial turf of claim 1, wherein the vulcanized portion further comprises a poly ethylene based dye and a compatibilizer.

8. The artificial turf of claim 1, wherein the vulcanized portion further comprises a any one of a vulcanization catalyst or Mercaptobenzothiazole.

9. The artificial turf of claim 1, wherein the vulcanized portion comprises cavities formed by ripping natural fiber from the vulcanized portion.

10. The artificial turf of claim 1, wherein the vulcanized portion has a diameter between 0.5 mm and 5.0 mm.

11. The artificial turf of claim 1, wherein the artificial turf comprises an artificial turf carpet.

12. The artificial turf of claim 1, wherein the artificial turf further comprises a sprinkler system.

13. The artificial turf of claim 1, wherein the composite infill components comprise 10% to 40% of the natural fiber by weight.

14. The artificial turf of claim 1, wherein the natural fiber comprises fibers with a length between 0.01 mm and 5 mm long.

15. A method of at least partially manufacturing an artificial turf, wherein the method comprises: mixing multiple components to form a mater batch, wherein the multiple components comprise, EPDM granulate, natural fiber, sulfur, and mineral oil, wherein the natural fiber comprises any one of hemp fiber, sisal fiber, cotton fiber, burlap fiber, elephant grass fiber, cellulose fiber, or combinations thereof; shaping the master batch into a solid form; vulcanizing the solid form; and granulating the solid form to provide artificial turf infill.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises: installing an artificial turf carpet on a surface, wherein the artificial turf carpet comprises a pile; and spreading the artificial turf infill within the pile.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises milling the natural fibers in the mineral oil before adding the natural fiber to the master batch.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises adding any one of the following to the master batch: filler material; dye dissolved in PE; PE compatibilizer; a vulcanization catalyst and/or Mercaptobenzothiazole; and combinations thereof.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the solid form is a plate, wherein granulation of the plate comprises grinding, cutting, and/or shredding of the plate.

20. An artificial turf infill for use as infill for an artificial turf carpet; wherein the artificial turf infill comprises composite infill components, wherein the composite infill components comprise natural fiber and a vulcanized portion, wherein the natural fiber is at least partially embedded in the vulcanized portion, wherein the natural fiber is bonded to the vulcanized portion using a vulcanization process, wherein the natural fiber comprises any one of hemp fiber, sisal fiber, cotton fiber, burlap fiber, elephant grass fiber, cellulose fiber, or combinations thereof.

21. The artificial turf infill of claim 20, wherein the natural fiber is at least partially embedded in the vulcanized portion.

22. The artificial turf infill of claim 20, wherein some of the natural fiber is only partially embedded in the vulcanized portion.

23. The artificial turf infill of claim 20, wherein the natural fiber comprises fibers, wherein the fibers comprise first portions being embedded in the vulcanized portion.

24. The artificial turf infill of claim 23, wherein the fibers comprise second portions protruding from the vulcanized portion.

25. The artificial turf infill of claim 24, wherein at least some of the second portions are longer than their respective first portions.

26. The artificial turf infill of claim 23, wherein a weight percentage of the fibers in the overall weight of the natural fiber is at least 10%.

27. The artificial turf infill of claim 23, wherein a weight percentage of the fibers in the overall weight of the natural fiber is at least 5%.

28. The artificial turf infill of claim 20, wherein the natural fiber comprises fibers having dangling ends.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0047] In the following embodiments of the invention are explained in greater detail, by way of example only, making reference to the drawings in which:

[0048] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a composite infill component;

[0049] FIG. 2 illustrates a further example of a composite infill component;

[0050] FIG. 3 illustrates a further example of a composite infill component;

[0051] FIG. 4 is a photograph of a further example of a composite infill component;

[0052] FIG. 5 depicts a size distribution chart for the composite infill component of FIG. 4;

[0053] FIG. 6 depicts a chart illustrated an increase in water absorption and a temperature decrease for the composite infill of FIG. 5;

[0054] FIG. 7 illustrates an artificial turf carpet being used for manufacture of a artificial turf;

[0055] FIG. 8 illustrates a artificial turf;

[0056] FIG. 9 shows a flow chart which illustrates a method of manufacturing a composite infill component; and

[0057] FIG. 10 illustrates an artificial turf with an automatic sprinkler system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0058] Like numbered elements in these figures are either equivalent elements or perform the same function. Elements which have been discussed previously will not necessarily be discussed in later figures if the function is equivalent. FIGS. 1-4 illustrate several examples of a composite infill component for artificial turf. FIG. 1 shows a first example. There is a natural fiber 102 that is partially embedded in a vulcanized portion 104. The views in FIGS. 1-3 are cross-sectional views and the view in FIG. 4 is a photograph. In some examples the composite infill components are made by shredding or grinding a larger vulcanized plate of material. Some of the fibers can be ripped from portions of the composite infill components when they are manufactured. In FIG. 1 there is a cavity 108 that has been formed by pulling a natural fiber from the vulcanized portion 104 during manufacture. The surface of the vulcanized portion 104 may also be rough 106 due to the manufacturing process.

[0059] In FIG. 1 the natural fiber 102 has a volume that is several times smaller than the vulcanized portion 104. The fiber 102 is only partially embedded in the vulcanized portion 104. The fiber 102 has two portions 102a and 102b. The border between these portions depicted by a dashed line illustrates splitting of the fiber 102. The portion 102b is fully embedded in the vulcanized portion 104. The portion 102a is not embedded in the vulcanized portion 104. In other words, the portion 102a is a dangling end of the fiber 102. A surface separating the portion 102b from the portion 102a is substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the fiber 102.

[0060] FIG. 2 shows a further example where the vulcanized portion 104 is much larger than the natural fibers 102, 102. On the surface it can be seen that there are a number of natural fibers 102 that are only partially embedded. However the vulcanized portion 104 is so large that there are some fibers 102 which are totally embedded in the vulcanized portion 104. An advantage of using the natural fibers 102, 102 is that they absorb water. This may help to make the artificial turf surface seem more realistic and softer and may also have the effect of storing water to reduce the temperature of the playing surface. The fibers which are totally embedded in the vulcanized portion 104 are not able to absorb water, however the cost of natural fiber is considerably less than the cost of the vulcanized portion. The natural fiber that is embedded 102 may serve to reduce the cost of the composite infill components.

[0061] The fibers having dangling ends can facilitate water absorption and evaporation. The dangling end of a fiber can absorb water or moister in an effective way because entire surface area (or substantial portion of a surface area) of the dangling end can be in full contact with water or moister. The same is valid for evaporation of water, because entire surface area (or substantial portion of the surface area) of the dangling end is in contact with air. Moreover the embedded portions of the fibers having dangling ends can act as reservoirs of water, e.g. due to capillary effect.

[0062] FIG. 2 shows yet another example how a partially embedded fiber can be split into two portions. In contrast to the fiber 102 depicted on FIG. 1, the fiber 102c on FIG. 2 is split longitudinally into two portions. The spilling is depicted by the dashed line on FIG. 2 merely for illustrative purposes. A portion 102e of the fiber 102c is embedded in the vulcanized portion, while a portion 102d of the fiber 102c is protruding from the vulcanized portion.

[0063] FIG. 3 shows an example where the natural fiber 102 has a volume that is comparable to the vulcanized portion 104.

[0064] FIG. 4 shows a photograph of three composite infill components 100. The composite component in the upper right corner corresponds to the situation in FIG. 3. The vulcanized portion 104 has a volume which is comparable to the volume of the embedded natural fiber 102. The other composite infill components 102 are shown as having much smaller natural fibers 102 that are partially exposed from the surface of the vulcanized portion 104. The examples which are shown in the photographs of FIG. 4 is an example where the composite infill components are made from a vulcanized EPDM and 20% natural fibers.

[0065] FIG. 5 shows a sieve curve that illustrates the size of the composite infill components manufactured as they are depicted in FIG. 4. The x-axis shows the size distribution of the particles in millimeters and the y-axis shows the percentage of the total number of particles by wt. It can be seen that the majority of the composite infill components have a sieve size of between 2 and 2.5 mm.

[0066] FIG. 6 compares several properties of the composite infill component depicted in FIG. 4 in comparison to composite infill manufactured from EPDM alone. FIG. 6 illustrates the increase in the ability of the composite infill component to absorb water and thereby reduce the temperature of an artificial turf surface exposed to sunlight. FIG. 6 illustrates that the addition of the 20% natural fiber to the infill component increase the water absorption by 59%. Before an artificial turf surface is used for playing for example a game, the surface can be hosed down or made wet with sprinklers. As the sun shines on the surface the evaporation of water will serve to help cool the playing surface. During a typical day when it is sunny it can be seen that the temperature reduction is approximately 25 C. In addition to the absorbing water the use of the natural fibers also helps to reduce the temperature because the natural fibers have a comparatively large specific heat in comparison to the EPDM or the polymers that may be used for making artificial turf. The natural fibers do not heat very quickly and help to isolate other components of the artificial turf from being heated.

[0067] FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate the manufacture of an artificial turf using an artificial turf carpet and artificial turf infill. In FIG. 7 an artificial turf carpet 700 can be seen. The artificial turf carpet 700 comprises a backing 702. The artificial turf carpet 700 shown in FIG. 7 is a tufted artificial turf carpet in this example. The artificial turf carpet is formed by artificial turf fiber tufts 704 that are tufted into the backing 702. The artificial turf fiber tufts 704 are tufted in rows. There is row spacing 706 between adjacent rows of tufts. The artificial turf fiber tufts 704 also extent a distance above the backing 702. The distance that the fibers 704 extend above the backing 702 is the pile height 708. In FIG. 7 it can be seen that the artificial turf carpet 700 has been installed by placing or attaching it to the ground 710 or a floor.

[0068] To manufacture the artificial turf the artificial turf 800 a infill made up of composite infill components 101 such as is shown in FIGS. 1 through 4 that are spread out on the surface and distributed between the artificial turf fiber tufts 704. FIG. 8 shows the artificial turf carpet 700 after artificial turf infill 802 has been spread out and distributed between the artificial turf fiber tufts 704. The artificial turf infill 802 comprises the composite infill components 100.

[0069] FIG. 9 illustrates a method of manufacturing composite infill components for artificial turf infill. First in step 900 the natural fiber is optionally combined with the mineral oil and is then milled. The milling of the natural fiber with the mineral oil may be beneficial because it may prevent the natural fiber from producing a large amount of dust. Next, in step 902 the multiple components are mixed to form a master batch. The master batch may, for example, comprise for example EPDM granulate, natural fibers, sulfur, and mineral oil. After the master batch has been mixed the master batch may be formed 904 into a solid form. After being formed into a solid form the solid form may be vulcanized 906. Steps 904 and 906 may in some cases be performed at the same time. The Master batch could for example be placed into a plate vulcanizer and compressed. The master batch could also be put through an extruder that vulcanizes the master batch as it is extruded.

[0070] After the solid form has been vulcanized it is then granulated 908. For example the solid form may be cut, shredded or ground to provide the artificial turf infill. The artificial turf infill may be then used to manufacture an artificial turf as it is illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8.

[0071] FIG. 10 shows a further example of the artificial turf 800. In this example an automatic sprinkler system 1000 has been integrated into the artificial turf 800. The sprinkler 1000 is depicted as spraying water 1002 on an upper surface of the artificial turf 800. The use of an artificial sprinkler may be beneficial in combination with the composite infill component that comprises both the vulcanized portion and the natural fiber. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the water may help to keep the surface of the artificial turf 700 cool.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0072] 100 composite infill component [0073] 102 partially embedded natural fiber [0074] 102 embedded natural fiber [0075] 104 vulcanized portion [0076] 106 rough surface [0077] 108 cavity [0078] 500 size in mm [0079] 502 percent of total [0080] 600 increase in water absorption [0081] 602 temperature reduction in degrees Celsius [0082] 700 artificial turf carpet [0083] 702 backing [0084] 704 artificial turf fiber tufts [0085] 706 row spacing [0086] 708 pile height [0087] 710 ground or floor [0088] 700 artificial turf [0089] 702 artificial turf infill [0090] 900 milling the natural fibers in mineral oil [0091] 902 mixing multiple components to form a mater batch [0092] 904 shaping the master batch into a solid form [0093] 906 vulcanizing the solid form [0094] 908 granulating the solid form to provide artificial turf infill [0095] 1000 sprinkler [0096] 1002 water