MANUFACTURING METHOD OF ABRASION RESISTANT MESH FABRIC AND ABRASION RESISTANT MESH FABRIC MADE BY THE MANUFACTURING METHOD

Abstract

A manufacturing method of an abrasion resistant mesh fabric includes the following steps: a) arranging a gel applying mechanism, the gel applying mechanism having a gel applying roller, and a drive roller and a scraper, which are located by two opposite sides of the gel applying roller respectively and arranged separately from the gel applying roller, polyurethane gel being stored between the scraper and the outer surface of the gel applying roller in a contact manner with the outer surface of the gel applying roller; b) conveying a mesh fabric base material to pass between the gel applying roller and the drive roller in a way that the polyurethane gel clinging to the gel applying roller is applied to one side of the mesh fabric base material; and c) moisture hardening the polyurethane gel applied on the side of the mesh fabric base material at room temperature.

Claims

1. A manufacturing method of an abrasion resistant mesh fabric, the manufacturing method comprising the steps of: a) arranging a gel applying mechanism, the gel applying mechanism having a rotatable gel applying roller, a drive roller located by one side of the gel applying roller and arranged separately from the gel applying roller, and a scraper roller located by another side of the gel applying roller and arranged separately from the gel applying roller, the scraper roller having a scraper facing an outer surface of the gel applying roller, polyurethane gel being stored between the scraper and the outer surface of the gel applying roller in a contact manner with the outer surface of the gel applying roller; b) conveying a mesh fabric base material to pass between the gel applying roller and the drive roller in a way that the polyurethane gel clinging to the gel applying roller is applied to one side of the mesh fabric base material; and c) moisture hardening the polyurethane gel applied on the side of the mesh fabric base material at room temperature.

2. The manufacturing method as claimed in claim 1, wherein in the step c), the mesh fabric base material applied with the polyurethane gel is set still in an environment with a temperature ranged between 10? C. and 45? C. and a relative humidity ranged between 40% and 95% for at least 18 hours.

3. The manufacturing method as claimed in claim 2, wherein in the step c), the mesh fabric base material applied with the polyurethane gel is set still in the environment for at least 24 hours.

4. The manufacturing method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the outer surface of the gel applying roller has a plurality of dimples.

5. The manufacturing method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the scraper roller has a main body; the scraper is fixed to an outer surface of the main body along an axis of the main body; a length of the scraper corresponds to a length of the gel applying roller.

6. The manufacturing method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mesh fabric base material is rolled on a feeding roller, and driven by the drive roller to be conveyed to pass between the gel applying roller and the drive roller.

7. An abrasion resistant mesh fabric, which is made by the manufacturing method as claimed in claim 1, the abrasion resistant mesh fabric comprising the mesh fabric base material and a polyurethane gel layer, the mesh fabric base material comprising a plurality of warp skeins, a plurality of woof skeins, and a plurality of holes and a plurality of nodes, which are formed by interlacing of the warp skeins and the woof skeins, the polyurethane gel layer covering one side of each of the warp skeins, the woof skeins and the nodes.

8. The abrasion resistant mesh fabric as claimed in claim 7, wherein a size of each of the holes of the mesh fabric base material is larger than a diameter of each of the warp skeins and the woof skeins of the mesh fabric base material.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] The manufacturing method of an abrasion resistant mesh fabric and the abrasion resistant mesh fabric made by the manufacturing method of the present invention will be further specified by the embodiment given herein below and the accompanying drawings, and wherein:

[0017] FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the steps of a manufacturing method of an abrasion resistant mesh fabric according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0018] FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the arranged relation between members of a gel applying mechanism, wherein a mesh fabric base material is rolled on a feeding roller and driven by a drive roller to be conveyed to pass between a gel applying roller and the drive roller;

[0019] FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged schematic top view of the gel applying mechanism, showing that a scraper roller is separately disposed by a left side of the gel applying roller;

[0020] FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing that polyurethane gel covers one side of the mesh fabric base material;

[0021] FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view taken along the line 5-5 in FIG. 4; and

[0022] FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view taken along the line 6-6 in FIG. 4, showing that the polyurethane gel covers one side of each of warp skeins, woof skeins and nodes between the warp skeins and the woof skeins of the mesh fabric base material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0023] For specifying the technical features of the present invention, a preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawings are given herein below. Referring to FIG. 1, a manufacturing method 1 of an abrasion resistant mesh fabric according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention primarily includes the following steps: a) arranging a gel applying mechanism, b) applying polyurethane gel to a mesh fabric base material by the gel applying mechanism, and c) moisture hardening the mesh fabric base material applied with the polyurethane gel at room temperature. Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the aforementioned steps a) to c) will be specified herein below.

[0024] The aforementioned step a) of arranging a gel applying mechanism is primarily arranging a gel applying mechanism 2 in a processing place. The gel applying mechanism 2 has a rotatable gel applying roller 10, a drive roller 20 located by the right side of the gel applying roller 10 and arranged separately from the gel applying roller 10, and a scraper roller 30 located by the left side of the gel applying roller 10 and arranged separately from the gel applying roller 10. The outer surface 11 of the gel applying roller 10 has a plurality of dimples 12. The scraper roller 30 has a main body 31 and a scraper 32 facing the outer surface 11 of the gel applying roller 10. In this embodiment, the scraper roller 30 is unmoved relative to the gel applying roller 10. The scraper 32 is formed on the outer surface of the main body 31 along the axis of the main body 31, and the length L1 of the scraper 32 corresponds to the length L2 of the gel applying roller 10. Polyurethane gel 40 is stored between the scraper 32 and the outer surface 11 of the gel applying roller 10. The polyurethane gel 40 is in contact with the outer surface 11 of the gel applying roller 10. In use, the scraper roller 30 and the gel applying roller 10 may be pre-heated for the purpose of raising the temperature of the polyurethane gel 40 to make it become viscous liquid for clinging to the outer surface 11 of the gel applying roller 10 well. When the gel applying roller 10 is rotated counterclockwise, the polyurethane gel 40 will cling to the outer surface 11 of the gel applying roller 10, and the scraper 32 of the scraper roller 30 will evenly scrape the polyurethane gel 40 covering the outer surface 11 of the gel applying roller 10, making the polyurethane gel 40 clinging to the outer surface 11 of the gel applying roller 10 uniform in thickness. It should be mentioned that during the rotation of the gel applying roller 10, the scraper 32 will be maintained with a tiny distance from the outer surface 11 of the gel applying roller 10 or slightly contact the outer surface 11 of the gel applying roller 10, enabling the polyurethane gel 40 to be distributed between the dimples 12 uniformly, thereby ensuring the uniform thickness of the polyurethane gel 40 clinging to the outer surface 11 of the gel applying roller 10.

[0025] The aforementioned step b) of applying polyurethane gel to a mesh fabric base material by the gel applying mechanism is primarily conveying a mesh fabric base material 60 to pass between the gel applying roller 10 and the drive roller 20, making the polyurethane gel 40 clinging to the gel applying roller 10 applied to one side 61 of the mesh fabric base material 60. Specifically speaking, the gel applying mechanism 2 has a feeding roller 50 located below the drive roller 20 and disposed correspondingly to and separately from the drive roller 20. The mesh fabric base material 60 is rolled onto the feeding roller 50. An end of the mesh fabric base material 60 is pulled through a gap between the gel applying roller 10 and the drive roller 20, and then fixed to a receiving roller (not shown) located adjacent to the drive roller 20. The mesh fabric base material 60 is in contact with the surface of the drive roller 20. When the drive roller 20 is rotated clockwise, the drive roller 20 drives the mesh fabric base material 60 rolled on the feeding roller 50 to continuously pass between the gel applying roller 10 and the drive roller 20, making the polyurethane gel 40 clinging to the outer surface 11 of the gel applying roller 10 applied to the side 61 of the mesh fabric base material 60.

[0026] The aforementioned step c) of moisture hardening the mesh fabric base material 60 applied with the polyurethane gel at room temperature is primarily setting the mesh fabric base material 60 applied on the side 61 thereof with the polyurethane gel 40 still in an environment with specific temperature and humidity, making the polyurethane gel 40 naturally cured and hardened without being baked to become a polyurethane gel layer. Specifically speaking, after the whole side 61 of the mesh fabric base material 60 is applied with the polyurethane gel 40, the mesh fabric base material 60 is laid flat or rolled into a bundle, placed in an environment with a temperature ranged between 10? C. and 45? C. and a relative humidity ranged between 40% and 95%, and set still for at least 18 hours (preferably set still for at least 24 hours), making the polyurethane gel 40 applied on the side 61 of the mesh fabric base material 60 naturally cured and hardened in this environment to become the polyurethane gel layer. It should be additionally mentioned that the curing of the polyurethane gel 40 is reacting the functional group of the molecule of the gel with mist to bring the bridging effect. The lower the humidity during the reaction, the slower the reaction. As regards the aforementioned environment for moisture hardening at room temperature, if the temperature is lower than 10? C., the time for hardening the polyurethane gel 40 is too long to meet the production efficiency and cost. If the temperature is higher than 45? C., it is helpful for shortening the time for hardening the polyurethane gel 40, but it may need an additional temperature control mechanism for raising the environmental temperature and thus will be increased in cost by additional energy consumption, thereby lowering the effect of energy saving and carbon reduction. Besides, if the relative humidity is lower than 40%, it will decelerate the bridging reaction of the reactive group inside the polyurethane gel 40, prolonging the time for hardening the polyurethane gel 40, but it may need an additional humidity control mechanism for raising the environmental humidity and thus will be increased in cost by additional energy consumption, thereby affecting the effect of energy saving and carbon reduction. If the relative humidity is higher than 95%, the time for hardening the polyurethane gel 40 will be highly shortened, but it will cause quality problem, such as the mesh fabric base material 60 being damped, bringing an additional need for drying apparatus to dry up the mesh fabric base material 60, which additionally consumes energy and increases the cost. Summarizing the considerations such as the effect of energy saving and carbon reduction, the time for hardening and curing (related to the production efficiency and cost) and the hardening and curing extent (affective to the product quality such as the possibility of storage by winding, the color fastness, the tactile impression of the product, the structural strength and so on), the inventors have experimented repeatedly for many times and the result shows that it is preferable to set the mesh fabric base material 60 applied with the polyurethane gel 40 still in the aforementioned environment with the temperature ranged between 10? C. and 45? C. and the relative humidity ranged between 40% and 95% for at least 18 hours, more preferable to set it still in the environment with the temperature ranged between 15? C. and 40? C. and the relative humidity ranged between 45% and 90% for at least 20 hours, and optimal to set it still in the environment with the temperature ranged between 20? C. and 35? C. and the relative humidity ranged between 45% and 75% for at least 24 hours.

[0027] The steps of the manufacturing method 1 of the abrasion resistant mesh fabric provided by the preferred embodiment of the present invention are specified above. By the above-described manufacturing method, the side 61 of the mesh fabric base material 60 is firmly coated with a hardened polyurethane gel layer, and thus the mesh fabric base material 60 and the polyurethane gel layer compose the abrasion resistant mesh fabric provided by the present invention. The structural features of the adopted mesh fabric base material 60 and the abrasion resistant mesh fabric will be further described in detail herein below. The mesh fabric base material 60 used in the present invention may be the mesh fabric manufactured by any kinds of size specification or any kinds of weave (knitting, plane weave). Referring to FIG. 4 to FIG. 6, the mesh fabric base material 60 instanced in this embodiment optionally has a mesh structure 62. The mesh structure 62 has a plurality of warp skeins 63, a plurality of woof skeins 64, and a plurality of holes 65 and a plurality of nodes 66, which are formed by the interlacing of the warp skeins 63 and the woof skeins 64. Besides, the polyurethane gel layer (as shown in FIG. 6) covers the periphery of each hole 65 (as shown in FIG. 5) on the side 61 of the mesh fabric base material 60 and one side of each node 66. Therefore, in the abrasion resistant mesh fabric provided by the present invention, the polyurethane gel layer covers one side of each of the warp skeins 63, the woof skeins 64 and the nodes 66 of the mesh fabric base material 60, which is helpful for making the abrasion resistant mesh fabric relatively more robust in structure and making the abrasion resistant mesh fabric relatively more uneasy to be torn and worn. Even if the adopted mesh fabric base material 60 has relatively larger holes 65 and higher breathability but has slightly low structural strength, the polyurethane gel layer covers every nodes 66, so the abrasion resistant mesh fabric is still increased in robustness of the whole structure and maintained with quite structural strength, thereby uneasy to be torn.

[0028] In conclusion, the manufacturing method 1 of the abrasion resistant mesh fabric provided by the present invention is applying the polyurethane gel 40 to cover the side 61 of the mesh fabric base material 60, and making the polyurethane gel 40 cured and hardened in normal environmental temperature and humidity conditions to become the polyurethane gel layer. The manufacturing method 1 of the abrasion resistant mesh fabric provided by the present invention doesn't need high temperature baking in the oven, but can raise the robustness of the abrasion resistant mesh fabric and make it even more abrasion resistant, not only attaining energy saving and carbon reduction, but also little affecting the color fastness of the abrasion resistant mesh fabric, hardly affecting the presentation of the color of the abrasion resistant mesh fabric. Besides, even though the warp skeins 63 and the woof skeins 64 are entirely impregnated and covered with the polyurethane gel 40, it doesn't cause structural embrittlement to the abrasion resistant mesh fabric. In addition, the polyurethane gel 40 can be applied to the side of various kinds of fabric, so the manufacturing method 1 of the abrasion resistant mesh fabric provided by the present invention has high applicability. The abrasion resistant mesh fabric provided by the present invention not only maintains its own inner structural strength and elasticity, but the abrasion resistance of the abrasion resistant mesh fabric is also increased by the polyurethane gel layer covering the side 61 of the mesh fabric base material 60, and thus the robustness of the whole structure of the abrasion resistant mesh fabric is increased, making the abrasion resistant mesh fabric uneasy to be torn.

[0029] The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.