AN ARTIFICIAL FEATHER FILLING MATERIAL

Abstract

An artificial feather filling material. The material comprises artificial feathers (1), Each of the feathers (1) comprises a first sheet (20) of a first nonwoven material, A filament (10) is arranged along one extension of the sheet and the fiber is bonded to the first sheet.

Claims

1. An artificial feather filling material, comprising artificial feathers each comprising a first sheet of a first nonwoven material, wherein a filament is arranged along one extension of said sheet, the filament being bonded to the first sheet, wherein the first sheet is a strip, the filament being arranged along the longitudinal extension of said strip.

2. The artificial feather filling material according to claim 1, wherein the filament is arranged centrally along the longitudinal extension of said strip; and/or wherein the filament is melt bonded to the first sheet of a first nonwoven material.

3. The artificial feather filling material according to claim 1, wherein the artificial feather further comprises a second sheet, in the form of a strip, of a second nonwoven material, the filament being arranged in between the first and the second sheets of nonwoven material(s), wherein the filament is bonded also to the second sheet, the first sheet being bonded to the second sheet.

4. The artificial feather filling material according to claim 3, wherein the first sheet is bonded to the second sheet, the bonding taking the form of a multitude of bonding lines.

5. The artificial feather filling material according to claim 1, wherein the first nonwoven material, and the second nonwoven material, if present: has a surface weight of 1 to 50 g/m.sup.2; and/or is a spunbonded and/or meltblown nonwoven; and/or comprises fibers having a linear density of 0.5 to 10 dtex; and/or comprises fibers having an average diameter of 0.1 μm to 30 μm for spunbonded nonwoven, or 0.1 μm to 15 μm for a meltblown nonwoven.

6. The artificial feather filling material according to claim 1, wherein the filament is a bi-component fiber, and/or the filament is hollow; and/or wherein the filament has a largest cross-sectional dimension of 0.05 to 1 mm.

7. The artificial feather filling material according to claim 6, wherein the filament is a sheath-core bi-component fiber, the sheath comprising a polymer having a melting point of at least 20° C. lower than the melting point of a polymer in the core; the core comprising a polyester having a melting point of at least 220° C., and the sheath having a melting point of less than 200° C.

8. The artificial feather filling material according to claim 1, wherein the filament has the shape of an arc.

9. The artificial feather filling material according to claim 1, wherein the cross-section of the first sheet perpendicular to the extension of the filament, at each side of the filament, is curved.

10. The artificial feather filling material according to claim 1, wherein the artificial feather filling material further comprises artificial down.

11. The artificial feather filling material according to claim 10, wherein the artificial feather filling material further comprises artificial down clusters, wherein each of the down clusters comprises a number of filaments arranged side by side in a bundle, the filaments being melt bonded together at one bonding location.

12. An article filled with the artificial feather filling material according to claim 1, the article being selected from the group consisting of a pillow, a quilt, a sleeping bag, and a cushion member.

13. A method of producing an artificial feather filling material, said process comprising the steps of: feeding at least one filament and a first web of a fibrous material to a calender with at least one roller and a heating arrangement for heating the first web; forming, downstream or upstream of the calender, at least one ribbon from the first web with the filament arranged centrally along the ribbon; bonding the filament to the fibrous material by the calender; and cross-cutting the ribbon and the filament to form artificial feathers.

14. The method of producing an artificial feather filling material according to claim 13, wherein the the filament being fed to the calender is arranged in between the first web and a second web of a fibrous material.

15. The method of producing an artificial feather filling material according to claim 13, wherein the calender comprises at least two rotating rollers for calendering the first web and the filament in between them, at least one of the rollers being heated, the calender further comprising a cooling roller arranged downstream of the at least one roller being heated, wherein the calender is arranged such that the first web and optionally the filament is in contact with the cooling roller over at least at least 5% of its circumference in calendaring them, whereby providing the filament with the shape of an arc.

16. The method of producing an artificial feather filling material according to anyone of claim 13, wherein the calender comprises at least two rotating rollers for calendering the first web and the filament between them, at least one of the rollers being heated, the calender further comprising a cooling roller arranged downstream of the at least one roller being heated, wherein the diameter of the cooling roller varies along its longitudinal extension, whereby the cross-section of the ribbon(s), as seen in a direction perpendicular to the extension of filament, at each side of the filament being curved.

17. The method of producing an artificial feather filling material according to claim 13, wherein the calender comprises at least two rotating rollers for calendering the first web and the filament between them, at least one of the rollers being heated, wherein at least one of the rollers is embossed, whereby the first web is provided with a pattern; the first web being melt bonded to a second web of a fibrous material, if the filament being fed to the calender is arranged in between the first web and a second web of a fibrous material.

18. The method of producing an artificial feather filling material according to claim 13, wherein at least two filaments are separately arranged in parallel on the first web to be fed to the heated calender, the method further comprising the step of cutting the first web between the filaments after the filaments have been bonded to the first web, whereby providing at least two ribbons, each ribbon comprising one filament, wherein the at least two ribbons are being cut into artificial feathers subsequently to cutting the first web between the filaments.

19. An apparatus for producing an artificial feather filling material, the apparatus comprising at least two rotatable rollers for calendering the first web of a fibrous material and a filament in between them and a heating arrangement for heating the first web of a fibrous material to be calendered, whereby melt bonding the filament to the first web, the apparatus further comprising a first cutting arrangement for cutting the first web into ribbons with one filament arranged along each of the ribbons, the first cutting arrangement being arranged either upstream or downstream of the rotatable rollers, and a second cutting arrangement, arranged downstream of the first cutting arrangement and the rotatable rollers, for cross-cutting the ribbons into artificial feathers.

20. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the apparatus further comprises a cooling roller arranged downstream of the heating arrangement, the apparatus being configured to be operated such that the cooling roller is in contact with the first web of the fibrous material and optionally the filament over at least 5% of its circumference in calendering the first web of the fibrous material and the filament; optionally at least one of the rollers of the calender being embossed.

21. (canceled)

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0047] These and other aspects, features and advantages of which the invention is capable of will be apparent and elucidated from the following description of embodiments of the present invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0048] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an artificial feather according to an embodiment;

[0049] FIGS. 2a-c show different views, including two cross-sections (FIG. 2b and FIG. 2c), of the artificial feather in FIG. 1;

[0050] FIG. 3 shows a schematic cross section of an apparatus for producing an artificial feather filling material, according to an embodiment;

[0051] FIG. 4 shows the apparatus in FIG. 3 seen from above;

[0052] FIG. 5a-b show different views of a roller with recesses;

[0053] FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of an embossed roller with recesses; and

[0054] FIG. 7a-d shows a perspective view of a roller being undulating along its longitudinal extension and its cross-sections (FIG. 7b, FIG. 7c and FIG. 7d).

[0055] FIG. 8 shows a photograph of an artificial feather according to an embodiment. The ruler alongside the artificial feather shows its dimensions in centimeters.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0056] The following description focuses on an embodiment of the present invention applicable to an artificial feather filling material. However, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to the specific exemplary embodiment described.

[0057] The artificial feather filling material comprises a plurality of artificial feathers 1. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the individual artificial feather 1, according to an embodiment, comprises a first strip 20 of a first nonwoven material. A filament 10, which in the illustrated embodiment is a monofilament, is arranged centrally along one extension, e.g. the longitudinal extension, of the strip 20. The filament 10 is bonded to the first strip 20.

[0058] FIG. 2a is a top view of the artificial feather 1 of FIG. 1. FIG. 2b is a cross-section taken along line II b-II b of FIG. 2a, and FIG. 2c is a cross-section taken along line II c-II c of FIG. 2a. As can be seen in FIG. 2b, the artificial feather 1, according to an embodiment, comprises a second strip 30 of a second nonwoven material. The filament 10 is arranged in between the first strip 20 and the second strip 30. Further, the cross-section of the strips 20, 30, perpendicular to the extension of the centrally arranged filament 1, at each side of the centrally arranged filament 1, is curved. The curvature 21 of the curved cross-section of the strips 20, 30 may have the shape of circular arc. Hence, in the perspective of FIG. 2b the artificial feather 1 has a shape resembling that of a flying seagull, as seen from the head. Further, as can be seen in FIG. 2c, the filament 10, according to an embodiment, has the shape of an arc. The curvature 11 of the arc shaped filament 10 may have the shape of a circular arc. Furthermore, as can be seen in FIG. 2a, the first strip 20 may be bonded to the second strip 30 by a multitude of bonding lines 22 arranged to resemble the barbs in natural feathers, whereby forming a forming a feather like, fish-bone pattern together with the centrally arranged filament.

[0059] In FIGS. 3 and 4, an apparatus 40 for producing an artificial feather filling material, according to an embodiment, is shown. The apparatus comprises a calender 41 with at least two rotatable rollers 42, 45 and a rotatable, cooling roller 46, arranged downstream of the at least two rotatable rollers 42, 45. A heating arrangement 44 is provided, and in the illustrated embodiment this is accomplished by means of least one of the rollers 42, 45 being provided with a heater 44. The apparatus 40 is arranged for feeding a first web 25 of a fibrous material, a filament 10, and a second web 35 of a fibrous material to the calender 41 from reels 49. The filament 10 may be sheath-core bi-component fiber. The core in the sheath-core bi-component fiber may comprise a polyester (e.g. PET) and have a melting point of approx. 265° C. Further, the sheath, in the sheath-core bi-component fiber, may comprise a co-polyester (e.g. co-PET) and have a melting point of approx. 180° C. The first web 25 of the fibrous material, as well as the second web 35 of a fibrous material, may be PET spunbond of approx. 10 gsm.

[0060] In feeding the first web 25, the filament 10, and the second web 35 to the calender 41, the filament 10 is fed between the first web 25 and the second web 35. Further, the calender 41 is arranged for calendering the first web 25, the filament 10, and the second web 35 in between the two rotatable rollers 42, 45. In calendering the first web 25, the filament 10, and the second web 35, the filament 10 is melt bonded to the first web 25 and to the second web 35, respectively. The apparatus 40 further comprises a first cutting arrangement 50 for cutting the first web 25 material, and the second web 35 material if present, into ribbons 26 with one filament 10 arranged centrally at each of the ribbons 26. The first cutting arrangement 50 is arranged downstream of the rotatable rollers 42, 45, but may, in alternative embodiments, be placed upstream of the rotatable rollers 42, 45, or may even be integrated in the rotatable rollers 42, 45. Typically, the cooling roller 46 is arranged upstream of the first cutting arrangement 50. After having passed the heating arrangement 44 to melt bond the filament 10 to the first web 25, the first web 25 and the filament 10 are brought into contact with the cooling roller 46 to cool them, thereby providing them with an arced configuration. In FIG. 3, the first web 25 and the filament 10 are in contact with the cooling roller 46 over about 10% of the circumference of the cooling roller 46. The contact may however preferably be more than 10% of the circumference of the cooling roller 46.

[0061] Furthermore, the apparatus 40 comprises a second cutting arrangement 60 for cross-cutting the ribbons 26 into artificial feathers 1. The second cutting arrangement 60 is arranged downstream of the first cutting arrangement 50 and the rotatable rollers 42, 45. Downstream of the second cutting arrangement 60 a collection station 70 is arranged, which gathers the produced artificial feathers 1 into an artificial feather filling material.

[0062] A roller 42, according to an embodiment, is shown in FIG. 5a. The roller 42 is provided with recesses 47 along its perimeter for receiving the filaments 10, being thicker than the first and second web 25, 35. The cross-section (cf. FIG. 5b) of each recess 47 may be semicircular to conform to the filament 10. By providing at least one of the rotatable rollers 42, 45 with recesses along its perimeter for receiving the filaments 10, the calendering of the first and second web 25, 35 becomes more effective if the filament 10 not separates the rotatable rollers 42, 45. Further, the recesses 47 should be sufficiently shallow to allow for the filaments 10, the first web 25, and second web 35 to be pressed together in calendering them.

[0063] A roller 42, according to another embodiment, is shown in FIG. 6. Apart from the recesses 47 shown in FIG. 5, the roller 42 is embossed. The embossment serves to provide the artificial feathers 1 with a feather like, fish-bone pattern 48.

[0064] A cooling roller 46, according to another embodiment, is shown in FIG. 7a-d. The radius (r.sub.1, r.sub.2) of the cooling roller 46 varies along its longitudinal extension (cf. FIGS. 7b and 7c, showing two radial cross-sections of the cooling roller 46), the cooling roller 46 being undulating along its longitudinal extension (cf. FIG. 7d showing a longitudinal cross-section of the cooling roller 46).

[0065] In FIG. 8, a photograph of an artificial feather according to an embodiment related to the one in FIG. 2 is provided. The first strip 20 of the first nonwoven material and the filament 10 are indicated in the photograph. Further, one the bonding lines 22 has also been indicated. This feather is about 60 mm long and about 36 mm wide. The non-woven is a 10 m/m.sup.2 spunbond.

[0066] In order to provide an artificial feather filling material for a pillow, the artificial feather in FIG. 8 may be combined with artificial down according to e.g. example 2 in U.S. Pat. No. 5,851,665 (cf. FIG. 1B therein). In combining artificial feathers and artificial down to provide an artificial filling material for e.g. a pillow, a higher weight proportion of down than of artificial feathers is typically used. Thus, an artificial filling material for e.g. a pillow may comprise about 20% by weight of artificial feathers and 80% by weight of artificial down. The proportion of artificial down may in some embodiments be even higher, such as up to 95% by weight.