Method to Produce a Pile Textile Product and a Textile Product Resulting from the Same

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a textile product includes the steps of providing an intermediate product formed by a backing having a front surface and a back surface, and yarns applied into the backing, the yarns extending from the front surface of the backing material, feeding the intermediate product along a body having a heated surface, the back surface being pressed against the heated surface, to at least partly melt the yarns present in the intermediate product to form the textile product, wherein the part of the back surface that is pressed against the heated surface has a relative speed with respect to the heated surface, and a device enabling applications of this method and to a floor covering incorporating such a textile product connected to a dimensionally stable carrier sheet using thermo reversible covalent interactions.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing a carpet comprising the steps of: providing an intermediate product comprising a backing having a front surface and a back surface, and yarns applied into the backing, the yarns extending from the front surface of the backing material, feeding the intermediate product along a body having a heated surface, the back surface being pressed against the said heated surface, to at least partly melt the yarns present in the intermediate product to form the carpet, and providing a relative speed of the part of the back surface that is pressed against the heated surface with respect to the heated surface.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the heated surface is an edge of a blade.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the step of feeding includes the step of feeding the intermediate product between the blade and a rotating drum facing the blade.

4. A method according to claim 2, further including the step of vibrating the blade when pressed against the back surface.

5. A method according to claim 4, wherein the frequency of vibrating is between 5000 and 50000 Hz.

6. A method according to claim 2, further comprising the step of thermally connecting the blade to a non-flat carrying element.

7. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of preheating the back surface before being pressed against the heated surface of the body.

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein the step of preheating includes the step of preheating the back surface by pressing a heated preheat surface against the back surface, the preheat surface being one of: a preheat drum and a preheat blade.

9. A method according to claim 1, wherein the yarns extend through the backing, and further comprising the step of melting at least a part of the yarns that extends out of the back surface.

10. A method according to claim 9, further comprising the step of at least partially melting a part of the yarns applied into the backing.

11. (canceled)

12. A method according to claim 1, wherein the backing is a non woven fibrous material.

13-21. (canceled)

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0038] FIG. 1 schematically shows molecular models of various connections between a face fabric and carrier sheet.

[0039] FIG. 2 schematically shows the cross section of a floor covering according to the invention.

[0040] FIG. 3 diagrammatically shows a process to manufacture a floor covering according to FIG. 2.

[0041] FIG. 4 schematically shows a blade for melting yarns present in an intermediate product.

[0042] FIG. 5 shows a detail of the blade of FIG. 4.

[0043] FIG. 6 schematically shows the positioning of the blade according to FIG. 4 for producing a self-supporting textile product.

[0044] FIG. 7 shows a detail of the positioning of the blade according to FIG. 6.

[0045] FIG. 8 depicts an alternative arrangement of the arrangement shown in FIG. 7.

[0046] FIG. 9 schematically shows various arrangements with two heated surfaces.

[0047] Example 1 describes various fibre-binding experiments.

[0048] Example 2 describes various proof-of-principle experiments for manufacturing floor coverings.

[0049] FIG. 1

[0050] In FIG. 1 some molecular models of various connections 5 between a textile product (1, 11, 21) and a carrier sheet (2, 12, 22) are depicted. In FIG. 1A reactive molecules A, in this case comprising diene groups, are integrated with the textile product 1, in this example by covalent binding to the self-supporting textile product 1. Reactive molecules B, in this case comprising dienophile groups, are covalently attached to carrier sheet 2. The molecules A and B have formed a thermo reversible Diels-Alder adduct.

[0051] In FIG. 1B another example is given wherein reactive molecules A and B are used. In this example, reactive molecules B are compounded in the polyamide polymer of which the yarns of textile product 11 are constituted. The same way, reactive molecules A are compounded in the polypropylene polymer of which sheet 12 is made. Both components are connected trough reaction between molecules A and B to form connection 15. In FIG. 1C, reactive molecules B are coated on the back side of textile product 21 and on the front side of sheet 22. The textile product and the sheet are sandwiched with an intermediate layer of reactive molecules A in between. After the reaction between molecules A and B has taken place, a connection 25 using the covalent interactions between reacted molecules A and B is in place. In order to provide sufficient integral bonding strength in the example of FIG. 1C, the surfaces of the textile product 21 and sheet 22 are activated using a glow-discharge process.

[0052] FIG. 2

[0053] FIG. 2 schematically shows the cross section of a floor covering according to the invention. This covering comprises carrier sheet 2 to which is bonded textile product 1. This textile product is constituted of polyamide primary backing 101 and polyamide yarns 100. The yarns and the backing are melted together to form layer 102 that provides secure mechanical locking of the yarns to the backing, this way providing a self-supporting textile product 1 (viz. a product wherein the fibres are mechanically interlocked as opposed to a backing wherein the fibres/yarns are simply applied without actually locking them, leading to easy removability of the fibres/yams upon a simple pulling force by hand). This self-supporting textile product is connected to sheet 2 by having bonds 5 (see FIG. 1C) in place.

[0054] FIG. 3

[0055] FIG. 3 diagrammatically shows a process to manufacture a floor covering according to FIG. 2. The process is initially comprised of two separate (semi-)continues processes 200 and 300. Sub-process 200 is the process wherein the self-supporting textile product is made to be ready for connection to a carrier sheet. Process 300 is the sub-process for preparing the carrier sheet.

[0056] In step 201 tufting of polyamide yarns in a polyamide backing takes place. The backing in this case is a continuous backing with a width of approximately 4 meters. The tufted fabric is transported to an operating station where the fibre (yam) binding process 202 takes place. In this embodiment a hot metal blade (knife) is transported under pressure over the back side of the tufted fabric, which leads to the melting of the ends of the polyamide yarns and part of the polyamide backing, and thus a stable interconnection between these yarns and the backing (thus leading to a self-supporting textile product). A further advantage of this yarn binding process is that the backside of the tufted fabric becomes more flat, ultimately providing a good contact surface for connecting the carrier sheet to the fabric. In a next step 203 (the fibre saving step) the self-supporting textile product is led under stretch over a hot roller, such that the yarns are pushed into the direction of the face side of the product. This process leads to a higher pole, or when a predetermined standard pole is created, a saving of about 5-10% of yarn length. In the last step of sub-process 204 a compound comprising reactive molecules A is applied to the back side of the self-supporting textile product.

[0057] Parallel to sub-process 200, sub-process 300 is performed. In a first step 301, a sheet is provided, in this case by unwinding a polymer sheet, approximately 4.5 meters in width with a weight of 30 g/m.sup.2, from a roll. In this embodiment, in step 302 the sheet is dimensioned by cutting the edges such that the sheet has the same width as the ultimate face fabric that comes out of process 204. In step 302 a compound comprising reactive molecules B is applied to the top surface of the sheet.

[0058] After this, the self-supporting textile product and the carrier sheet are brought together under circumstances wherein the molecules A and B react to form covalent bonds (reacting step 400). In this embodiment, the resulting floor covering is dimensioned to form carpet tiles in dimensioning step 401.

[0059] FIG. 4

[0060] FIG. 4 schematically shows a blade 30 for melting yarns present in an intermediate product. This blade basically consists of an aluminum body with a length of approximately 210 mm (suitable for providing a textile product with a width of 210 mm; in practice an operating width of up to 4-6 meters is foreseen, typically obtained with multiple smaller length blades). The upper part 31 of the blade has a width of 25 mm. The lower part 32 converges to form a tip 33. Part 32 is coated with an anti-stick coating, in this case a PTFE (polytetrafluoro-ethylene) coating. The upper part is provided with internal heating elements 35 and 36, which elements are available under the tradename FAK, from Ihne&Tesch GmbH, Nurnberg, Germany. These elements have a capacity of 600 watt in total and are able to evenly heat the blade up to about 450 C. The temperature is controlled using a FeCuNi temperature sensor (not shown). The blade can be vibrated in the direction A, i.e. in a direction parallel to the length of the blade. The typical vibration frequency is 7000 Hz, although higher frequencies, for example between 30.000 and 40.000 Hz may provide better results with regard to preventing molten material to be deposited on the blade. The used amplitude is between 1-5 m, typically around 2-3 m.

[0061] FIG. 5

[0062] FIG. 5 shows a detail of the blade of FIG. 4. In this figure the lower part 32 of the blade is shown, ending in tip 33. This tip has a radius of 1 mm. Depending on the flexibility of the textile product, this results in an blade working surface of about 1 mm.

[0063] FIG. 6

[0064] FIG. 6 schematically shows the positioning of the blade 30 according to FIG. 4 for producing a self-supporting textile product. In this arrangement, an intermediate product 1 is guided along roller 40 and 41 in the shown direction B (transverse to direction A as depicted in FIG. 4) to reach heated blade 30. The tip 33 of the blade 30 is pressed against the back of the intermediate product 1. This way the piles, i.e. at least their parts adjacent the back surface of the intermediate product 1, are melted and the melted material is spread to become substantially flat. Thereafter the product cools down thereby mechanically binding the piles into the product to become textile product 1, which product is guided along rollers 42 and 43. The process of 1) at least partly melting the fibres of the piles, 2) spreading the molten material and 3) cooling down the molten material to below its solidification temperature is a fibre binding process in the sense of the present invention.

[0065] FIG. 7

[0066] FIG. 7 shows a detail of the positioning of the blade according to FIG. 6. As shown in FIG. 7, the blade 30 is positioned at a certain depth with regard to the transport plane of product 1. This depth d is adjustable between 0 and 50 mm. By increasing the depth above 0, the blade is actually pressed against the back of the product (which mechanically is the same as pressing the product against the blade). The depth needed depends on the melting and spreading result desired, the temperature of the blade and the type of intermediate product (some products can withstand a higher pressure than others). As understood, if an intermediate product can not withstand a very high depth, for example only 3 mm, then with a certain temperature of the blade, the speed of the product can be adapted (lowered when the spreading result is insufficient, increased when the intermediate product is molten to a too high degree). The other way around, at a certain transport speed and blade temperature, one can alter the depth d until a desired spreading result is obtained. If the product tears (given a too high pressure of the blade on the intermediate product) before a desired result is obtained, the transport speed can be lowered and/or the blade temperature can be increased. Many more variations are within the reach of the skilled person.

[0067] FIG. 8

[0068] FIG. 8 depicts an alternative arrangement of the arrangement shown in FIG. 7. In this alternative arrangement the intermediate product 1 is fed between blade 30 and a roller 45. This way the ultimate pressure with which the blade is pressed against the back surface of the intermediate product can be increased, while at the same time decreasing the risk of tearing of the product while subjected to the heat treatment and pressure of the blade.

[0069] FIG. 9

[0070] FIG. 9, having the sub-FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C and 9D schematically shows various arrangements with two heated surfaces. The FIGS. 9A, 9B and 9C concern arrangements with two heated blades. In such two-blade arrangements the first blade 30A can be used to effectively increase the temperature of the intermediate product 1 and optionally achieve a preliminary fibre binding result. The second blade 30B can be used to provide the finishing fibre binding, that is the complete melting of the yarns as desired and spreading of the molten material to obtain a substantially flat back surface, with the fibres being actually mechanically locked into the textile product 1. In the arrangement shown in FIG. 9D, the first heated surface is a contact roller 46 which rolls in conjunction with the intermediate product 1. In essence there is no speed difference between the surface of roller 46 and the part of the back surface of product 1 that is pressed against the roller. The ultimate fibre-binding takes place by the provision of blade 30, which in this constitution exists of a flat blade with a working surface 33. The blade is connected to a semi-spherical body 50 which serves as a heat capacitor.

Example 1

[0071] Three intermediate products 1 were made to be subjected to a fibre-binding process according to the invention. These products are described in Table 1. All three products were based on non woven primary backings available from Freudenberg, Weinheim, Germany under the tradename Lutradur, viz. Lutradur T6412 and Lutradur eco respectively. Two different types of yarns were used. The first yarn was PA6/2600/240/RDD/du of Aquafil, Arco (TN), Italy, which yarn has an uncompressed yarns thickness of about 1 mm. The second one was a yarn made from recycled PET, obtainable from Pharr Yarn, Mc Adenville, N.C., USA, which yarn has an uncompressed yarn thickness of 1.3 mm. It is noted that the latter yarn is indicated to be a polyester yarn by the manufacturer. The yarns were applied to the backings by forming loops at the back of the backing material, while at the same time extending through this backing to form piles at the front surface. Two cut piles as well as one loop pile intermediate product were made as indicated in Table 1. The resulting intermediate products had thicknesses of 8, 6.5 and 12 mm respectively.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Intermediate products 1A, 1B and 1C Intermediate product 1 1 A 1 B 1 C backing Lutradur T6412 Lutradur T6412 Lutradur eco polymer polypropylene polypropylene polyester thickness backing 0.5 mm 0.5 mm 0.5 mm weight backing 115 g/m2 115 g/m2 115 g/m2 melt temperature backing 295 C. 295 C. 295 C. yarn material PA6 PA6 PET height of the piles when 6 mm 5 mm 15 mm stretched type of pile cut pile loop pile cut pile melt temperature yarns 250 C. 250 C. 280 C. weight product 870 g/m2 750 g/m2 1.400 g/m2 (backing + yarns) thickness product 8 mm 6.5 mm 12 mm

[0072] These three intermediate products 1 were subjected to a fibre-binding process using the arrangement of FIG. 4. The blade temperature was 300 C., the depth d of the blade was about 10 mm (such that the intermediate products were compressed to have a thickness at the blade of about 2-3 mm in total) and the transport speed (direction B) was 0.2 m/min. The vibrating frequency of the blade was 7 kHz, with an amplitude of about 2 m. With this set-up the yarns of the piles could be mechanically bonded into the textile product, while at the same time a very flat back surface was provided.

[0073] The resulting thicknesses of the self-supporting textile products was 5 mm, 5 mm and 10 mm for the resulting self supporting products 1 A, 1 B and 1 C respectively (see Table 2), indicating that the textile products were substantially flattened with respect to the intermediate products (without interfering with the pile heights). The reduction in thickness by the fibre-binding process is mainly due to the spreading of the loops of yarns at the back of the textile product. However, also part of the non woven backing is believed to be molten, pressed together and spread together with the molten yarn material (since none of the backing material fibres could be removed by hand at the sides of the resting products). The resulting flat surface of the textile product enables direct application of any of the products on a floor or any other article (such as the interior of a car or plane), or for example on a flexible, dimensionally stable sheet to form a carpet or carpet tile.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Textile products 1A, 1B and 1C Textile product 1 1 A 1 B 1 C thickness of the end product 5 mm 5 mm 10 mm thickness reduction due to fibre binding 3 mm 1.5 mm 2 mm

[0074] In this example the polymer materials used for the yarns and backing are polyamide 6, polyester, polypropylene and polyethylene terephtalate, but other materials may also be used, depending on the desired properties of the textile product. Other suitable polymer materials are for example other types of polyamide (PA 6.6), polyethyltrimethylene, biodegradable polymers based on lactic acid etc.

[0075] It is noted that to reach a transport speed of 20 m/min or higher, it is estimated that the blade should have a temperature of between 600-700 C., depending mainly on the type of backing (in particular woven or non-woven), the materials used for the pile yarns as well as the backing, and the desired flatness of the back side of the textile product. For such high temperatures a suitable non-stick coating would for example be a silicon oxide hybrid sol-gel coating as offered by Schaepman, Kampen, The Netherlands.

Example 2

[0076] In a first experiment the principle is shown that a self-supporting textile product can be thermo reversibly bound to a dimensionally stable carrier material using a diene and dienophile as reactive molecules, leading to thermo reversible covalent interactions. For this, a commercially available maleimide coated glass slide (Xenopore, MSP 000 10; available from Xenopore, Hawthorne, N.J., USA) was used. The textile product was a fabric of polyamide fibres tufted in a polypropylene woven fabric. The fabric was made self-supporting by melting the backside with a little flame, sufficient to fixate the individual filaments in their yarn. The additional reactive molecules were comprised in a mixture of butyl-methacrylate (85 molecular percent) and furfuryl-methacrylate (15 molecular percent).

[0077] This mixture was spread out over the glass slide (0.44 grams on a slide weighing 4.66 gram; which is believed to be an excess of reactive mixture) and warmed in an oven at 175 C. for 2 minutes. After melting and spreading of the mixture over the slide, the self-supporting fabric (2.27 grams) was brought in contact with the glass slide and kept in the oven at 175 C. for 2 minutes with a pre warmed weight (1 kg) on top of it to ensure good interaction between the glass slide and the fabric. After 5 minutes, the slide was cooled down to room temperature and the connection between the carrier and the self-supporting fabric was evaluated. A firm connection of tufted fabric and glass slide was observed. It appeared to be impossible to remove the tufted fabric from the glass slide by manual forces. Attempts to pull out individual polyamide fibres from the face fabric also failed.

[0078] To show thermo reversibility of the connection, the construction was returned to the oven at temperature of 175 C. and warmed for 3 minutes. After this, the self-supporting fabric could be easily removed from the glass slide. The procedure of connection/disconnection of the fabric to the carrier was successfully repeated two times, which shows the thermo reversibility of the chemical bonding system.

[0079] In a second experiment other reactive molecules were used, viz. 85 molecular percent butyl-acrylate, 3 molecular percent acrylic acid and 12 molecular percent furfuryl methacrylate; to this composition a stoichiometric amount of 4,4-bis(maleinimido)diphenylmethane was added for internal polymer cross linking in competition with the connection to the carrier slide. The rest of the experimental set up was identical to the first experiment (although the fabric weighed slightly less, 1.91 grams). The thermo reversible connection was the same as observed in the first experiment.