GB2259449A

GB2259449A - Method for producing shaped carpet

Info

Publication number: GB2259449A
Application number: GB9218684A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Takashi Nishikino
Original assignee: Ikeda Bussan Co Ltd
Current assignee: Ikeda Corp
Priority date: 1991-09-13
Filing date: 1992-09-03
Publication date: 1993-03-17
Anticipated expiration: 2012-09-03
Also published as: GB9218684D0; GB2259449B; JP2707378B2; JPH0569772A

Abstract

A method for producing a shaped carpet (e.g. for use in motor vehicles) is performed by mixing a thermoplastic binder (32, figure 3) with fibers (34, figure 3) to provide a web (36, figure 3) that is needle punched to reorient the fibers and then heated to bond the fibers by the binder and provide a felt layer (22) that is hot formed with a carpet layer (24) and has sufficient rigidity to maintain shape without deformation. <IMAGE>

Description

METHOD FOR PRODUCING SHAPED CARPET The present invention relates to a method for producing a shaped carpet, for example as used in a vehicle such as an automobile, truck, van or the like.

Shaped carpets are conventionally utilized for motor vehicles such as automobiles, trucks, vans and the like so as to be configured to fit over a vehicle floor pan that is shaped to accommodate packaging of the vehicle underbody and other components. More specifically, such shaped carpets are conventionally manufactured by hot forming of a carpet layer lined with a plastic such as a polyethylene layer. However, such a carpet does not have substantial rigidity since the polyethylene layer is not particularly strong and the shape of the carpet is thus not particularly stable. In addition, at areas where there is minimal clearance without any padding interposed between the carpet and the floor pan of the vehicle with which the carpet is utilized, the shaped carpet tends to wrinkle and show bulges and valleys.

The present invention provides an improved method for producing a shaped carpet for use with vehicles such as automobiles, trucks, vans and the like.

The method for producing a shaped carpet in accordance with the invention comprises mixing a thermoplastic binder with fibers to provide a web and then needle punching the web to reorient the fibers of the web. Thereafter, the needle punched web is heated to bond the fibers by the binder and thereby provide a felt layer which i9 thnn hot formed with a carpet layer to provide the shaped carpet.

The shaped carpet produced by the above method has sufficient rigidity to maintain its shape due to the manner in which the felt layer reinforces the carpet layer by virtue of the bonding of the fibers by the binder after the needle punching that reorients the fibers so that the subsequent heating provides the felt layer.

Preferably the fibers utilized are in the range of about 60 to 808 by weight of the web and the binder utilized is in the range of about 20 to 40% by weight of the web.

The method of the present invention preferably uses synthetic fibers, natural fibers or combinations of the synthetic and natural fibers.

Mare specifically, the synthetic fibers may be polyester fibers, polyamide fibers, acrylic fibers, polypropylene fibers, acetate fibers and combinations of these specific fibers Furthermore, the natural fibers may be cotton fibers, hemp fibers and combinations of these natural fibers. Likewise, the combinations of these synthetic fibers and the natural fibers may utilize any of these specific fibers. However, in most instances the fibers utilized will normally be of a single material for ease of processing.

Preferably, the method of the present invention uses tifflmoplastic bineer that is polyethylene, polypropylene, polyamide, or ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer and combinations of these thermoplastic binders. Furthermore, the thermoplastic binder utilized may be provided as fiberized binders, flaked binders, powdered binders and combinations of such binders.

Best results are achieved when the felt layer and the carpet layer are bonded to each other before the hot forming. More specifically, the felt layer and the carpet layer are most preferably bonded to each other by an adhesive such as modacrylic adhesive, synthetic rubber adhesive, vinyl acetate adhesive and hot melt adhesive.

In the method of the Present invention. the hot formina step can be performed in different ways. In one practice, the felt layer and the carpet layer are heated and then formed within a press to provide the hot forming. In another, the felt layer and the carpet layer are formed within a heated press to provide the hot forming. In a further method, the felt layer and the carpet layer are heated and then formed within a heated press to provide the hot forming.

The objects, features and advantages of the present invention are readily apparent from the following detailed description of the best modes for carrying out the invention when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

FIGURE 1 is a sectional view taken through a shaped carpet that is constructed in accordance with the method of the present invention; FIGURE 2 is a flow chart illustrating the preferred manner of practicing the present invention; FIGURE 3 is a view illustrating the manner in which fibers mixed with a binder are received by a needle punching apparatus having an upper member with barbed needles spaced upwardly from the fibers; FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 after the upper member of the needle punching apparatus has moved downwardly so that its barbed needles reorient the fibers and provide a web; FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken through a press whose members are spaced from each other to receive a carpet layer and the needle punched web after heating thereof so that the binder bonds the fibers to provide a felt layer;; FIGURE 6 is a view of the press after the members thereof have been moved toward each other to hot form the felt layer and the carpet layer to thereby provide a shaped carpet; FIGURE 7 is a view that illustrates the fiber utilized as being fiberized; FIGURE 8 is a view that illustrates the binder utilized as being flakes; FIGURE 9 is a view that illustrates the binder utilized as being powder; and FIGURE 10 is a flow chart that illustrates another preferred practice of the invention wherein the carpet and felt layers are bonded to each other prior to the hot forming.

With reference to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a shaped carpet 20 is constructed in accordance with the method of the present invention as is hereinafter more fully described and is used with vehicles such as automobiles, trucks, vans and the like to cover the vehicle floor pan. This shaped carpet 20 include a felt layer 22 and a carpet layer 24 that are formed to the required shape by method of the present invention which provides the felt layer with sufficient rigidity to support the carpet layer without any bulging.

Furthermore, the carpet 20 as illustrated has padding layers 26 secured by adhesive 27 in certain areas that are spaced from each other such as on opposite sides of the transmission tunnel 28 where there is no padding.

Nevertheless, the rigidity of the felt layer 22 maintains the shape of the carpet 20 in this area without any padding without any bulging due to the manner in which the felt layer is manufactured.

With combined reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the method of the present invention for producing the shaped carpet 20 shown in FIG. 1 is provided by a mixing operation 30 by which a binder 32 is initially mixed in a suitable manner with fibers 34 to provide a web 36 as shown in FIG. 3. These fibers 34 as illustrated are arranged in a parallel relationship to each other in a manner that facilitates continuous processing using continuous fibers.

After the mixing of the thermoplastic binder and the fibers, a needle punching operation 38 (FIG. 2) is performed by positioning the web 36 within a needle punching apparatus 40 as illustrated in FIG. 3 between a lower member 42 and an upper member 44 which has downwardly projecting needles 46 having barbs 48. Such needles are of the conventional type such as disclosed by United States Patents 3,755,055 Lochner and 4,390,582 Pickens, Jr. et al. Thereafter, the upper member 44 of the needle punching apparatus 40 is moved downwardly as illustrated in FIG. 4 and then upwardly for as many strokes as are necessary to perform the needle punching operation on the web 36 of the fibers and binder.

During this needle punching, the barbs of the needles catch and reorient the fibers of the web from their generally parallel extending relationship as shown in FIG. 3.

The needle punched web 36 is then subjected to a heating operation 50 (FIG. 2) to bond the fibers by the binder and thereby provide the felt layer 22 as shown in FIG. 5. The heating can be performed by any conventional type of heating operation such as forced air convection that heats the binder to a sufficiently high temperature so as to melt and provide the bonding of the fibers to each other in their randomly oriented positions provided by the needle punching operation described above.

With combined reference to FIGS. 2 and 5, the felt layer 22 and the carpet layer 24 are subjected to a hot forming operation 56 by a press 58. More specifically, the felt layer 22 and the carpet layer 24 are positioned between lower and upper press members 60 and 62 which are spaced from each other and have complementary forming surfaces 64 and 66, respectively, for forming the felt layer 22 and carpet layer 24. More specifically, the lower and upper press members 60 and 62 are moved from their spaced position of FIG. 5 toward each other to hot form the felt layer 22 and carpet layer 24 to provide the shaped carpet 20 previously described in FIG. 1.This hot forming which can be performed in different ways as is hereinafter more fully described is done with the padding layers 26 spaced from each other on opposite sides of the transmission tunnel 28 and secured by the adhesive 27 to the felt layer 52 on the opposite side thereof as the carpet layer 54.

In the preferred practice of the method, the fibers 34 (FIG. 3) utilized are in the range of about 60 to 80% by weight of the web 36 and the binder 32 utilized is in the range of about 20 to 40% by weight of the web.

In performing the carpet shaping method of this invention, different fibers 34 can be utilized.

More specifically, it is possible to utilize synthetic fibers such as polyester fibers, polyamide fibers, acrylic fibers, polypropylene fibers and acetate fibers as well as combinations of these fibers. These synthetic fibers can be made from either virgin or recycled material. Furthermore, it is also possible to utilize natural fibers such as cotton fibers or hemp fibers as well as combinations of these natural fibers.

Likewise, it is also possible to utilize combinations of these synthetic fibers and natural fibers as may be desirable. However, it should be mentioned that in most instances a single type of fiber will be utilized for ease of processing.

The thermoplastic binder 32 (FIG. 3) utilized to bond the fibers 34 is most preferably polyethylene, polypropylene, polyamide or ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer as well as combinations of these thermoplastic materials. iurthermore, the thermoplastic binder may be fiberized as identified by 32a in FIG. 7, flaked as identified by 32b in FIG. 8, or powder as identified by 32c in FIG. 9. Likewise, it is also possible to utilize combinations cf the fiberized, flaked and powdered binders even though the use of a single type of binder is preferred for ease of processing in most instances.

With reference to FIG. 10, the preferred practice of the method also involves a bonding operation 54 after the heating of the needle punched web 36 to provide the felt layer 22 and before the hot forming of the felt and carpet layers 22 and 24. More specifically, the felt layer 22 and carpet layer 24 are bonded to each other by a suitable adhesive 68 (FIG. 5).

However, it should also be appreciated that the bonding of the felt and carpet layers 22 and 24 to each other can also be performed during the subsequent hot forming as the press 58 is closed to the position of FIG. 6 as previously described. Regardless of whether the felt and carpet layers 22 and 24 are bonded to each before or during the hot forming, the preferred adhesive 68 utilized to bond these layers to each other are a modacrylic adhesive, synthetic rubber adhesive, vinyl acetate adhesive or hot melt adhesive.

As previously mentioned, the hot forming operation 56 can be performed in different ways. More specifically, one way of performing the hot forming is to heat the felt layer 22 and carpet layer 24 and then form the shaped carpet 20 within a cold press 58 to provide the hot forming. Likewise, it is also possible to position the felt layer 22 and carpet layer 24 without any additional heating within a heated press 58 and then close the press to provide the hot forming.

Furthermore, it is also possible to heat the felt and carpet layers 22 and 24 and then provide forming thereof within a heated press 58 to provide the hot forming of the shaped carpet as previously described.

Of course, the processing parameters will depend upon the particular materials utilized. For example, the needle punched web 36 must be heated to a temperature higher than the softening point of the thermoplastic binder 32 which will be about 120 to 150 C when polyethylene is utilized and about 170 to 1900C when polypropylene is utilized. Furthermore, the thickness of the felt layer 22 after the heating will normally be about 1 to 5 millimeters and the weight of the felt layer will normally be in the range of about 300 to 1000 grams per square meter. Furthermore, the processing can be performed in any conventional manner such as by heating the felt layer through convection by a flow of heated air. It should also be appreciated that the padding or insulating layers 26 may be felt, polyurethane foam or urethane chip molded and may be applied to the carpet before, during or after the hot forming operation previously described.

In one specific efflxdbnt for manufacturing the shaped carpet 20, approximately 70% by weight of fiber was mixed with approximately 30% by weight fiberized polypropylene as the thermoplastic binder. The resultant web was then needle punched as previously described and exposed to a flow of air heated to about 200"C so that the web is fully heated and the polypropylene binder bonds the fibers to each other to provide the felt layer. Subsequently, the felt layer was heated to about 180"C for 30 seconds to soften the felt layer and a carpet layer with a polyethylene layer heated to about 140"C was lined with the felt layer prior to the hot forming within a cold press.

As previously mentioned, the shaped carpet 20 manufactured by the method of the present invention has sufficient rigidity to avoid deformation during use and thereby overcomes problems associated with similar prior art type of shaped carpets for use with vehicles.

While the best modes for carrying out the invention have been described in detail, those familiar with the art to which this invention relates will recognize various alternative ways of practicing the invention as defined by the following claims.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A method for producing a shaped carpet comprising the steps of; mixing a thermoplastic binder with fibers to provide a web; needle punching the web to reorient the fibers of the web; heating the needle punched web to bond the fibers by the binder and thereby provide a felt layer; and hot forming the felt layer and a carpet layer to provide the shaped carpet.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the fibers utilized are in the range of about 60 to 80% by weight of the web, and wherein the binder utilized is in the range of about 20 to 40% by weight of the web.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the fibers utilized are; (a) synthetic fibers that are polyester fibers, polyamide fibers, acrylic fibers, polypropylene fibers, acetate fibers and combinations thereof; (b) natural fibers that are cotton fibers, hemp fibers and combinations thereof, and (c) combinations of the synthetic fibers of item (a) and the natural fibers of item (b).

4 A method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the thermoplastic binder is polyethylene, polypropylene, polyamide, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, and combinations thereof.

5. A method according to claim 1 or 4 wherein the thermoplastic binder is a fiberized binder, a flaked binder, a powdered binder and combinations thereof.

6. A method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the felt layer and the carpet layer are bonded to each other before the hot forming step.

7. A method according to claim 6 wherein the felt layer and the carpet layer are bonded to each other by an adhesive that is modacrylic adhesive, synthetic rubber adhesive, vinyl acetate adhesive, or hot melt adhesive.

8. A method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the felt layer and the carpet layer are heated and then formed within a press in the hot forming step.

9. A method according to any one of claims 1-7 wherein the felt layer and the carpet layer are formed within a heated press in the hot forming step.

10. A method according to any one of claims 1-7 wherein the felt layer and the carpet layer are heated and then formed within a heated press in the hot forming step.

11. A method substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.