NL9300602A - Floor covering, and use of shreds of bonded fibre webs - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to floor covering, involving a bulk material, where floor covering relates to: the top layer of sports and training areas for humans and animals, in particular floors of riding schools or arenas, horse stables, race tracks and trotting courses, obstacle courses and horse exercisers, childrens' farms, fair grounds and circus grounds, floor covering or substrate materials in agriculture and horticulture. This floor covering involves shreds of bonded fibre webs (batts) which are used, for example, as a stabilization layer for road construction and hydraulic engineering. They are made of plastic fibres and are woven or arranged loosely, needled or not needled, thermally or chemically bonded.

Description

Ground cover as well as -Application of membranes from membranes.

The invention relates to a ground cover, which is a material that can be poured loose.

For the purposes of the present invention, ground cover is understood to mean: the top layer of sports and training grounds for humans and animals, in particular bottoms of riding stables, horse stables, race tracks, jumping gardens and training mills, children's farms, fairground circus grounds, ground cover - or substrate materials in agriculture and horticulture.

It is generally known that biodegradable or non-biodegradable materials can be used as ground cover material for the above-mentioned applications, for example straw, shredded paper, wood moth, sawdust, peat mole, sharp sand or meadow grass.

It has also already been proposed to use scraps of waste leather as ground cover for riding grounds. However, it has been found that such a material is environmentally technically problematic because chemicals from the tanning process can enter the soil. This particularly concerns leached chrome compounds.

The use of carpet and felt chips as ground cover is also known. Here, too, the drawback arises of leaching out of toxic substances, for instance dyes, (halogen-containing) fire retardants, adhesives.

In general, it can be said that recycled products such as leather and carpet scraps are not inert under the - often harsh - conditions of use. Moreover, these products tend to disintegrate, seriously deteriorating the intended soil structure.

German Offenlegungsschrift 3 * 206.105 discloses an "all weather" ground cover for riding stables. These are loose bulk particles of rubber, plastic, natural and synthetic fibers, preferably in the following mixing ratio: 40% rubber, 50% plastic and 10% natural and synthetic fibers. Polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene are mentioned as examples of plastics. The natural and synthetic fibers are not further specified, but this Offenlegungsschrift clearly concerns the application of metal-free waste material from the recycling of old cables. Copper and other metals are removed from the old cables and the sheathing is ground, so that small, partly granulate particles are formed.

These particles have, for example, an average diameter of 1 mm. Apart from the useful use of waste material in this Offenlegungsschrift, the advantage occurs that the loosely applied ground cover is permeable to moisture and has good walking or driving properties in all weather conditions. A drawback is that the soil covering material is degraded over time (probably due to the presence of rubber), whereby animal excrement products promote decomposition (rot).

A further drawback of the products of the aforementioned Offenlegungs¬schrift is that the ground cover material is not washable. It has also been found that the metal removal from the cable material, in particular copper, is not complete. When these products are used as riding ground, the problem has arisen that horses have had copper disease due to copper absorption via the hooves. Moreover, the running or driving characteristics still leave much to be desired.

In the ground cover according to the invention the above-mentioned disadvantages are wholly or partly eliminated.

The invention relates to a ground cover consisting wholly or in part of non-woven fragments of non-woven material, in particular non-woven material. These are synthetic materials in which fibers, threads or filaments cross each other in the longitudinal and transverse directions (two-dimensional) and are attached to each other at the cross points, with or without a binder.

The ground cover according to the invention therefore involves a new application of known membranes in shredded form, which, if not mixed with per se known particulate ground cover materials, form an ideal layer for covering soils which are suitable for the most diverse applications, such as has already been explained above.

The term "ground cover" used in this text should be interpreted broadly. It concerns soil or soil in the open air, or floors, so the use of the flakes can take place both indoors and outdoors. It is also possible, for example, to make a concrete container, for instance with a depth of 1 meter, in which one or more layers are applied to each other as bottom covering.

When used in riding stables, the flakes are applied to the ground, whether or not in a multilayer system, or may have been incorporated by the ground or another underlayer.

In general, the floor covering according to the invention will be more than 1%, preferably more than 5% and in particular more than 50%, each time based on the volume, of the floor covering to be applied or applied. The remaining part of the ground cover consists, for example, of sand, sawdust, peat and the like.

The webs according to the invention are, for example, so-called geo-webs, which are used, for example, as a stabilization layer for road and hydraulic engineering. They are made of synthetic fibers and woven or laid, needle punched or not, thermally or chemically bonded. This also applies to the other nonwoven materials which can be used according to the invention.

The nonwoven fabric of the invention can also be defined as "a manufactured sheet, web or batt of directionally or randomlyorientated fibress, bonded by friction and / or cohesion and / or adhesion. The fibers are of man-made origin. They may be staple or continuous filaments or be formed in situ. ". This does not therefore concern composite products or laminates in which the membranes are present as an intermediate, top or bottom layer. Products such as, for example, carpet scraps are thus excluded.

For the sake of completeness, it is also noted that the membranes according to the invention do not concern either: "paper and products which are knitted, tufted, stitch-bonded incorporating binding yams or filaments, or products felted by wet-milling, whether or not additionally needled". A requirement of the invention is that the membranes do not disintegrate during (prolonged) contact with water or animal secretions, and that the membranes are environmentally unproblematic, and preferably consist of plastics which may come into contact with foodstuffs.

The fibers of the non-woven material can be glued with an adhesive, for example on the basis of acrylic or melamine.

Non-woven, needle punched nonwoven materials or geo-fleeces, which according to the invention prove to be satisfactory, are the commercial products: Colbond ("dry laid needled and chemically bonded non-woven made fromDiolen polyester staple fiber") and Coltron ("polyester filament, non-woven spray laid , needled and chemically bonded ").

When used as a reinforcing material, the nonwoven material is preferably in the form of chips. Such scraps are often obtained as waste directly from the manufacture and processing of the nonwoven material according to the usual applications.

It goes without saying that it is also possible to shred, chop, cut or otherwise shred a web (web) of the non-woven material in order to obtain the reinforcing material in the form suitable for use according to the invention, for example chips with a surface in the range of 1 mm2-15 cm2, for example 5 mm2 ~ 5 cm2.

The nonwoven material used according to the invention has, for example, a weight of the order of 50-500 g / m2, preferably 150-400 g / m2, for example about 300 g / m2.

The nonwovens used in accordance with the invention, in particular geo-nonwovens, are very strong materials and are not biodegradable. They are made of plastics, such as polyester fibers (for example, polyethylene terephthalate), polyamide fibers, and / or polyolefin fibers, for example polypropylene or polyethylene, acrylic fibers. In particular, according to the invention, membranes are used which are manufactured from plastics which are also used in the food industry and which therefore do not pose a threat to groundwater.

It is also possible to use nonwovens or nonwoven materials manufactured from so-called bico-yarns. These are polyester yarns consisting of two types of plastics, which are spun co-axially with each other.

According to the invention, the non-wovens themselves can also be used, which are used for the production of (geo) membranes.

The webs can be reinforced with conventional reinforcing agents such as glass fibers or rock wool fibers.

The invention particularly relates to a ground cover, in which chips of the membranes defined above have a thickness of 0.5 "50 mm and more than 90 f of the total number of chips each have an area (on one side) of 2-1500. mm2.

Non-woven chips can be used which have been obtained as edge waste or as production waste. Furthermore, it is possible to reduce, for example, already used geo-webs, which are released during renovation work of civil engineering.

The invention also relates to a method for applying a loose ground cover, in which chips of the membranes defined above are used. The above-mentioned (preferred) specifications apply to these non-woven chips.

In the method according to the invention, the ground cover is generally applied in a layer thickness which depends on the intended application and can therefore vary within wide limits. Usually, a layer thickness of 0.5-80 cm, for example 1-30 cm, may or may not be mixed with per se known ground cover agents, as has already been explained above.

It is also possible to provide a multilayer bottom covering, in which in one or more of the layers the membranes, which have been defined for this purpose, are used. Such a multilayer bottom covering is, for example, a three-layer system in which one of the layers is a drainage layer. In all layers, the flakes of the membranes can be present in different percentages, for example 10 # in the first or bottom layer, or more to make a drainage layer. On the other hand, it may be desirable to make the top layer mainly consisting of the flakes of paper in order to obtain a decorative effect. This decorative aspect is one of the advantages of the invention. Various colors are possible.

The invention therefore also relates to the use of the flakes as a drainage material.

The use of nonwovens described herein has the following advantages: these products are not biodegradable and therefore do not have the properties to rot under the conditions of use, for example by animal secretions; depending on the fiber thickness used, the nonwoven flakes or flakes have an absorbent capacity and at the same time are permeable to water; the membranes are available in different colors, so that depending on the application, a suitable color can be applied in accordance with the environment; over time the fleece material can be washed; the shredded fleeces provide a resilient bottom or floor, ensuring good running or driving properties; the fleeces do not threaten the drinking water supply nor are they phytotoxic, so they can be used advantageously in agriculture and horticulture, for example in tree or plant nurseries instead of, for example, foamed polystyrene or glass or stone wool.

The invention therefore also relates to the use of chips of the above-defined membranes as material for ground cover, including substrate cultivation. Naturally, the same (preferred) specifications as mentioned above apply to the chips of geo-nonwovens.

Claims (7)

1. Ground cover in whole or in part consisting of chips of webs. The ground cover according to claim 1, wherein the individual chips of the membranes have a thickness of 0.5-50 mm and more than 90% of the total number of chips each individually have an area of 2-1500 mm 2. Ground cover according to claim 1, wherein the webs are made of synthetic fibers and woven or laid, whether or not needled, thermally or chemically bonded. Ground cover according to claim 3, wherein the synthetic fibers consist of polyester, polyamide and / or polyolefin. Ground cover according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the flakes of membranes are obtained as edge waste or production waste or during renovation work. Ground cover according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the chips of the membranes are combined with ground cover materials known per se. Use of non-woven fragments as defined in one or more of claims 1-6 as a material for ground cover, including substrate cultivation.