Textiles: manufacturing – Textile product fabrication or treatment – Fiber entangling and interlocking
Patent
1991-12-30
1993-08-31
Crowder, Clifford D.
Textiles: manufacturing
Textile product fabrication or treatment
Fiber entangling and interlocking
112 8073, D04H 174, B32B 506, D05C 1500
Patent
active
052397343
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
SUBJECT OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an improved process for manufacturing textile products from fibres and/or filaments and more particularly floor and wall coverings, especially of the moquette type. The invention also relates to a device allowing this process to be implemented and extends to the products resulting from this process and/or obtained using the said device.
The invention will be described essentially with reference to the production of a floor covering of the moquette type by starting with fibres. It must be obvious, however, that it is not limited thereto.
SUMMARY OF THE PRIOR ART
Apart from traditional and ancient methods of manufacture of carpets and tapestries, which resort to weaving and/or knotting methods, two large classes of recent techniques for producing products intended especially for covering floors and walls are known.
The first large class, tufting, makes use of threads, in particular threads spun from fibres such as wool or threads obtained from continuous filaments, for example polyamide or other synthetic substances.
In the field of textile coverings it is these products that meet with the greatest success because it is possible to combine a highly mechanised production, when compared with weaving techniques, while retaining a product appearance which is close to that of woven products.
A second class consists of techniques employing fibres. Among these, the needling technique employs chiefly textile fibres which are preferably arranged in layers. The looped or structured needled wad allows a little material (fibres) to be pulled out of the fibre layer with the aid of a needle to form a "loop" which can be sheared or cropped.
The appearance of the sheared or cropped product is quite close to that of the velvet tufted products which are, in their case, obtained by cutting the loops of a tuft.
On the other hand, a looped needled product cannot in any case be compared with a tuft. In fact, the loops are not individualised and the fibres in these loops appear in a random manner.
Moreover, the yield, which characterises the ratio of the quantity of the useful material appearing on the face of the product to the total weight of material employed (without the base) is of the order of 30% in the case of needling, whereas it easily reaches 60 to 80% in the case of the tufted products.
Furthermore, in the case of floor coverings, these products must have a resistance to deformation and to wear and a resilience (elasticity) which are sufficient. It is generally considered that a product for floor covering is satisfactory if the density of the useful velvet is higher than 0.08 g/cm.sup.3, a value which the needled products attain with difficulty.
Document EP-0,214,062 describes a quite traditional needling process which permits the yield to be increased by "extirpation" of fibres of great length from the sheet.
However, this product has a special appearance of the synthetic fur type and therefore has an appearance which is very far from the appearance of tufted products.
Document DE-2,450,725 describes a process for obtaining needled products where the looped sheet has been integrally fixed to the base using ultrasonics. This process is an attempt to "verticalise" as many fibres as possible and thus to increase the yield.
In this process the grooved roll is used both for reacting to the penetrating forces of the needles and for conveying the embrittled sheet as far as the L point of the integral fixing, whereas in a traditional looping process the sheet is drawn by tensioning rolls and must consequently have a sufficient planar cohesion.
However, as the logic of this process is still that of conventional needling, this process has the disadvantage of requiring forces for entering and breaking numerous fibres. Despite an improved yield, this results in the resistance to wear being compromised.
Apart from that, the general appearance of the product obtained by German patent DE-2,450,725 is that of a traditional looped needled product and, in the case of a velve
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Bathelier Xavier
Januzec Gilles
Calvert John J.
Crowder Clifford D.
Sommer S.A.
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