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US 12,343,903 B2Granted
Methods for manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament
AssigneeAladdin Manufacturing Corporation
InventorThomas R. Clark
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament from recycled polymer. In various embodiments, the method includes: (1) reducing recycled polymer material into polymer flakes; (2) cleansing the polymer flakes; (3) melting the flakes into a polymer melt; (4) removing water and contaminants from the polymer melt by dividing the polymer melt into a plurality of polymer streams and exposing those streams to pressures below 5 millibars; (5) recombining the streams; and (6) using the resulting purified polymer to produce bulked continuous carpet filament.
Claims15
A system for manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament, the system comprising:
- a first section of a melt processing unit, the first section being configured to melt a plurality of polymer flakes to create a first single stream of polymer melt;
- a separation element configured to receive the first single stream of polymer melt and divide the first single stream of polymer melt into multiple streams of polymer melt, the separation element comprising an extrusion die defining a plurality of holes;
- a multiple stream section of the melt processing unit configured to:
- receive the multiple streams of polymer melt from the extrusion die, allow the multiple streams of polymer melt to pass through the multiple stream section and into a receiving section of the melt processing unit, and expose the multiple streams of polymer melt to a pressure within the multiple stream section of the melt processing unit as the multiple streams of polymer melt pass through the multiple stream section of the melt processing unit;
- a pressure regulation system configured to maintain the pressure within the multiple stream section of the melt processing unit between about 0 millibars and about 5 millibars as the multiple streams of polymer pass through the multiple stream section, wherein:
- the receiving section of the melt processing unit is configured to:
- receive the multiple streams of polymer melt, recombine the multiple streams of polymer melt into at least one combined stream of polymer melt, and convey the at least one combined stream of polymer melt toward at least one spinning machine that is configured to form polymer from the at least one combined stream of polymer melt into bulked continuous carpet filament;
- and the multiple stream section of the melt processing unit is configured to allow the multiple streams of polymer melt to free fall into a receiving section of the melt processing unit under the weight of gravity;
- and
- the system further comprising an intrinsic viscosity management system configured to determine an intrinsic viscosity of the at least one combined stream of polymer melt, and, in response to determining the intrinsic viscosity of the at least one combined stream of polymer melt, instructing the pressure regulation system to adjust the pressure within the multiple stream section of the melt processing unit.
7 more elements
A system for manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament, the system comprising:
- means for melting a plurality of polymer flakes to create a first stream of polymer melt;
- means for routing the first stream of polymer melt through a separation element to generate multiple streams of polymer melt, the separation element comprising an extrusion die defining a plurality of holes;
- means for exposing the multiple streams of polymer melt to a pressure within a multiple stream section of a melt processing unit;
- means for reducing the pressure of the multiple stream section of the melt processing unit to between about 0 millibars and about 5 millibars;
- means for, while maintaining the pressure of the multiple stream section of the melt processing unit between about 0 millibars and about 5 millibars, allowing the multiple streams of polymer melt to pass through the multiple stream section of the melt processing unit into a receiving section of the melt processing unit by allowing the multiple streams of polymer melt to freefall through the multiple stream section of the melt processing unit under the weight of gravity;
- means for recombining the multiple streams of polymer melt into at least one stream of polymer melt at the receiving section of the melt processing unit;
- and
- means for providing polymer from the at least one stream of polymer melt to at least one spinning machine configured to form the polymer from the at least one stream of polymer melt into bulked continuous carpet filament;
- and the system further comprising an intrinsic viscosity management system configured to determine an intrinsic viscosity of the at least one combined stream of polymer melt, and, in response to determining the intrinsic viscosity of the at least one combined stream of polymer melt, instructing the pressure regulation system to adjust the pressure within the multiple stream section of the melt processing unit.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.