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US 12,649,261 B2Granted
Methods for manufacturing bulked continuous filament from recycled pet
AssigneeAladdin Manufacturing Corporation
InventorThomas R. Clark
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament that includes providing a polymer melt and separating the polymer melt from the extruder into at least eight streams. The multiple streams are exposed to a chamber pressure within a chamber that is below approximately 25 millibars, or another predetermined pressure. The streams are recombined into a single polymer stream. Polymer from the polymer stream is then formed into bulked continuous carpet filament.
Claims19
An apparatus comprising:
- a polymer crystallizer configured to at least partially surface dry at least a portion of a plurality of polymer flakes;
- an extruder comprising:
- a first extrusion section configured to receive the plurality of polymer flakes from the polymer crystallizer and form a polymer melt from the plurality of polymer flakes;
- a melt processing section configured to receive the polymer melt from the first extrusion section, the melt processing section comprising:
- a polymer melt divider configured to increase a surface area of the polymer melt by dividing the polymer melt into a plurality of streams;
- a chamber configured to receive the plurality of streams;
- and
- a pressure regulation system configured to maintain a chamber pressure within the chamber below atmospheric pressure;
- a second extrusion section configured to receive the plurality of streams from the chamber and recombine the plurality of streams into a single polymer stream;
- and
- a spinning machine configured to receive at least a portion of the single polymer stream and form the at least the portion of the single polymer stream into bulked continuous carpet filament.
8 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- an extruder comprising:
- a first extrusion section configured to form a polymer melt from a plurality of polymer flakes;
- a multi-stream section configured to receive the polymer melt and increase a surface area of the polymer melt by dividing the polymer melt into a plurality of streams;
- a pressure regulation system in communication with the multi-stream section and configured to maintain a pressure within the multi-stream section below atmospheric pressure;
- and
- a second extrusion section configured to receive the plurality of streams from the multi-stream section and recombine the plurality of streams into a single polymer stream;
- and
- at least one computer-controller configured to operate the pressure regulation system to maintain the pressure below atmospheric pressure such that the surface area of the polymer melt is exposed to the pressure to remove at least one of interstitial water or volatile organic impurities from the polymer melt, wherein:
- the apparatus further comprises a polymer crystallizer configured to at least partially surface dry at least a portion of the plurality of polymer flakes;
- and
- the first extrusion section is configured to receive the plurality of polymer flakes from the polymer crystallizer.
8 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- a polymer crystallizer configured to at least partially surface dry at least a portion of a plurality of polymer flakes;
- and
- an extruder comprising:
- a melt processing section configured to receive a polymer melt derived from the plurality of polymer flakes and remove at least one of interstitial water or volatile organic impurities from the polymer melt, the melt processing section comprising:
- a polymer melt divider configured to increase a surface area of the polymer melt by dividing the polymer melt into a plurality of streams;
- a chamber configured to receive the plurality of streams;
- and
- a pressure regulation system configured to maintain a chamber pressure within the chamber below atmospheric pressure;
- and
- a second extrusion section configured to receive the plurality of streams from the chamber and recombine the plurality of streams into a single polymer stream.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.