# US 2010/0168286 A1 · Nonwoven panel and method of construction thereof > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2010/0168286 A1 - Document ID: US20100168286A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 12/720,119 - Filed: 2010-03-09 - Published: 2010-07-01 - Earliest claimed: 2007-01-10 - Inventors: Harry F. Gladfelter; Christopher A. Foy; David Briggs; Eric K. Staudt - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20100168286A1 ## CPC - D04H 1/54: by welding together the fibres, e.g. by partially melting or dissolving (in combination with needling D04H1/485) - D21H 13/10: Organic non-cellulose fibres - D04H: MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL (weaving D03; knitting D04B; braiding D04C; net-making D04G; sewing D05B; tufting D05C; finishing non-woven fabrics D06); FABRICS MADE BY SUCH PROCESSES OR APPARATUS, e.g. FELTS, NON-WOVEN FABRICS; COTTON-WOOL; WADDING {; NON-WOVEN FABRICS FROM STAPLE FIBRES, FILAMENTS OR YARNS, BONDED WITH AT LEAST ONE WEB-LIKE MATERIAL DURING THEIR CONSOLIDATION}(non-woven fabrics having an intermediate or external layer of a different kind, e.g. of woven fabric, B32B) - D21H: PULP COMPOSITIONS; PREPARATION THEREOF NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES D21C OR D21D; IMPREGNATING OR COATING OF PAPER; TREATMENT OF FINISHED PAPER NOT COVERED BY CLASS B31 OR SUBCLASS D21G; PAPER NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR ## Abstract A nonwoven material and method of construction thereof from post consumer mixed Asian cardboard for forming structural and/or acoustic and/or thermal panels. The method includes providing post consumer mixed Asian cardboard and comminuting the cardboard into pieces of a predetermined size. Further, combining the reduced sized cardboard pieces with heat bondable textile fibers to form a substantially homogenous mixture, and then, forming a web of the mixture, with the web having a predetermined thickness, in a dry nonwoven webbing process. Then, heating the web to bond the heat bondable material with the reduced size pieces of mixed Asian cardboard to form the nonwoven material. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of constructing a nonwoven sheet material from post consumer mixed Asian cardboard, said sheet material being useful for forming structural and/or acoustic and/or thermal panels, said method comprising: providing post consumer mixed Asian cardboard; comminuting said cardboard into predetermined reduced sized pieces; combining said reduced sized pieces with a heat bondable textile material to form a substantially homogenous mixture; forming a web of said mixture of a predetermined thickness in a dry nonwoven webbing process; and heating said web to bond said heat bondable material with said reduced sized pieces to form said nonwoven sheet. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further including providing at least a portion of said cardboard having at least 5% Asian cardboard up to 100% Asian cardboard. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2 further including providing said cardboard having at least 25% Asian cardboard. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further including controlling the size of the reduced sized pieces during comminuting to achieve a desired acoustic absorption characteristic in said nonwoven sheet material. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further including combining filler fiber in the homogenous mixture and controlling the percent content of the reclaimed cardboard relative to the heat bondable textile material and the filler fiber to achieve a desired acoustic performance characteristic in said nonwoven sheet material. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further including providing said heat bondable textile material as a polymeric material. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further including using a heated roller to perform the heating step. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further including using an air laid machine to perform the web forming step. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further including needle punching said web prior to said heating step. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further including adding a flame retardant constituent to said mixture. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further including adding an anti-microbial constituent to said mixture. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further including adding a binder constituent to said mixture. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further including passing said nonwoven sheet between cooling rollers after the heating step. ### Claim 14 A method of providing predetermined quantitative acoustic dampening properties in an acoustic panel, comprising: comminuting cardboard material into cardboard fragments; providing fragments of polymeric material; forming a web by mixing said cardboard fragments with said fragments of polymeric material in a dry nonwoven webbing process and controlling the size of said cardboard fragments being mixed in said web and the percent by weight of said cardboard fragments being mixed in said web; and heating said web and causing said polymeric fragment to bond with said cardboard fragments. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14 further including controlling the size of said cardboard fragments being mixed in said web to be between about 1 mm and 12.5 mm in length. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14 further including providing PET, PP, or PE as said polymeric material. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14 further including providing said at least 5% by weight of said cardboard material as post consumer Asian cardboard. ### Claim 18 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14 further including controlling the percent by weight of said cardboard material between about 25 and 99 weight percent of said acoustic panel. ### Claim 19 A structural nonwoven product, comprising: a heat bondable textile material; and a recycled post consumer mixed Asian cardboard material, said recycled cardboard material being bonded with said heat bondable textile material. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The structural panel of claim 19 wherein said mixed Asian cardboard material comprises at least 25 weight percent of said structural panel. ### Claim 21 A method of manufacturing a vehicle component from reclaimed cardboard, comprising: receiving shipments of goods in cardboard containers, at least some of said cardboard containers being constructed as a first type of material that is recyclable in a wet recycling process and at least some of said cardboard containers being constructed as a second type of material that is non-recyclable in a wet recycling process; combining said cardboard containers with one another in a common collection location; randomly reclaiming at least a portion of the combined cardboard containers from the collection location without separating the first type of material from the second type of material; reducing the reclaimed cardboard containers in a dry reduction process by grinding or shredding the reclaimed cardboard containers into a dry fibrous state; combining the reduced reclaimed cardboard with fiberous material and a low-melt binder material; and heating and shaping the combined reduced reclaimed cardboard, fiberous material and binder material to form the vehicle component. ### Claim 22 (depends on 21) The method of claim 21 further including receiving the shipment of goods in both Asian cardboard containers and non-Asian cardboard containers and reclaiming at least some of said Asian cardboard containers and non-Asian cardboard containers without separating said Asian cardboard containers and said non-Asian cardboard containers from one another. ### Claim 23 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22 further including retaining any constituent binders of said reclaimed cardboard containers during the reducing step and incorporating said constituent binders into the vehicle component. ### Claim 24 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22 wherein said Asian cardboard containers comprise at least 5 percent by weight of said reclaimed cardboard containers.