Methods for manufacturing a paint roller and component parts thereof having a composite cover formed of compounded material

A method of making a laminated paint roller comprising the steps of:

• helically winding a strip of polypropylene material around a mandrel so as to form a helically wound strip, the strip having an outer surface;
• advancing the wound strip along the mandrel;
• applying a molten layer of polypropylene adhesive onto an outer surface of the wound strip;
• and
• wrapping a strip of composite cover material about the wound strip and over the layer of adhesive, the composite cover material having an inner surface and an outer surface, the outer surface comprising a pile, and the inner surface having been formed by extruding a smoothly flowing, non-porous layer of polypropylene compounded with calcium carbonate, the compound comprising between 25% and 66% calcium carbonate by weight, the layer having a thickness of about 10 to 40 mils;
• and
• applying a compressive force from without the composite cover material to urge the composite cover material, the layer of adhesive and strip of polypropylene material together, thereby laminating the inner surface of the composite cover material to the outer surface of the strip.

A method of making a composite cover material for helically winding in a paint roller manufacturing operation, comprising the steps of:

• advancing a first width of pile material, the pile material having a pile side and a fabric backing, wherein the fabric backing is porous, and has interstitial spaces or gaps therein;
• extruding a polypropylene-based compound to form a smoothly flowing molten layer, the polypropylene-based compound comprising a compound of polypropylene and calcium carbonate, the compound comprising between 25% and 66% calcium carbonate by weight;
• applying the smoothly flowing molten layer to the fabric backing of the pile material;
• allowing the layer to set to form a composite sheet material having a pile side and a non-porous backing having a thickness of about 10 to 40 mils;
• longitudinally slitting the composite sheet material to form one or more strips of composite cover material in a second width, the formed composite cover material having an inner surface and an outer surface, the outer surface comprising a pile, and the inner surface comprising a non-porous layer bonded thereto.

A method of making a composite cover material for helically winding in paint roller manufacturing comprising the steps of:

• providing a width of pile fabric having a pile side and an underside;
• advancing the width of pile fabric along a frame with the pile side down and with the underside up;
• extruding a smoothly flowing layer of polypropylene compounded with calcium carbonate;
• applying the smoothly flowing layer of polypropylene compounded with calcium carbonate on the underside of the advancing width of pile fabric so that the layer of polypropylene has a bottom side that is in contact with the underside of the advancing fabric and a top side that is not in contact with the advancing fabric, the layer of compounded material being in molten form when it is applied and comprising between 25% and 66% calcium carbonate by weight, the layer having a thickness of about 10 to 40 mils;
• applying a compressive force to the top side of the layer of polypropylene before the layer of polypropylene hardens and sets, to smooth the top side of layer of polypropylene, and to urge the layer of polypropylene and the underside of the pile fabric together, thereby forming a composite sheet material having a smooth side and a pile side, and wherein the pile is held fast on the fabric and the fabric is stiffened for handling;
• slitting the width of composite sheet material once the layer of polypropylene is no longer in molten form, thereby forming a composite cover material having a smooth side and a pile side.