Direct forming of non-textile fabric elements from plastic pellets

Abstract

A process, and related structure, uses conventional palletized compositions to form the elements of a non-textile fabric by coining a single pellet or briquette of a polymer into an individual element in a single forming step. The steps of the process generally include: a) positioning a pellet in or adjacent to a mold cavity, and b) forcing the pellet into contact with the mold surfaces of the mold cavity to plastically deform the pellet to the shape of the mold cavity. The forcing step preferably uses an energy and speed where the pellet superplastically deforms to substantially fill the mold cavity. This process is repeated with the elements being formed in the appropriate order to form a non-textile fabric. The elements thus formed can have a variety of shapes, and can form base units for the formation of the non-textile fabric of two, three or more elements.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.