Process of making short fiber nonwoven molded articles
AssigneeZephyros, Inc.
InventorsMichael William Coates, Philip John Gibbons, John Cain
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of forming a nonwoven article comprising receiving fibrous material comprising thermoplastic fibers; processing the fibrous material to produce short fibers, wherein the processing step comprises granulation using at least one granulator with a screen; distributing the short fibers approximately evenly across an area to form a short fiber web, wherein the distributing step comprises a use of a recyclate spreader; heating the short fiber web to fuse the short fibers to form a nonwoven material; and forming a sheet of the nonwoven material.
Claims20
A method of forming a nonwoven article, the method comprising:
- a) receiving fibrous material comprising thermoplastic fibers, wherein at least a portion of the fibrous material is waste material;
- b) processing the fibrous material to produce short fibers, wherein the processing step comprises granulation utilizing at least one granulator with a screen;
- c) distributing the short fibers approximately evenly across an area to form a short fiber web, wherein the distributing step comprises using a recyclate spreader that reduces clumping of the short fibers by reducing the static charge of the short fibers;
- d) heating the short fiber web to fuse the short fibers to form a nonwoven material;
- e) forming a sheet of the nonwoven material;
- and
- f) molding the sheet of the nonwoven material into a molded article having a three-dimensional shape
- wherein the molded article is suitable for use as a sound absorption material.
A method of forming a nonwoven article, the method comprising:
- a) receiving fibrous material comprising thermoplastic fibers;
- b) processing the fibrous material to produce short fibers, wherein the processing step comprises granulation using at least one granulator with a screen;
- c) blending the short fibers achieve a relatively consistent distribution of fibrous material;
- d) distributing the short fibers approximately evenly to form a short fiber web on a facing material, wherein the distributing step comprises use of a recyclate spreader;
- e) heating the short fiber web and the facing material in an oven to form a nonwoven material;
- f) compacting the nonwoven material,
- g) forming a sheet of the nonwoven maternal;
- h) shaping the sheet of nonwoven material into a molded article surrounded by waste;
- i) separating the molded article from the waste;
- and
- j) recycling the waste into the receiving step without performing melting or disambiguation steps prior to the receiving step,
- wherein the nonwoven material is suitable for use as a sound absorption material, and
- wherein the nonwoven, material exhibits a selected air flow resistivity of about 275,000 Rayls/m to about 3,000,000 Rayls/m.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.