CA1288916C - Mat consisting of filament loop aggregations and method and apparatus for producing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract of the Disclosure In this mat consisting of filament loop aggregations, irregular form loops are formed in the upright direction by respectively winding to be coil-like many filaments coarse in the arranging intervals and made of a thermoplastic synthetic resin and are fused in the intersecting parts and the other loops are formed in the laterally fallen direction and are fused in the overlapping parts.

Description

SPECIFICA~ION

Title of the Invention:
MAT CONSISTING OF ~I~AMENT ~OOP AG~KEGATIONS
AND METHOD AND APPARA~US FOR PRODUCING THE
SAME

Back~round Df the In~ention:
~ his invention relates to a coarse net-11ke developed resilient mat made by complicatedly entangling synthetic resin monofilament~ and more.particularly to a mat consisting of fllament loop aggregations and adapted to a porch mat of fixed dimensinns or a floor mat formed an~ ~aid in a ~ong sheet and a method and apparatus for produclng the same.
Instead of a conventional carpet mat or ~ynthetlc re~n mat, ~here i8 recently provided a three-dimenslonal net-like mat consisting of synthetic resin monofllaments high ln the water permeability and quick dryability. Due to ~uch characteristics as the resiliency and weather-proofness, such three-dimen-sional ~et-llke mat is used in many indoor and outdoor ie~ds, is applied particularly to such water u~ing place as, or example; an inlet and outlet of a bath room or a pool side and i8 appreciated because it i~

~k ~imple to wash and dry Also, as this kind of three-dimensional mat is open, the sand and gravels brought when it is trod will drop down and will not remain on the surface.
As water or the like also will drop down, the surface can be always kept dry It is thu~ convenient.
. In addltion, when such elastic sheet as a synthetic resin sheet, foaming sheet or rubber sheet i8 pasted to the lower ~urface of ~uch mat, the cushioning property as of a mat will be able to be increased, the sand and water dropping from the surface will be able to be recelved by this sheet pasted to the lower surface and the floor wi~ be ab~e to be prevented fr~m being made dirty directly by the dropping sand and the like.
Descriptlon of the Prlor Art:
As dlsclosed in the gazette of a Japane~e pa~ent publlcation No.14347t1972, ~uch three-dimensional net-like mat is formed as a non-woven fabric wherein many monofilaments made of a thermoplastlc synthetic resln are lamlnated whl~e belng rubbed and bent, are fu~ed at their contact points and are cooled to be solidifled.
The formatlon of uprlght loops disclosed ln the gazette~ of a Japanese patent publication No.
~t2Z2/lg80 and a Japanese patent laid opèn No.85061/1987 '~ 2 ~

is known as a web forming means of the above mentioned filaments in such non-woven fabric, Now, in the non--woven fabric formation by the above described conventional means, in such rubbed and bent web formation, the reslliency of the indivi-dual rubbed and bent fllament:part itself i8 low, the rubbed and bent fllaments by thi~ producing mean~
overlap on each other to fall down and, as a result, a~ the entangled density of the filaments become~
higher, the re~iliency of the sheet will be lost.
~ hus, when the mat i8 u~ed9 the treading touch will be obstructed and, when the mat i~ stored or carried, it wlll be dlfficult to wind in the sheet-like mat, much to the inconvenience.
On the other hand, when the web formation is made loop-llke, the reslliency of the filament itself in each loop-like part will be developed but, in the web made of arcuate loops arranged in a sub-stantially fixed form, the respective loops are only fused at their lntersecting polnts and the contact points between the ad~acent loops, are high in the in-dependency and are therefore lo~ in the re~iliency again~t treading and, as a result, no favaroble tread-ing touch will be obtained.

Summar~ of the Inventlon:
~ herefore, the present invention has it as an ob~ect to provide a mat wherein a fi~ament web i~
formed of positively closed loops to develop a filament resiliency in each loop part and the degree of the contact fusing between the respective loop~ i8 made high to be able to develop a ~trong sheet resiliency and a method and apparatus for producing the same.
Description of the Drawin~s:
The many advantages and features of the present invention can be best under~tood and appreciated by reference to the accompanylng drawings whereln~
Fig. 1 i~ a ~ide vlew of an essential part ~how~ng, a~ embodiment of the apparat~l~ of the pre~ent invention;
Fig, 2 is an explanatory view showing a fila-ment loop forming state by the apparatus of the present invention;
Fig. 3 is a side view of an essentlal part showlng another embodiment of the apparatus of the pre~ent invention;
Fig. 4 19 a side view showing respective examples of the mat of the present invention;
Fig. 5 is a step diagram for producing sheets formed by using the method of the present invention; and ~2 ~

~ ig. 6 i9 a side view showing another embodi-ment of the mat of the present invention.
Detailed Description of the Invention:
In order to attain such ob~ect, according to the present invention, a mat consists of upright dis-arranged loop-llke oynthetlc resin filament three-dimensional aggregations and has many spaces within it to develop a cushioning property. A mat consisting of loop~ of var~ OU9 size~ depending on the ob~ect of the use can be provided.
In order to form such mat, several hot filaments of a thermoplastic synthetic re~in are pre~ed and extruded t~rough T-dle origice~ and are made to fall toward a water surface.
A palr of lnclined panels are set as opposed to each other on the water surface and a bundle of the above mentioned filaments is lowered 90 a~ to drop between these panels.
The falllng hot filaments are heated by such heat sources as ceramic far infrared ray heaters so as not to be cooled by the atmosphere and the inclined parts above water of the abo~e mentioned panels act to prevent the temperature drop of the filaments by the radlatlon heat reflection.
Such hot filament~ are easy to make coiled 19~6 loops on the water surface. Unles~ the filament~ are hot, the loops will become large. Further, in the filaments of a reduced temperature, no coiled loop will be formed but only a channeled rubbed and bent form will be able to be made.
The height from the die mouth end to the water surface i~ 5 to 100 cm. and the heat reduction of the filaments is prevented by making the die mouth end approach the water surface as much as possible.
The orifice diameter of the T-die i9 O. 3 to 1.5 mm. as an element determining the filament diameter, retains the resillency and durability of the formed f~laments and prevents the permanent set.
A mat sheet con~isting of filament aggrega-tlons of respective width~ can be made by arranging the numbers of orlfices correspondlng to the widths of 90, 120 and 150 c~, of intended mat sheets with an orifice arrangement of a T-die of 3 to 6 longitud~mal rows at the inservals of 3 to 5 mm. and a pitch of 3 to 5 mm.
in the lateral row.
lhat i~ to say, a hot filament bundle extruded out of the die of cuch orifice arrangement i~ made to fall upright toward cooling water and i~ received by submerged rolls of a rotary peripheral speed well slower than the falling speed to limit the falling speed ~ 6 in water and to glve the filaments a re~istance toward the water surface from the above mentioned roll~.
Loops hav~ng a peripheral length of a filament length corresponding to the difference between the extruding speed of the reRpective filaments snd the falling speed in water will be sequentially continuou~ly formed to be coil-llke on the water surface by thi~ re~istance.
At thls time, in order to make it easy to form loops and t~ make bent irregular loops, it is effecti~e to keep boiling the cooling water surface between the lncllned panels.
This boiIing state vibrates the re~pective filament~ wound on the water surace. A~ a re~ult, entangled di~arranged coiled loops are lnduced on the water surface.
In order to make the boiling state on the water surface between the lnclined guide panel~, it i8 important to keep the fllament~ coming out of the die at a high temperature until the liquid level.
Generally, when the fllaments are in contact with the atmosphere, the filament temperature will quickly reduce. The water surface heated by the falling in water of the fllamente bundle kept at a filament extruding molding temperature of 200 to 150C. by the above mentioned heating t~eatment to prevent air cool~

ing ln the filament coming out of the die will be in the boiling state. Therefore, when the cooling water i~ kept at a high temperature o~ 60 to 80C., this boiling will be made positive.
When the filamento are molded to be coiled loops while kept at~a high temperature, the fu~ing between the loops will be accel~rated ~urther, when the cooling water is at a high temperature, in ca~e the molded loops are pulled out into the atmosphere by the guide roll~ and are sent to the ~econdary proce~, they wlll be able to be easily dr1ed with cool or hot alr.
A f~lament loop aggregation in which the coil densit~ is made coarse by increasing the rotation (pulllng speed in water) of the rolls in water and is made high by reducing the pulllng ~peed is formed.
By the way, in order to strengthen the fila-ment fusing between the coil and loop and strengthen the durability of the coil itselt, it is effect1ve to coat the aggregations with a bonding agent, Thereby, the entlre filament loop aggregatlon~ can be streng-thened and i~ 1~ effective to prevent the permanent set of the upright coil part, A vlnyl plastisol is generally used for the bonding agent in thls ca~e. The strength and dura-~ 6 bility of the mat can be increased by adopting a vinyl plastisol adapted to the materlals of the mat and shet, It i8 effecti~e to use a plastlsol of the same material mixture as of the filaments for the bonding agent. The bonding agent reduced in the vi~-cosity by addlng 20 to 30% plasticizer to the filament material i8 sprayed or painted or has the above men-tioned aggregation dlpped in its liquid bath, has then the excess plastisol removed with rollers, is then heated at 170 to 150C, with a dryer to be melted and i8 bonded to the filament surfaces of the aggrega-t~on to acce~erate the rus~ng bond between the ftlaments, By the way, a vinyl plastisol is made by adding a plastici~er and varlous ~tabilizers to a powdery vinyl and can be used for the above mentioned object.
On the other hand, eren if the thickness width of the hanglng filament bundle 1B not regulated, a three-dlmensional formatlon of a colled loop will be able to be made. However, the size of the loop formed on the liqu~d surface 19 not flxed. Therefore, a ~eans Or regulating the thlckness width of the filament bundle functlons effectively to make unlform coiled three-dlmensional aggregatlons of an intended thickness.
The entlre ~ncllned panel is of a ~tainles~

3 2 ~

steel plate or the part exposed above the eooling water surface may be of a ~tainless ~teel plate and the part in the cooling water may be of a ~tainle~
steel screen plate, It i9 effective that the panel angle on the watex surface i8 held to be 45 to 80 degrees ln order to reflect the radiation heat from the h~at source and to ~lide into water the filaments having fallen onto the panel surface.
It is effective to ~eep the temperature of the inclined panel at 100 to 130C.
By ad~ustlng the opposed clearances of a pair of opposed inclined panel~ and rolls in water, various modlf~ed aggregationB of ~ coiled loop three-dimen~ional structure can be continuously molded, Rotary rollera expo~ed in a part of the peri-pheral ~urface on the water surface can be applied instead of such inclined panels, However, ln this case, the radiation heat reflectlng actlon wlll be 80 little as to require a heat source to cope wlth lt.
In molding synthetlc reslns, the general temperature as of the cooling bath 19 about 50C. for PE (polyethylene) and PP (polypropylene), about 10 to 40C. for PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and about 85C. for PS (ploystyrene).
~ he ~urface tenslon of water on PVC (polyvinyl chloride) i8 80 high as to be about 60 to 70 dym./cm.
that fine filaments of an out ide diameter less than lmm, will be overl3pped in turn above the water surface, the co~led loops formed here will be lamlnated in several 8tep8 and will be coo~ed in water and there-fore the ob~ect aggregations coarse in the loop clearances will not be obtained. lherefore, in order to sequen-tially sink the coiled loop8 on the liquid ~urface, it is effective to add a surface active agent reducing the surface tsn~ion o~ the cooling bath.
Embodiments:
Fig, 1 is a side vlew showing component parts in an optlmum apparatu~ for embodylng the present lnvention. ~our filaments 2 are to fall vertlcally toward coollng water5 w~ being m~ded ~n the thickne~s d~rection (longitudina~ direction) from a die ~
extrudlng a thermoplastic synthetlc rcsln materlal under pressure.
In the lateral dlrectlon ~front to back dlrectlon on the paper surface) of the T-die in thls case, many filaments 2 are to be molded as arranged at predetermined intervals (pitch of 3 to 5 mm.) in the length zone corresponding to the lateral width of an intended molding.
In the falling zone of the~e fllaments 2, bar-like c-eramic far infrared ray heater~ 3 are arranged on both ~ldes of the fllament bundle 80 as to be heating heat sources. Laterally long inclined panel~ 4 are arranged respectively below the~e heaters 3.
The above mentloned inclined panel 4 con-slsts of an upper piece 4a of a horizontal angle ~
set in the range of 45 to 80 degrees and a lower piece 4b submerged below the water surface of the cooling water 5. ~he lower piece~4b are arranged ~o as to hold the above mentioned fllament bundle from both sides and the panels 4 are formed 80 a3 to be ad~ustably movable toward the center of the fllament bundle from both eldes.
As a result, the filament bund~e wi~l be limited in the thicknes~ wldth by the above mentioned panels 4 in the zone rsaching the water ~urface of the cooling water 5, further the outside filaments 2 of the bundle will fall onto the upper parts 4a of the panels 4, will sllde on the upper parts 4a and will be submerged into the cooling water 5.
Further, submerged rollers 6 formed movably in the direction of the above mentioned thickness width as operatively connected with the above mentioned panel~
4 are arranged in the cooling water 5, have many engaging pins 7 for ~topp~ng slldlng erected on the peri-2 ~

pheral surfaces of the rollers 6, periodically rotate in the winding direction indicated by the arrow in the same drawing and are controlled ln the rotating speed to be lower than the falling speed of the above men-tioned filament~ 2.
Therefore, as the respective filaments 2 falling from the die 1 at a high speed are reduced in the sinking speed in water by the above mentioned submerged rollers 6, they will be relaxed by the fila-ment length corresponding to the difference between the falling ~peed and ~lnklng speed. ~hese relaxations will concentPate in the water surface ~one due to the buoyancy of the fila~entc 2 o a ~mall specific gravity.
a resu~t, the flla~ent~ 2 w~ orm loop~ on the water ~urface.
This state is shown ln Fig. 2. That is to say, the filaments 2 extruded out of the die will reach the water surface of the cooling water 5 wh~le being kept near the temperature ~t the time of moldlng by heating by the above mentioned heaters 3 ln the falling zone in alr and by the reflected heat from the upper parts 4a of the lnclined panel~ 4. ~he filaments 2 having sunk in the cooling water 5 will quickly lower ln the tem-perature and will be harden~d. However, the~e hardened filament~ 2 will be regulated in the pulling amount~ by the submerged rollers 6 stopped ln sliding by the engaging pins 7, therefor~ the hardened parts in water will be sub~ected to resistances from the submerged rollers 5 and thereby the soft filaments 2 still at a high temperature ~ust before reachlng the water surface will be curved and will be gradually pulled into water while describing loops to form colled loops.
When the temperature within the bath of this cool~ng water 5 is kept at 60 to 80C., the cooling water 5 between the above mentioned inclined panels 4 will be locally boilded by heating by the filament~ 2 reaching the water surface while at a high temperature.
By this boiling, the water surface of that part will be waved and greatly rocked and therefore the filaments 2 de~criblng loops on thl~ water surface will be waved and disarranged in response to the rocking of the water surface .
Therefore, the total surface contact will be obstructed by the concavo-convexes by thls disarrange-ment between the ad~acent loops of the disarranged forms overlapped on the water surface and the contact point parts will be comparatively many.
In such contact part. loops will be fused with each other between them and wlll bè cooled to be hardened.
Therefore, coiled loops having com~aratively many fused parts between the ad~acent loops will be continuou~ly formed in turn and a mat sheet (See Fig. 4(a)) consisting of a filament loop aggregation A in which coiled loops a1 are cross-linked longitudlnally and laterally with loop edges overlapping between ad~acent filaments 2 will be formed.
As understandable from the ~tructure of the above mentioned illu~trated aggregation A, in the aggregat~on A ~n which the re~pective loops are formed horizontally at the tlme of the above mentloned working, the above mentioned respective loops will rise in the upright direction when the co~tinuou~ body is used as hor~o~ta~ ly placed, On the other hand, a~ shown in the above mentloned ~ig. 2, the outslde filament~ 2 hardened o~
the upper part 4a of the panel 4 by entering toward the center from outside the filament bundle ~alling on the inclined panel 4 will descrlbe loops on the 810pe of the part 4a, will be heaped up, wlll therefore slip down lnto the coollng water 5 along the above mentioned part 4a whlle the ad~acent loops are substan-tially close to the total surface contact and will be hardened. Therefore, as shown in the same drawing, these fllament parts will become layers of a high fi~ament denslty consistlng of a loop dlrectlon at right -, ...

~ 9~

angles with the above described coiled loop a1 by the other center part filaments 2 and will be fueed with each other on the contact ~urface of the coiled loop a1-Therefore, as shown ln Fig. 4(b), the filamentloop aggregation A wlll become an aggregation of the above mentioned layer consistlng of a loop a2 late-rally fallen on one side of the above mentioned coiled loop a~.
When the movement wlthin the filament bundle o the above mentioned inc~ined panel 4 i8 ad~usted and the above mentioned laterally fallen loop a2 is formed for several filaments out~lde the fllaments 2, an aggregatian A (See Flg.4(e)) conslst~ng of the laterally fallen loop~ a2 of thick layer~ wlll be formed and, when the panels 4 are both moved and the above mentioned la`terally fallen loops a2 are made for both outside filament~ 2 of the fllament bundle, an aggregation A
(See ~ig. 4(d)) in which layerc of the laterally fallen loops a2 are formed on both front and back sides holding the coiled loop a1 will be formed and an aggrega~ion A
(See Fig. 4(e)) in which the entire filament bundle is made layer~ of laterally fallen loops a2 will be able to be formed.
By the way, the formatlon of such various aggregations A i8 determlned by the correspondlng po~itions of the bundle of tho filament~ 2 falllng as arranged from the die 1 and of the inclined panel~
4, it i8 theoretically possible to use a dle different in the filament extruding spaclng (nozzle pitch spacing) for fixed guide panels be~ides the above described operation of movlng the above mentloned panels 4.
Flg. 3 is a slde vlew of an essential part showing another embodiment of the present lnvention apparatus, Instead of the lncllned panels 4 in the above mentloned embodlment, a palr o~ water contactlng roll~ 8 exposed by sbout 10 to 20% of the diameter above the water ~urface may be provided rotatably and laterally movably. ~he other parts s~milar to the respective part~ of the abo~e mentioned embod~ment ehall bear re~pectively the ~ame reference numerals. 9 r,epre-sents a reflecting plate.
According to this embodiment~ the thlckness wldth of the filament~ 2 falllng from the die 1 is regulated by th~se roll~ 8. When these rolls 8 move toward the fllament bundle, the outside filament 2 will fall onto the peripheral surface of the roll exposed above the water surface to form a layer of the above described laterally fallen loops a2 and thè layer part will be pulled into the coollng water 5 by the above ~ 6 mentioned rolls 8 while rotating by the action of.
pulling it into the loop filamentsby the submerged rollers 6 The same as in the above mentioned embodiment, various aggregations A in ~igs. 4(a) to 4(e) can be formed by regulating the position~ of the rolls ~ for the filament bundle.
By the way, in order to pull the cooled loops formed on the cooling water surface into water without dlsturbing their form, a surface active agent i~
added into co~ling water 4.
Amounts of addltion of surface active agents per 100 parts of water:
A~io~c sy~tem: ~kylben~ene~u1fonate: ~ to a.2 part.
Dialkylsulfo~uccinate: 1 to 0.
Nonionic system: Polyoxyethylene nonylphenol ether:
1 to 0.1 It is eff~ective to add 0.05 to 0.2% dialkyl-sulfosucclnate which is high in the capaclty of reducing the surface tension and in the connecting effect with a sllght amount Now, in thls kind of apparatus, in order to keep the coollng bath level constant, cooling water is circulated with a pump while being overflowed. In such ca~e, many bubbles will be generated in an auxiliary ~ 3 6 tank level detecting electrode and cooling bath and will be disadvantageou~ in molding. In this re~pect, at the above mentioned effective component concentration of the dialkylsulfosucclnate, manybubbles tend to be generated. Therefore, it can be said to be optlmum to add and use preferably 0.05 to 0.2% dialkylsulfosuccinate.
lhe thu~ formed fllament loop aggretation A
may be coated with a plastisol made of the same materlal mixture as of the filament to prevent the bonding strength reductlon and permanent ~et of the filament 1 OOp9 .
The apparatu& formation therefor i8 ~hown in Fig. 5. An aggregation A pulled up from a b~th 10 of the above mentioned cooling water 5 is fed into a primary dryer 12 by a feeding roller and is dried at a low temperature. In thls drying, the aggregation A
i9 still about 70C. by the cooling water 5 at a high temperature. Therefore, the water can be comparatively easily and posltively removed by blowing warm wind or the like.
The dried aggregation A i8 fed into a surface coating proces~ part 13 by the above mentioned plastisol, is processed in the part 13 by such means as blowing, painting or dipping, i8 then fused by high temperature drying in a secondary dryer 14 and is wound up on a wlnder 15. As shown in Pig. 6, a back sheet B consist-lng of a resln sheet~ foamed sheet~ resin net sheet or rubber sheet e~. may be u ed as bonded to the back surf-ace o~ th~s aggreqation A ln respose to the ob~ect of use of the mat or sheet.
(Formatlon Example 1) Polyvlnyl chlorlde (PVC) (P-1300) lO0 parts ~lastlcl2er DOP Dloctyl phthalate 50 Stablli2er Dlbutyl tln laurate2 "
Cadmium stearare 0.6 part " Barium steararQ 0.4 Coloring agent 0.1 A compound materlal o~ the abo~e mentioned mlxture 18 molded to be fllaments by an extrudlng molder, ~ ho c~earanc~ between thQ lnclined panel3 on the coollng water surra~e 1~ set at 15 mm. T~e filament moldlng orlflce dlameter of the dle 18 made 0.8 mm.
The T-dle orlflce arrangement i8 ol four longltudlnal rows at the lnter~als o~ 4 mm. and a lateral oriflce pltch of 5 mm.
The clea~ance between the T-dle and coollng water surface 19 5 cm. The d1e temperature 18 185C.
The dle pressure i9 90 kg,/cm2 The extrudlng pressure 1~ 190 kg./cm2. The coollng water temperature is 60 to 80C. The gulde panel temperature 19 120C, Two ceramic far infrared ray heaters ol 2,5 XW each are used. At a molding linear ~peed of 2m, per minute, 10~PB
at a ~peed of 40 cm, per minute can be made.
In this formation, by only holding the filament bundle in its thickness wldth directlon wit~ the inclined panels, the front and back ~urfaces o~ the aggregations can be uniformed and the aggregations shown in Fig, 4(a) i8 obtalned and i8 made a producb through drying and bonding ~teps, As the extruder dle pressure iB applied and hot filaments are extruded into alr, the finl~hed dimension of the fllament i8 0,2 mm, thicker than the f~lament orif~ce of a diameter of 0,8 mm. of the die and a filament coil structure of a diameter of 1 mm, is made, Even if the clearance between the inclined panels is set to be 15 mm., the aggregation molded under the width regulation by this clearance will shrink when the filament i8 hardened and will be therefore 13,5 to 14 mm, thick, The loop diameter i8 about 7 mm.
Under the above mentioned ~etting, when one of the incllned panels and water rollers is moved by 2 mm, toward the center part of the fllament bundle, the aggregation form shown in the above mentioned ~ig. 4(b) will be formed, When it is further moved by 2 mm. in addit~on, the aggregation form ~hown in ~ig, 4(c) will - 21 _ J ~9~6 be able to be formed.
~ he aggregation in ~ig. 4(b) is higher in the sdhe3lon to the floor as a mat or sheet than the aggre-gation in Fig. 4(a), can be increased in the strength by the laterally fallen direction loops in the aggrega-tion, i~ hl~h in the cushioning and i9 effective.
In the mat sheet consisting of the aggrega-tlons in Fig, 4(c), as the lateral direction coil is double, t~e mat strength can be further increa~ed but the cushioning property iB lower than of the aggregation in Fig. 4~b).
(Formation ~xample 2) PVC ~olyvinyl chloride ~P-13aO) 100 parts Plastici~er DID~ diisodecyl phthalate 5.5 "
~K-40 Organic cadmium chelate o.5 part Cadmium ~tearate 0,7 i~
~arium stearate 0.3 Coloring agent 0,1 "
A compound material of the above mentloned mixture is molded wlth an extruder.
The clearahce between the inclined panels on the cooling water surface is 15 mm. ~he clearance between the submerged rollers is also set at 15 mm, The filament molding orifice diameter of the die i9 ~et at 0.8 mm. The T-die hole arrangement i8 of four ~2 ~

longitudinal rows at the intervals of 5 mm. and a lateral oriflce pltch of 5 mm. The distance from the T-die to the cooling water surface is 5.5 cm.
The die temperature i~ 190C. The die pre89Ure i8 80 kg./cm2. The extruding pressure is 190 kg,/cm2. The cooling bath temperature i9 60 to 80C. The guide panel temperature 1~ 120C. Two ceramic far infrared ray heaters of 2.5 KW each are used. At a molding linear speed of 2 m. per~minute, loops at a speed of 50 cm. per minute can be made.
Thereby, an aggregation ln the form shown in Fig, 4(b) of a filament diamter of 1,1 mm,, loop diameter of 6 to 10 mm. and aggregation th~cknes~ of 14 mm. ean be mo~ded.
(~ormation ~xamp~e 3) The compound material is the same as in the Formation Example 2.
The respective clearances of the lnclined panels and submerged rolls are made 10 mm.
The ~dle filament oriflce diameter i8 O. 4 mm.
The die orifice arrangement is of four longltudinal rows at the lntervals of 3mm, and a lateral orifice pitch of 305 mm. The distance from the T-die to the cooling water surface i9 5 cm. The die temperature i~
1B5C, The d~e pre~sure is 150 ~g./cm2. The extruding pressure is 180 kg./cm2. The cooling bath temperature i9 60 to 80C, The incllned panel temperature i8 120C. Two ceramic ~ar infrared ray heaters of 2.5 KW
each are used. The linear speed of the filament is set at 3.5 m. per minute. The feeding speed iB set at 70 cm. per mlnute.
Thereby, an aggregatlon in the foxm shown in ~ig. 4(c) of a filament diameter of 0.5 mm., loop dia-meter of 6 to 10 mm. and aggregation thickness of 9 mm.
i~ molded.
(Formatlon Example 4) The compound material is the same as in the Formation Example 1.
The die orifice arrangement i9 of four longitudinal rows at the in~erva~s of 5 mm. and a lateral orifice pitch of 5 mm. The inclined panel clearance i8 set at 14 to 1~,5 mm. The distance from the T-dle to the cooling water surface i9 5 cm.
The die orifice diameter i9 0.8 mm. The die temperature ie 185C, The die pressure is 90 kg./cm2.
The extruding pressure is 190 kg./cm2.
Thereby, there is formed an aggregation in the form shown in Pig. 4(d) in a sandwitch state wherein the front and back parts of the aggregation have flat smooth ~urfaces, upper and ~ower loops are formed in the lateral dlrection and the interior i8 of a three-dimensional coil structure. According to thi 8 aggre-gation, there are advantage~ that, as both front and back ~urfaces are flat and smooth and are different from open coil-like surfaces, shoes or the like will not catch on the surface~ in walking and the resiliency i~ higher than of general sheets.
It can be applled to a slope for summer skiing as another use than ~or mats.
(~ormation Example 5) The compoun material and other settings are the same as in the ~ormation ~xample 4. The clearance between the inclined panels is set at 1 cm.
T~ereby, ~ fllament loop aggregation hig~ ~n the denslty o ~uch structure a~ of pre~sed colled loops i9 made and lc low in the reslliency but is highest in the strength. It is sheet-like on the ~urface but i~
formed of laterally falling direction coiled loops in the interior and is therefore adapted to the ob~ect of a mat passing soil, sand, rain and water, Therefore, it i8 effective for a gate in a place where many people walk. As different from the case that the surface is of open coils, it will not catch on shoes when walking or will not cut ~oops, It can be expected to be extensively utilizable ~ 3 for slopes for summer sklinK.
(Effects of the Invention) Thus, according to the mat of the present invention, as an aggregation i8 formed of irregular form loops by winding filaments to be coil-like, the individual clo~ed loops well develop the filament resiliency, are of such irregular form as a wavy form and are therefore high in the degree of contact fusing between the ~d~acent continuous coiled l~op~ and between the filament forming loops arranged longitudinally and laterally and thus a mat hlgh ln the bonded degree as a whole can be obtained. In the mat in which such loops are formed in the upright direction, in addition to the re~iliency of the above mentioned loops themselves, a stiff mat resiliency can be obtained by the strength of the bonded degree between these loops and a porch mat or floor sheet very high in the treading touch can be obtained.
~ he mat in whlch these loops are formed in the laterally fallen direction iB low in the resiliency but is high in the tensile strength and durability, has clearance spaces sufficlent to drop the sand, dirt and water deposited on the mat down to the lower surface and is therefore effective to be used for a long floor sheet ln an establishment or the like where many people ~ 9.~ 6 walk in and out or for a 810p~ for skllng.
Further, by combinlng snd bondlng uprlght directlon loops and laterally fallen loops wlth each other, there ~an be obtalned a slmpla convenient practical mat or sheet havlng characterlstlcs of the lndivldual mat made of both loops descrlbed abor~.
An e~tic bsck ~heet a~ pa3ted to such mat or sheet reinforces th~ mat elast~clty and i8 90 hlgh ln the affinity wlth the ~et floor surrace as to be unlikely to sllde or peel off, Partlcul~rly, the sand and water dropped on the lower ~urface can ~e recelved by the back sheet and the ~loor surrac~ or the llke i9 not directly dlrtied.
When the dlameter of the f~la~ent ~ th~s case 19 set to be ln th~ rang~ mentloned in clalm 5, the practlcal strength o~ the fllament loop can be obtained and, on the other hand, the mat can be made hlgh in the sheet weight con~enlent to the setting work and ln the treadlng touch.
When the ma~or dlameter of the loop of an lrregular form i8 ad~uQted to be ln the rage mentioned ln clalm 6, lt wlll be effective in keeping the mat elasticity but, on the other hand, lf the ma~or diameter of the loop is too large, a ~hoe tlp or llke will catch on and cut the loop and such danger as fallinq down w~ 11 ~ 9 1 6 be li~ely to be caused. Thu~, lt is not preferable.
In the method of formlng a mst or ~heet conslstlng of ~uch fllament loop aggregati~ns, the fllaments are lowered onto the water surface whlle near the modllng temperature and, when th~ 9 water ~urface 18 waved by bolling, the loops formed on the water Qurface wlll be able to be ln such irregular forms a8 wavy forms and to be contact-fused in the loop ln~ersectlng parta and between the 10QP9~
In addltlon, when the filament bundle falling toward the coolln~ water surfacs 1~ regulated ln the dlrectlon of contractlng from outslde the wldth of the thlckness dlrection Or the bundle, the slze~ of the respectlve loops formed of these ~ilaments wlll be able to be unlformed and, when the contracted wldth 1~
controlled, the formatlon of comblnlng the above de~-cribed upright dlrectlon loops and laterally fallen loops will be able to be freely made.
When incllned panel~ are applied as these contractlng devloes, they wlll be a~so plates for reflectlng the radlatlon heat from hest souroes for holdlng the temperature at the tlme of moldin~ the above menticned fllaments, wlll be very effective tG keep the temperature of ~ld ~ilaments and wlll be ~lmple and effectlve devlces whlch wlll be al90 laterally - 28 ~

J.28B~16 fallen loop forming members.
When guide rollers partly expoaed on the water surface are used as these contractlng devices, a heat reflecting effect will not be able to be expected but, by the filament pulling action by the submerged rollers drivlng the guide rollers or under free rotation, the filament loop~ formed on the expoeed peripheral surfaoes of the guide rollers will be able to be sunk into cooling water with little resistance and therefore the loop forms will not be usele~sly di~turbed. As a result, they are very effective to form uniform loop forms over all the range of the aggregation.
The pawled formations on the peripheral surfaces o~ the above mentioned suhmerged rollers are deslrable to stabili%e the speed of the filaments controlled by them in the sinking speed.
If the distance from the die to the coollng water surface is long, the filament temperature will be reduced by air cooling between them. Therefore, it is desirable to set the distance to be as short as possible. However, if they are too ad~acent, the loop formation on the water surface will be disturbed. There-fore, this distance of 5 to ~0 cm. is effective.
By keeping the. temperature of the cooling water at a comparatively hlgh temperature of 60 to J.;2~ L6 80C., a local boiling state ~n which the water ~urface on which the filament~ fall is properly waved by heating by the filaments submerging into water can be automatic-ally obtained. In order to smoothly sink the filaments to prevent the loop forms from being disturbed, it is effective to add~a surface active agent. ~y treating the filament loop aggregation on the surface with an adhesive, the practical strength of the mat or sheet can be elevated.

Claims (15)

1. A mat consisting of filament loop aggregations wherein irreg-ular form loops are formed in the upright direction by respectively winding to be coil-like many filaments coarse in the arranging inter-vals and made of a thermoplastic synthetic resin and are fused in the intersecting parts.

2. A mat consisting of filament loop aggregations wherein loops are formed in the laterally fallen direction and are fused in the over-lapping parts.

3. A mat consisting of filament loop aggregations wherein a fila-ment loop aggregation consisting of laterally fallen direction loops fused in the overlapping parts is overlapped on at least one surface of the filament loop aggregation consisting of the upright direction loops according to claim 1.

4. A mat consisting of filament loop aggregations according to any one of claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein an elastic back sheet consisting of a resin sheet, foamed sheet, resin netsheet or rubber sheet is pasted to one surface of said filament loop aggregation.

5. A mat consisting of filament loop aggregations according to any one of claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein the diameter of said filament is in the range of 0.3 to 1.5 mm.

6. A mat consisting of filament loop aggregations according to any one of claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein the major diameter of saod loop is in the range of 3 to 15 mm.

7. A method of producing a mat consisting of filament loop aggregations characterized in that many filaments arranged at intervals longitudinally and late-rally are continuously molded by extruding a thermo-plastic synthetic resin out of a die,are present on a cooling water surface boiling as kept by heating at a filament temperature close to the temperature at the time of modling while this filament bundle is vertically lowered toward the cooling water surface and are sunk in the vertical direction as controlled to be at a speed lower than the extruding molding speed of these filaments.

8. A method of producing a mat consisting of filament loop aggregations according to claim 7 wherein said filament bundle is regulated in the direction of contracting from outside the width in the direction of the thickness of said filament bundle whicle being lowered under heating.

9. A method of produclng a mat consisting of filament loop aggregations according to claim 8 wherein said regulating means are inclined panels arranged mova-bly in the horizontal dirction below heat sources for said heating, receiving radiation heat from said heat sources, contacting the water surface at the lower ends and having an angle of inclination with the water surface in the range of 45 to 80 degrees.

10, A method of producing a mat consisting of filament loop aggregations according to claim 8 wherein said regulating means consists of guide rollers exposed by about 10 to 20% of the diameter on the water surface and movable in the horizontal direction.

11. A method of producing a mat consisting of filament loop aggregations according to claim 9 or 10 wherein the means of sinking said loops into the cooling water as controlled to be at a low speed consists of a pair of pawled rollers arranged in the water and movable horizontally as operatively connected with the horizontal movement of said inclined panels or guide rollers.

12. A method of producing a mat consisting of filament loop aggregations according to claim 9 or 10 wherein the distance from the lower surface of the T-die to the water surface is in the range of 5 to 10 cm.

13, A method of producing a mat consisting of filament loop aggregations according to claim 7 or 8 wherein the cooling water held at a temperature of 60 to 80°C. is locally boiled by heating by the sinking loops just below the fall of said filaments.

14. A method of producing a mat consisting of filament loop aggregations according to claim 7 or 8 wherein about 0.05 to 0.2% surface active agent dialkyl-sulfosuccinate is added into cooling water.

15. A mat consisting of filament loop aggregations according to any one of claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein said filament loop aggregations are coated with a plastisol made of the same material mixture as of said filaments.