Classifications

• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
  • D04H—MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; 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
  • D04H1/00—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres
  • D04H1/70—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres characterised by the method of forming fleeces or layers, e.g. reorientation of fibres
  • D04H1/72—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres characterised by the method of forming fleeces or layers, e.g. reorientation of fibres the fibres being randomly arranged
  • D04H1/732—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres characterised by the method of forming fleeces or layers, e.g. reorientation of fibres the fibres being randomly arranged by fluid current, e.g. air-lay
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C03—GLASS; MINERAL OR SLAG WOOL
  • C03C—CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF GLASSES, GLAZES OR VITREOUS ENAMELS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF GLASS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF FIBRES OR FILAMENTS MADE FROM GLASS, MINERALS OR SLAGS; JOINING GLASS TO GLASS OR OTHER MATERIALS
  • C03C25/00—Surface treatment of fibres or filaments made from glass, minerals or slags
  • C03C25/10—Coating
  • C03C25/12—General methods of coating; Devices therefor
  • C03C25/14—Spraying
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
  • D04H—MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; 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
  • D04H1/00—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres
  • D04H1/40—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties
  • D04H1/42—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties characterised by the use of certain kinds of fibres insofar as this use has no preponderant influence on the consolidation of the fleece
  • D04H1/4209—Inorganic fibres
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
  • D04H—MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; 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
  • D04H1/00—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres
  • D04H1/40—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties
  • D04H1/42—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties characterised by the use of certain kinds of fibres insofar as this use has no preponderant influence on the consolidation of the fleece
  • D04H1/4209—Inorganic fibres
  • D04H1/4218—Glass fibres
  • D04H1/4226—Glass fibres characterised by the apparatus for manufacturing the glass fleece
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
  • D04H—MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; 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
  • D04H1/00—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres
  • D04H1/40—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties
  • D04H1/58—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties by applying, incorporating or activating chemical or thermoplastic bonding agents, e.g. adhesives
  • D04H1/64—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties by applying, incorporating or activating chemical or thermoplastic bonding agents, e.g. adhesives the bonding agent being applied in wet state, e.g. chemical agents in dispersions or solutions
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
  • D04H—MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; 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
  • D04H1/00—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres
  • D04H1/70—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres characterised by the method of forming fleeces or layers, e.g. reorientation of fibres
  • D04H1/72—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres characterised by the method of forming fleeces or layers, e.g. reorientation of fibres the fibres being randomly arranged
  • D04H1/736—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres characterised by the method of forming fleeces or layers, e.g. reorientation of fibres the fibres being randomly arranged characterised by the apparatus for arranging fibres

Definitions

• MMVF man- made vitreous fibre
• an MMVF web It is standard practice to make an MMVF web by forming a cloud of fibres by fiberising a vitreous melt by use of at least one centrifugal fiberising rotor, carrying the cloud of fibres by an air stream from adjacent the rotor to a permeable collector, and collecting the fibres as a web on the collector. Binder is usually sprayed into the cloud and the web is subsequently subjected to curing so as to cure the binder and bond the fibres into the web, optionally after lamination or compression or both.
• a common way of including particulate additive is to scatter it into the cloud of fibres between the formation of the cloud and the collection of the fibres on the collector. Examples of doing this when the rotor rotates about a substantially vertical axis, such that the cloud generally travels downwardly, are given in GB 1,234,075. When the rotor rotates about a substantially horizontal axis (for instance as in a cascade spinner) the cloud generally travels substantially horizontally towards the collector. The particulate additive may then be dropped into the cloud from above or may be blown into the cloud from behind the rotor.
• Trivial and insignificant amounts of additive may be introduced without impairing the properties, but any attempt at introducing useful amounts of additive will have the inevitable consequence of impairing the properties of the web. Attempts at minimising these problems are described in EP 461995 but attempts at introducing significant amounts of fibrous or other particulate additive by that technique will still result in a tufted, balled or other non-uniform distribution of the additive in the web.
• an MMVF web containing particulate additive by a method comprising forming a cloud of fibres by fiberising a vitreous melt by use of at least one centrifugal fiberising rotor, carrying the cloud of fibres by an air stream from adjacent the rotor or rotors to a permeable collector, blasting the particulate additive into the cloud of fibres at a direction against the direction of travel of the cloud towards the collector, and collecting the fibres and additive as a web on the collector.
• the additive can be blasted into the cloud with a relatively wide spray angle of, for instance, 30 to 90°, but this is unnecessary and, instead, it is simpler and adequate merely to blast the additive from a simple duct outlet as a stream of particles having a substantially zero cone angle or a small angle, for instance 0 to 20, usually 0 to 10, degrees.
• the volume of particles introduced by this stream can be such that, if the stream is discharged from a duct outlet at an inappropriate position or inappropriate angle it will be easy to see that non-uniform deposition of particulate material is occurring on the collector, but the position of the duct outlet and the direction of the stream is so selected that the web does, instead, appear substantially uniform.
• the stream of particles will be carried into the web as a stream and will be apparent as a ridge or other non-uniform distribution in the web but adjustment of the angle and position of the duct from which the stream is discharged is made until the web has a surface appearance showing uniform distribution.
• the surface appearance of the web is therefore preferably substantially the same irrespective of whether or not the stream of particles is being blasted into the cloud of fibres.
• each of the outlets needs to be oriented satisfactorily such that the web appears substantially uniform.
• the angle at which the or each stream is blasted into the cloud of fibres must be greater than 90° to the direction of travel of the fibres adjacent the duct outlet or other point at which the stream is blasted into the cloud. Generally the angle is at least 100° and preferably at least 110° to the direction of travel of the fibres at the point where the stream emerges from the duct. Ejecting the stream perpendicular to the cloud or the axis of the rotor, or at a smaller angle (co-directional) with the cloud gives inferior results. In particular, it is preferred that the or each stream of particles should emerge from its associated duct outlet along an axis that intersects the fiberising rotor or the front profile of apparatus on which the fiberising rotor is mounted.
• the preferred way of blasting the particulate additive into the cloud of fibres is as a stream of the particles entrained in air. It has sometimes been considered desirable to minimise the turbulence of the air stream in which the cloud of fibres is carried from the rotor to the collector and so it is surprising that it is satisfactory to blast the additive into the cloud as a stream entrained in air travelling against the direction of the main air stream carrying the cloud.
• the amount of air needed for entraining even quite a large amount of additive is usually less than 5%, typically 0.2 to 2%, the amount of air which is carrying the cloud of fibres from the fiberising rotor to the collector and this relatively small amount of counterflowing air does not result in unacceptable turbulence of the air stream. Indeed, the counterflowing air may contribute to the uniform distribution of the additive within the cloud.
• any suitable MMVF fiberising rotor can be used in the invention.
• it can be, for instance, a spinning cup which is mounted for rotation about a substantially vertical axis and which has apertures in its walls through which fibres are extruded.
• the resultant cloud of fibres are generally carried downwardly by an air stream towards a collector which passes beneath the cup, in which event the stream of additive particles should be blasted into the cloud against its direction of movement away from the rotor upwardly into the downflowing cloud, for instance at an angle of 100 to 160°, often around 110 to 140°, to the axial direction of the cloud.
• the blast can be almost directly against the movement of the cloud from the rotor, or the axis of the rotor, and so the angle may be as much as 180°.
• the fiberising rotor is mounted about a substantially horizontal axis and the cloud of fibres is carried forwards from the rotor towards the collector positioned in front of the rotor so that the fibres travel in a generally horizontal direction, towards the collector.
• the rotor for instance being a Downey rotor or a jet blast rotor by which fibres are formed by the combination of centrifugal force and a jet blast.
• the fibres are formed using a cascade spinner comprising a first rotor on to which melt is poured and off which it is thrown centrifugally and at least one subsequent rotor on to which the melt is thrown from the preceding rotor and off which fibres are thrown and wherein each of the rotors rotates about a substantially horizontal axis.
• the collector is a continuously moving conveyor located in front of the cascade spinner and the fibres are carried by the air stream from around the cascade spinner on to the conveyor.
• the conveyer is an upwardly inclined conveyor.
• the direction of movement is upwards and away from the spinner.
• the particulate additive is blasted into the cloud of fibres as one or more streams of particles entrained in air each from a duct outlet located in front of the cascade spinner.
• the conveyor- collector is a lower wall of a collection chamber having the cascade spinner at one end, in which event the or each duct is generally located in a side wall of the chamber.
• One or more of the ducts may be in the roof of the collection chamber.
• One or more ducts may be in the base of the chamber, for instance discharging upwardly from a position between the spinner and the start of the conveyor collector.
• the or each stream is generally discharged from the duct along an axis that intersects the front of the cascade spinner.
• the or each stream is ejected at an angle which is generally 100-180°, usually 100-160° and preferably 110 to 140° to the direction of travel of the cloud away from the rotor and/or the axis of the rotor.
• the cascade spinner has first, second, third and fourth rotors arranged in conventional configuration, it is particularly preferred that at least one stream of particulate additive should be directed towards the fourth rotor. If there is more than one stream of particulate additive, preferably at least 30%, most preferably at least 50% and often at least 70% by weight of the additive should be added by one or more streams that are directed towards the fourth rotor. Any other streams are preferably directed towards the third rotor. If there is more than one cascade spinner, streams may be directed towards each fourth (or third and fourth) rotor.
• the surface of the web which is being collected is not flat, for instance carrying a ridge due to excess particulate additive in a narrow region of the collector.
• the duct for instance its orientation towards the fourth rotor and optionally also towards the third rotor and/or its distance from the rotor, it will easily be found that there is an orientation at which the particulate additive is distributed uniformly into the cloud and the web acquires a uniform smooth appearance.
• the distance of the duct outlet from the rotor is generally limited by the design of the apparatus to, for instance, below 7m.
• Reducing the distance to, for instance, below 3m generally improves mixing but if the duct outlet is too close to the rotor (e.g., below lm) there is a risk that the duct may interfere with formation and transport of fibres and so a distance of 1.5 to 3m is generally preferred.
• binder may be sprayed into the cloud of fibres in conventional manner.
• the binder added in this manner may be adequate for bonding the particulate additive into the web but it may be desirable to spray binder into the stream of particulate additive as it emerges from its duct outlet.
• the amount of particulate additive can be as much as 50% or more based on the weight of MMV fibres. Often it is in the range 10 to 50% based on the weight of fibres.
• the preferred particulate additive is recycled mineral wool, generally in the form of small tufts of waste bonded MMVF wool.
• the tuft size is generally below 25mm and often below 10mm. Generally the tufts are above 1mm and often above 5mm.
• particulate additives that can be added in similar manner can be fine or coarse and include clay, perlite, vermiculite, pigments, magnesium hydroxide, aluminium hydrate or any other additive useful to render the product suitable for any of the known MMVF uses such as fire insulation and protection, thermal insulation, noise reduction and regulation, construction, horticultural media or reinforcement or filler.
• the web is collected on the conveyor or other collector in conventional manner and is carried off this and is subjected to conventional post treatments such as lamination, compression and curing so as to make a fibre product having the desired final properties.
• Lightweight products typically having a density in the range 10 to 50kg/m can easily include 5 to 30%, often around 15 to 25% recycled fibre based on the weight of fibre formed from melt in the process without any significant change in the properties of the product.
• Heavy products for instance having a density of 50 to 300kg/m , can include 10 to 60%, often around 35 to 50% recycled fibre whereas prior processes have resulted in deterioration of properties if more than about 15 or 20% recycled fibre is incorporated by conventional techniques.
• the products all appear visually uniform. They are novel.
• the velocity of the additive particles, at the time at which they are blasted out of the duct utlets or other means for discharging them into the c _d of fibres is generally at least 10 metres per second and is preferably at least 20 metres per second. It is usually unnecessary for it to be above 60 metres per second, and it is usually below 40 metres per second.
• Figure 1 is a diagrammatic cross section of an apparatus by which the invention can be performed and Figure 2 is a plan view of the apparatus of Figure 1.
• the apparatus comprises a cascade spinner 1 mounted in the end 2 of a spinning chamber 3.
• the spinning chamber has a roof 4 and side walls 5 and 6. Its base is defined by an inclined conveyor 7.
• the cascade spinner has a first or top rotor 9 arranged to throw melt on to a second rotor 10. Some of the melt is thrown off rotor 10 as fibres while the remainder is thrown on to third rotor 11. Some of this melt is thrown off as fibres while the remainder is thrown on to fourth rotor 12, off which it is thrown as fibres.
• Any suitable arrangement for the cascade spinner can be used, and the spinner may be provided with means for supplying air jets close to the spinner, for instance all as described in WO92/06047.
• melt is poured on to the top rotor while air is sucked through the conveyor 7 and is blown from the cascade spinner through slots (not shown) around the rotors and optionally also is blown through the end wall 2.
• Fibres thrown off the rotors are carried in the form of a cloud towards the conveyor 7.
• the cloud is somewhat conical and is approximately confined within the area marked by the dashed lines 13, 14 and 15. It will be seen that the bottom of the cloud is defined by line 13 making an angle of, for instance, 5 to 20°, typically about 10°, to the axis of the cascade spinner.
• the top of the cloud is defined by line 14 at an angle of around 45 to 65°, typically around 55°, to the axis of the spinner.
• the sides of the cloud are defined by line 15 making an angle typically of 30 to 55°, often around 40 to 45°, to the axis of the spinner.
• the air stream carries the fibres in the cloud on to the conveyor 7 where the air is sucked through the conveyor and the fibres are deposited as a web.
• the conveyor 7 moves continuously upwardly and the web is taken off the conveyor at the top roller 16.
• Binder is blown into the cloud in conventional manner, for instance from binder sprays mounted on the axis of one or more of the rotors and/or from other sprays mounted around the front face 17 of the cascade spinner or elsewhere in the chamber in conventional manner. Waste bonded recycled wool is broken into tufts and is recycled into the spinning chamber. If it is merely dropped in through the roof of the chamber even quite small amounts (for instance 10% based on the weight of wool formed from the rotors 9 to 12) results in visible non- uniformity of the web on the conveyor 7.
• each duct 18 terminating in a duct outlet 19 located in a corresponding aperture 20 in the side wall 5 or 6 or in the roof of the chamber at a position about 2-2.5 metres from the front of the rotors.
• Each duct is positioned at an angle of about 100 to 160°, preferably around 120 to 140°, to the axis of the cascade spinner and to the general direction of travel of the cloud from the spinner towards the conveyor.
• a binder spray 21 may be provided between the duct outlet 19 and the spinning chamber positioned to spray binder across the duct outlet so as to wet all material entering the spinning chamber from the duct 18.
• the or each duct 18 is oriented so that its axis 22 intercepts the face 17 of the cascade spinner and preferably so that it intercepts the area of rotor 12 and/or rotor 11. Preferably the axis of the or each duct intercepts the area of rotor 12, the fourth rotor in the cascade spinner. If the cascade spinner only has three rotors, then the axis of the or each duct should preferably intercept the area of the third rotor.
• tufts of bonded mineral wool having a tuft size of about 5 to 20mm are blown in through the ducts at a speed of about 25m/s.
• the amount of air that is blown in through the ducts is sufficient to entrain the tufts and is about 1% of the total amount of air drawn through the spinning chamber.
• the ducts are mounted in the walls of the chamber such that their vertical and horizontal angular orientations can easily be adjusted, since the operator can then select an orientation which can be seen to be giving the roost uniform deposition on the conveyor 7.

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• 1996
  • 1996-02-28 GB GBGB9604240.3A patent/GB9604240D0/en active Pending
• 1997
  • 1997-02-27 HU HU9900677A patent/HUP9900677A3/hu unknown
  • 1997-02-27 WO PCT/EP1997/000947 patent/WO1997032068A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1997-02-27 EP EP97905104A patent/EP0883707A1/de not_active Ceased
  • 1997-02-27 AU AU18779/97A patent/AU1877997A/en not_active Abandoned

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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