JP2013119675A - Method for treating binder used in manufacturing of glass chopped strand mat, method for regenerating binder, and apparatus for manufacturing glass chopped strand mat - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for treating a binder, capable of stably treating a binder containing a large amount of water, which is recovered during the manufacturing of a glass chopped strand mat.SOLUTION: In a method for treating a binder A1 used in the manufacturing of a glass chopped strand mat M which is obtained by molding glass chopped strands S into a sheet form, a water-containing binder A2 containing 10-60% of water, which is recovered without adhering to the glass chopped strands S when the binder A1 is sprayed onto the glass chopped strands S in a wet state, is subjected to the treatment. In the treatment, a water content in the water-containing binder A2 is adjusted to 3-9% by centrifugal separation.

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for treating a binder used in the production of a glass chopped strand mat formed by forming a glass chopped strand into a sheet, a method for regenerating the binder, and an apparatus for producing a glass chopped strand mat.

  Glass chopped strand mats are conventionally used as reinforcing materials for glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) molded products such as bathtubs and septic tanks. In addition, an automobile-molded ceiling material that has been adopted as a reinforcing base material for automobile-molded ceiling materials and in which glass chopped strand mats are bonded to both surfaces of a polyurethane foam sheet has been developed. In recent years, the weight of automobiles has been reduced, and the weight of automobile molded ceiling materials has been required to be reduced. Therefore, there is an increasing demand for glass chopped strand mats with a small basis weight that reduce the amount of glass chopped strands used as raw materials.

  In order to produce a glass chopped strand mat, first, glass fibers are cut into a predetermined length to obtain glass chopped strands. Next, the glass chopped strand is dispersed on a conveying means such as a conveyor and deposited in a sheet form. This glass chopped strand goes through a plurality of steps while being conveyed by a conveyor. For example, a step of spraying water on a glass chopped strand, a step of spraying a binder on the glass chopped strand, a step of heating the glass chopped strand with the binder attached thereto, and cooling and pressing the glass chopped strand after heating. Process. By executing the step of spraying water before the step of spraying the binder onto the glass chopped strand, the glass chopped strand is preliminarily wetted with water. Then, the binder easily adheres to the surface of the glass chopped strand by the action of the surface tension of water. As a result, in the subsequent step of heating the glass chopped strands, the bonding effect between the glass chopped strands is increased, and a glass chopped strand mat having excellent strength can be produced. The glass chopped strand mat completed through these steps is wound around a winding core by a winder or the like so as to be rolled, and then shipped.

  However, not all the binders adhere to the glass chopped strands in the step of spreading the binder onto the glass chopped strands. A part of the binder passes through the gap between the glass chopped strands and falls downward from the mesh of the net-like conveyor. In particular, when a glass chopped strand mat having a small basis weight is produced, the density and thickness of the glass chopped strands are reduced, so that the gap between the glass chopped strands is increased. As a result, the proportion of the binder that does not adhere to the glass chopped strands and falls below the conveyor tends to increase.

  If all of the binder that has fallen below the conveyor is discarded, a large amount of industrial waste is generated. Therefore, a collection container is installed below the glass chopped strand mounting surface on the conveyor, and the binder that has dropped through the gaps between the glass chopped strands and the mesh of the conveyor is collected, and is reused in the manufacturing process of the glass chopped strand mat. It is being used. Thereby, since the generation amount of industrial waste is reduced, it is possible to contribute to environmental conservation. Moreover, since the usage-amount of a binder can be saved, the manufacturing cost of a glass chopped strand mat can be reduced.

  The binder that does not adhere to the glass chopped strands and falls below the conveyor passes through the gaps between the glass chopped strands in a wet state, and thus is wet with water. The binder wetted by the water dropped below the conveyor (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “water-containing binder”) aggregates to form a block (floc). Since the water-containing binder in such a mass does not easily disperse, it is difficult to uniformly disperse it onto the glass chopped strands even if it is returned to the binder spreader as it is. Even if the water-containing binder is forcibly jetted using high-pressure air or the like, it is difficult to completely disperse the water-containing binder, resulting in uneven adhesion. Therefore, in order to reuse the water-containing binder, it is necessary to remove moisture from the water-containing binder.

  Conventionally, among the binders sprayed on the glass chopped strands, the wet binder that did not adhere to the glass chopped strands is recovered, and the recovered binder is dried as it is under reduced pressure and then sprayed onto the glass chopped strands. There was a manufacturing method of a glass chopped strand mat to be reused as (see, for example, Patent Document 1). According to Patent Document 1, since drying under reduced pressure is performed, the binder particles are not softened and do not aggregate in a lump shape.

JP 2009-256866 A

  In the method for producing a glass chopped strand mat of Patent Document 1, a wet binder is directly dried under reduced pressure. For this reason, when the total water content contained in the binder is small, the drying time is not so much, but when the total water content contained in the binder is large, a relatively long drying time is required. That is, the drying time varies depending on the moisture content of the binder to be dried and the amount of the binder. For this reason, it is difficult for the manufacturing method of Patent Document 1 to perform a stable drying process. In addition, if the moisture content of the binder before drying varies, the moisture content of the binder after drying may also vary. In particular, in the production of a glass chopped strand mat with a small basis weight, as described above, the binder does not adhere to the glass chopped strand mat and easily falls below the conveyor. If it does so, many binders used as drying object will be collect | recovered and long time will be required for decompression drying. In addition, since drying under reduced pressure requires a relatively large energy cost, it is desirable to reduce the total amount of water contained in the binder before drying as much as possible.

  There is a method of removing the moisture of the binder wetted by sun drying, but it takes a long time to completely dry the binder. In the sun drying, the progress of drying varies depending on the arrangement of the binder and the way of sunlight, and it is greatly affected by the climate, so that it cannot be stably and efficiently dried.

  Thus, in the present situation, a method for treating a binder capable of adjusting the moisture content of the binder used in the production of the glass chopped strand mat to a constant, efficient and reliable has not been developed yet. . This invention is made | formed in view of the said problem, and provides the processing method of the binder which can process stably the binder containing many moisture collect | recovered at the time of manufacture of a glass chopped strand mat. For the purpose. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for regenerating a binder performed by using the above processing method and a glass chopped strand mat manufacturing apparatus.

The characteristic composition of the processing method of the binder used for manufacture of the glass chopped strand mat concerning the present invention for solving the above-mentioned subject,
A method for treating a binder used for manufacturing a glass chopped strand mat formed by forming a glass chopped strand into a sheet,
When the binder is sprayed on the glass chopped strands in a wet state, the water-containing binder containing 10-60% water recovered without adhering to the glass chopped strands is treated,
It is to include a dehydration step of adjusting the water content to 3 to 9% by centrifugation.

As described in the above problem, conventionally, the water-containing binder generated in the manufacturing process of the glass chopped strand mat is regenerated into a reusable binder (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “regenerated binder”). It has been difficult to obtain a high-quality regenerated binder that requires a long drying process and has a low moisture content and falls within a certain range. This is because the binder having a large moisture content and its variation was dried as it was without any pretreatment. That is, in the prior art, the technical idea of drying after adjusting the moisture content of the binder to a predetermined range was not seen.
In this regard, in the processing method of the binder used for manufacturing the glass chopped strand mat of the present configuration, when the binder is sprayed on the glass chopped strand in a wet state, it was recovered without adhering to the glass chopped strand. A dehydration step is performed in which a water-containing binder containing water of ˜60% is treated, and the water-containing binder is adjusted to a water content of 3 to 9% by centrifugation. Thus, even when the water content of the recovered water-containing binder is large and the water content varies, it can be adjusted to a constant low water content before drying. Here, since the dehydration step performs high-speed dehydration by centrifugation, the dehydration operation can be completed in a short time. A binder whose water content is adjusted to 3 to 9% by a dehydration step (this may be referred to as “dehydrated binder”) is then dried using a drying means such as a vacuum dryer, thereby binding the binder. As a result, a recyclable binder having a water content of less than 1% can be obtained.
Thus, with the binder processing method of this configuration, the water content of the water-containing binder can be adjusted to be constant, efficient and reliable. The present invention is particularly effective when producing a glass chopped strand mat with a small basis weight. A large amount of binder to be regenerated is recovered and the amount of water in the entire binder increases, but the subsequent drying is facilitated by performing the dehydration step in advance.

In the processing method of the binder used for the production of the glass chopped strand mat of the present invention,
In the dehydration step, it is preferable to perform centrifugation at 500 to 3000 rpm.

  In the processing method of the binder used for manufacture of the glass chopped strand mat of this structure, centrifugation is performed at 500-3000 rpm in a dehydration process. When centrifugation is performed at less than 500 rpm, the water-containing binder may be insufficiently dehydrated, and even if dehydration is possible, a long time is required for the treatment. Even if the centrifugal separation is performed at a higher rotation than 3000 rpm, the dehydration effect is not significantly improved. In order to realize high-speed centrifugation, it is necessary to use a high-rotation type motor, which can increase the cost of the apparatus. Therefore, it is preferable to perform centrifugation at 500 to 3000 rpm. Thereby, a water-containing binder can be reliably adjusted to a water content of 3 to 9% in a short time.

In order to solve the above problems, the characteristic configuration of the method of regenerating a binder according to the present invention is
In the method for treating the binder, the binder obtained through the dehydration step is dried to produce a regenerated binder having a water content of less than 1%.

  In the binder regeneration method of this configuration, the binder obtained through the dehydration step in the above-described binder treatment method is dried to produce a regenerated binder having a water content of less than 1%. Since the regenerated binder thus obtained can be easily dispersed without the binders agglomerating together, it can be uniformly adhered to the glass chopped strands by spraying.

The characteristic configuration of the glass chopped strand mat manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention for solving the above problems is as follows.
An apparatus for producing a glass chopped strand mat formed by forming a glass chopped strand into a sheet,
Spraying means for spraying a binder to the glass chopped strands in a wet state;
Recovery means for recovering the binder that did not adhere to the glass chopped strand as a water-containing binder containing 10 to 60% water,
Dehydration means for adjusting the water content of the water-containing binder to 3 to 9% by centrifugation;
A drying means for drying and regenerating the dehydrated binder to a moisture content of less than 1%;
With
The recycled binder obtained by drying is reused as the binder used in the spraying means.

Since the apparatus for manufacturing a glass chopped strand mat having this configuration performs the above-described binder treatment method and regeneration method, the water content of the recovered water-containing binder is large and the water content varies. Even in this case, the moisture content can be adjusted to a certain low level before drying. Here, since the dewatering means performs high-speed dewatering by centrifugation, the dewatering operation can be completed in a short time. A water-containing binder containing 10 to 60% of water is adjusted to a water content of 3 to 9% by dehydration means, and then dried using a drying means, so that the water content can be reused as a binder 1%. Less regenerated binder is obtained.
Thus, in the manufacturing apparatus of the glass chopped strand mat of this configuration, the water content of the water-containing binder can be adjusted to be constant, efficient and reliable. The present invention is particularly effective when producing a glass chopped strand mat with a small basis weight. A large amount of the binder to be regenerated is recovered and the amount of water in the whole binder increases, but drying is facilitated by performing dehydration in advance by dehydration means.

In the apparatus for producing a glass chopped strand mat of the present invention,
When performing the centrifugation by the dehydrating means, a filter for promoting dehydration of the water-containing binder is used in combination.

  In the glass chopped strand mat manufacturing apparatus of this configuration, when performing the centrifugal separation by the dehydrating means, a filter for promoting the dehydration of the water-containing binder is used together, so that the dehydrating means can be prevented from being clogged. In addition, the dehydrated binder that has been subjected to centrifugation can be easily recovered simply by removing it from the filter, so that the recovery rate is good, and the dehydrating means is not contaminated, and maintenance is easy.

In the apparatus for producing a glass chopped strand mat of the present invention,
The filter has an opening of 2 to 500 μm.

  In the manufacturing apparatus of the glass chopped strand mat of this configuration, the opening of the filter is 2 to 500 μm. When the aperture of the filter is less than 2 μm, it is difficult for the water separated from the water-containing binder to pass through the filter, so that dehydration may take a long time or may be insufficient. When the opening of the filter is larger than 500 μm, the binder may fall out of the filter.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an overall configuration of a glass chopped strand mat manufacturing apparatus. FIG. 2 is a process diagram illustrating a procedure for treating and regenerating a binder used in the manufacture of a glass chopped strand mat.

  Hereinafter, the processing method of the binder used for manufacturing the glass chopped strand mat M of the present invention, the method of regenerating the binder, and the apparatus for manufacturing the glass chopped strand mat M will be described with reference to FIGS. For convenience of explanation, the manufacturing method of the glass chopped strand mat M will be described together with the apparatus for manufacturing the glass chopped strand mat M of the present invention, and then the binder used for manufacturing the glass chopped strand mat M of the present invention will be described. The processing method and the binder regeneration method will be described. However, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the configurations described in the embodiments and drawings described below.

[Glass chopped strand mat manufacturing equipment]
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an overall configuration of a manufacturing apparatus (hereinafter simply referred to as “manufacturing apparatus”) 100 of a glass chopped strand mat M. A region X surrounded by a dotted line in FIG. 1 is a main part of the manufacturing apparatus 100, and includes a binder sprayer 1 for spraying a binder A1 described later, and a recovery container 2 from which the water-containing binder A2 falls. FIG. 2 shows a procedure for processing and regenerating the water-containing binder A2 recovered from the recovery container 2 of the main part X together with the main part X of the manufacturing apparatus 100. The production apparatus 100 is an apparatus for producing a glass chopped strand mat M from glass chopped strands, and includes a chamber 10, a cutting machine 20, a dispersion conveyor 30, a water sprayer 40, a binder spreader 1, a first conveyor 50, The collection container 2, the second conveyor 60, the heating furnace 70, the cold pressure roll 80, the winder 90, and the like are provided. The manufacturing apparatus 100 also includes a centrifuge 3 and a vacuum dryer 4 for processing and regenerating the water-containing binder A2 recovered in the recovery container 2. Among these configurations, the binder spreader 1, the collection container 2, the centrifuge 3, and the vacuum dryer 4 have the unique features of the present invention, and are essential for the present invention.

  If the conveyance direction of the glass chopped strand is defined as the flow direction, the dispersion conveyor 30, the first conveyor 50, and the second conveyor 60 are continuously installed from the upstream side to the downstream side in this order. A belt is wound around each conveyor, but a net-like belt is wound around at least the first conveyor 50. Each conveyor is driven by a motor D, respectively. The computer 11 as a control means controls each conveyance speed (belt moving speed) and the like. However, the operator may appropriately adjust the conveyance speed of each conveyor by manual operation.

  The dispersion conveyor 30 includes a belt for dispersing and arranging the glass chopped strands, and is installed below the chamber 10 that accommodates the glass chopped strands. A cutting machine 20 for cutting a glass fiber F, which will be described later, is attached to a glass fiber inlet 10 a provided in the ceiling of the chamber 10. The cutting machine 20 includes a cutter roller 21 and a rubber roller 22. The glass fiber F drawn from the glass cake C is fed between the rotating cutter roller 21 and the rubber roller 22 and continuously cut, so that a glass chopped strand S having a length of about 50 mm is generated. The The glass chopped strands S fall in the chamber 10 due to gravity and are distributed substantially uniformly on the belt of the dispersion conveyor 30. A suction device 33 including a suction duct 31 and a blower 32 is disposed below the belt on which the glass chopped strands S are deposited, and the belt is maintained in a negative pressure state. As a result, the glass chopped strands S are sucked and stabilized by the belt surface in a state where the glass chopped strands S are substantially uniformly distributed on the belt of the dispersion conveyor 30 and do not scatter around. The glass chopped strand S is conveyed from the dispersion conveyor 30 to the first conveyor 50.

  A water sprayer 40 is installed above the first conveyor 50 and sprays water toward the glass chopped strand S on the belt of the first conveyor 50. The binder spreader 1 is installed above the first conveyor 50 and downstream of the water sprayer 40, and the binder A1 (resin powder) is directed toward the glass chopped strand S on the belt of the first conveyor 50. And spray. As a kind of binder A1, thermoplastic resin powder is suitable, For example, powder polyester resin (Kano Co., Ltd. new track 514 etc.) can be used. In addition, examples of usable thermoplastic resin powder include resin powders such as nylon, polyethylene, polystyrene, polypropylene, and polyvinyl chloride. The size (diameter) of the binder A1 is preferably 10 μm to 500 μm. Since the glass chopped strand S sprayed with water by the water sprayer 40 is in a wet state, the binder A1 easily adheres to the glass chopped strand S due to surface tension by spraying the binder A1 thereafter.

  Here, when the glass chopped strand mat M is a product with a small basis weight, the density and the thickness of the glass chopped strand S are reduced, so that the gap between the glass chopped strands S is increased. As a result, the binder A1 sprinkled from the binder spreader 1 does not adhere to the glass chopped strand S and easily passes through the net belt and falls downward. Therefore, the collection container 2 is installed below the placement surface of the glass chopped strand S on the first conveyor 50, and the water content dropped from the mesh of the net belt of the first conveyor 50 without adhering to the glass chopped strand S. Binder A2 is recovered. Since the water-containing binder A2 has passed through the gaps between the glass chopped strands in a wet state, the water-containing binder A2 is wet with water and contains 10 to 60% of water. In addition, all the water content (water content) demonstrated hereafter is represented as weight%. The collection container 2 has a water-resistant box shape and is open at the top. The size of the recovery container 2 is approximately the same width as the first conveyor 50 or a slightly larger width so that the dropped water-containing binder A2 can be recovered as much as possible, and the binder A1 spraying area by the binder sprayer 1 It is configured to be long enough to cover.

  A heating furnace 70 is installed in the middle of the second conveyor 60 so as to enclose the belt, and an object that is placed on the second conveyor 60 and enters the heating furnace 70 is heated. The atmospheric temperature in the heating furnace 70 is controlled by the computer 11, and is appropriately adjusted so that the temperature is equal to or higher than the melting point of the synthetic resin constituting the binder A1 according to the type of the binder A1 to be dispersed. However, it is also possible for an operator to adjust the temperature of the heating furnace 70 by manual operation. Since the belt of the second conveyor 60 is exposed to a high temperature, it is made of a heat resistant material such as metal.

  A cold pressure roll 80 is disposed downstream of the second conveyor 60, and the heated object is pressed while being cooled. The cold pressure roll 80 is composed of a pair of rolls. The glass chopped strand S ′ (hereinafter referred to as “S ′ after heating to distinguish it from the glass chopped strand S before heating”) to which the binder A1 in the molten state is adhered is conveyed to the cold pressure roll 80, Pass between nips. The glass chopped strands S ′ are cooled and pressed by passing through the cold pressure roll 80, and the glass chopped strands S ′ are bonded to each other. Thereby, the glass chopped strand mat M is generated. Although the cold pressure roll 80 cools the glass chopped strands S ′ by air cooling, forced cooling may be performed by passing cooling water through the roll.

  The glass chopped strand mat M generated by passing through the cold pressure roll 80 is wound around the core of the winder 90 to form a roll-shaped product. The winder 90 may be of a type that winds while rotating the glass chopped strand mat M on the roll surface by a surface roll in addition to the type wound on the core.

  In addition to the above-described configuration, the manufacturing apparatus 100 is provided with a centrifuge 3 as a dehydrating unit and a vacuum dryer 4 as a drying unit. The centrifuge 3 includes an inner tank 3a and an outer tank 3b. An object containing moisture is put into the inner tank 3a, and the inner tank 3a is rotated to temporarily store the moisture released from the object in the outer tank 3b. obtain. The water-containing binder A2 that has fallen into the collection container 2 is dehydrated by the centrifuge 3. The water content of the water-containing binder A2 is initially 10 to 60%, but becomes a dehydrated binder A3 whose water content is adjusted to 3 to 9% by dehydration.

  When performing the centrifugation, it is preferable to use the filter R together in order to promote dehydration of the water-containing binder A2. The water-containing binder A2 recovered in the recovery step is accommodated in the bag-shaped filter R, and the filter R is put into the centrifuge 3. By using the filter R in combination, the centrifuge 3 can be prevented from being clogged with the water-containing binder A2. Further, the dehydrated binder A3 that has been subjected to the centrifugation can be easily recovered simply by taking it out of the filter R, so that the recovery rate is good, and further, the centrifuge 3 is not contaminated, and maintenance is easy. As a material of the filter R, polypropylene, polyester, nylon, cotton, cellulose acetate, nitrocellulose, metal, PTFE, or the like can be used. In addition, you may perform centrifugation in the state which attached the filter paper or the filter cloth along the inner tank 3a of the centrifuge 3, without using the bag-shaped filter R. FIG.

  Since the binder A1 is a thermoplastic resin powder and its water absorption is not so high, the size of the recovered water-containing binder A2 can be regarded as substantially the same as the size of the binder A1. Therefore, the size (diameter) of the water-containing binder A2 is about 10 μm to 500 μm. In this case, it is preferable to use a filter R having an opening of 2 to 500 μm. When the opening of the filter R is less than 2 μm, it is difficult for the water separated from the water-containing binder A2 to pass through the filter R, so that dehydration takes a long time or the dehydration becomes insufficient. When the opening of the filter R is larger than 500 μm, the water-containing binder A2 may fall off from the filter R.

  When the dehydration is completed, the dehydrated binder A3 is taken out from the centrifuge 3 and dried in the vacuum dryer 4. The vacuum dryer 4 includes a drying chamber 4a and a pump 4b, and drying is performed by reducing the internal pressure of the drying chamber 4a with the pump 4b. After drying, regenerated binder A4 having a moisture content of less than 1% is obtained. The regenerated binder A4 can be put into the binder spreader 1 together with the unused binder A1, and can be reused as the binder A1.

[Production method of glass chopped strand mat]
The glass chopped strand mat M is manufactured by a glass chopped strand preparation step, a dispersion arrangement step, a water spraying step, a binder spraying step, a heating step, a cold pressure step, and a winding step. The manufacturing method corresponds to the manufacturing of a glass chopped strand mat with a small basis weight, which has been increasing in demand in recent years. Hereinafter, each process will be described.

<Preparation process of glass chopped strand>
A glass chopped strand S is prepared from the glass fiber F as a pre-stage for producing the glass chopped strand mat M. The glass fiber F drawn from the glass cake C is cut into a length of about 50 mm by a cutting machine 20 installed on the ceiling of the chamber 10 to become a glass chopped strand S. The preparation of the glass chopped strand S does not need to be performed immediately before the production of the glass chopped strand mat M, and a previously produced one may be used. In that case, for example, the glass chopped strand S stored in a container such as a flexible container is directly put into the chamber 10.

<Distributed placement process>
The glass chopped strands S obtained in the glass chopped strand preparation step are dispersedly arranged on the belt of the dispersion conveyor 30. The glass chopped strands S on the belt of the dispersion conveyor 30 are conveyed to the downstream next process in a state where they are accumulated in a sheet shape.

<Water spray process>
The glass chopped strand S deposited in a sheet shape moves to the first conveyor 50. In the 1st conveyor 50, water is sprayed toward the glass chopped strand S on a belt. In FIG. 1, water is sprayed from above the first conveyor 50, but water may be sprayed from below. When the glass chopped strand S is previously wetted with water, the bonding effect between the glass chopped strands S increases because the binder A1 is easily attached to the surface of the glass chopped strand S due to the surface tension of water. .

<Binder spraying process>
Next, on the first conveyor 50, the binder A1 is sprayed toward the glass chopped strand S that has become wet by the water spraying process. By adding the binder A1 to the glass chopped strands S, the glass chopped strands S are bonded to each other and the shape of the mat can be maintained by performing the heat treatment described below. However, not all of the binder A1 adheres to the glass chopped strand S in the binder spraying step. A part of the binder A1 passes through the gap between the glass chopped strands S and falls downward from the mesh of the net-like first conveyor 50. Since the binder dropped downward from the first conveyor 50 contains 10 to 60% of moisture, the binder moves to the “recovery process” described in “Binder processing method” described later as the water-containing binder A2. The glass chopped strand S to which the binder A1 on the first conveyor 50 is uniformly attached is conveyed to the second conveyor 60 downstream.

<Heating process>
The glass chopped strand S to which the binder A1 placed on the second conveyor 60 adheres is heated when passing through the heating furnace 70, and the binder A1 is softened and melted. As a result, a glass chopped strand S ′ in a state where the glass chopped strands S are bonded to each other is obtained.

<Cold pressure process>
The cold pressure process is performed by passing the heat-treated glass chopped strand S ′ through a cold pressure roll 80 installed downstream of the second conveyor 60. The glass chopped strand S ′ is cooled and pressed by a cold pressure roll 80 and processed into a glass chopped strand mat M.

<Winding process>
Finally, a winding process for winding the glass chopped strand mat M is performed in the winder 90 installed at the subsequent stage of the cold pressure roll 80. The glass chopped strand mat M is wound around the core of the winder 90 to form a roll product.

[Binder treatment method]
In the binder spraying step, the binder A1 that has passed through the gaps of the glass chopped strands S without being attached to the glass chopped strands S and dropped downward from the mesh of the net-like first conveyor 50 is obtained by the following recovery step: And processed by a dehydration step. Among these steps, the dehydration step has a characteristic characteristic of the present invention and is an essential step in the present invention.

<Recovery process>
The collection container 2 is installed below the placement surface of the glass chopped strand S on the first conveyor 50. Of the binder A1 sprayed in the above-mentioned binder spraying step, the water-containing binder A2 that has passed through the gaps of the glass chopped strands S without adhering to the glass chopped strands S on the first conveyor 50 is a net-like binder. It falls into the collection container 2 from the mesh of the first conveyor 50 and is collected. The water-containing binder A2 contains moisture because it has passed through the gaps between the glass chopped strands S in a wet state by the water sprayed from the water sprayer 40. The water content of the water-containing binder A2 is 10 to 60%. Although a part of the water contained in the water-containing binder A2 is absorbed by the particles of the water-containing binder A2, most of the water is attached to the surface of the water-containing binder A2. When the water-containing binder A2 is accumulated to some extent in the collection container 2, the water-containing binder A2 is taken out from the collection container 2, and the process proceeds to the subsequent dehydration step. In addition, after performing a collection | recovery process in multiple times and collect | recovering water | moisture-content binder A2 for several times to another container etc. once, you may transfer to a dehydration process collectively.

<Dehydration process>
The recovered water-containing binder A2 is adjusted in water content in the dehydration step. In the case of manufacturing a glass chopped strand mat M with a small basis weight as in the present embodiment, the density and thickness of the glass chopped strands S are reduced, so that the gap between the glass chopped strands S is increased. If it does so, the ratio of the water-containing binder A2 which does not adhere to the glass chopped strand S but falls below the 1st conveyor 50 will become high, and much water-containing binder A2 used as reproduction | regeneration objects will be collect | recovered. As a result, the water content of the entire binder increases. Therefore, by performing the dehydration step in advance and adjusting the moisture content to 3 to 9%, the drying step in the “binder regeneration method” described later becomes easy. The dehydration step is executed by the centrifuge 3 which is a dehydrating unit. Since the centrifugal separator 3 can perform high-speed dehydration, the dehydration operation can be completed in a short time. Even when the water content of the water-containing binder A2 is as high as 10 to 60% and the water content varies, as in this embodiment, the water content of the water-containing binder A2 can be obtained by performing the dehydration step by centrifugation. Can be adjusted in a constant, efficient and reliable manner. In addition, although the water | moisture content isolate | separated from the water-containing binder A2 is drained, you may reuse this in a water spray process.

  In the dehydration step, centrifugation is performed at a rotational speed of 500 to 3000 rpm. When the rotational speed of the centrifugal separation is less than 500 rpm, the water-containing binder A2 may be insufficiently dehydrated, and even if dehydration is possible, the treatment takes a long time. Even if the centrifugal separation is performed at a higher rotation than 3000 rpm, the dehydration effect is not significantly improved. In order to realize high-speed centrifugation, it is necessary to use a high-rotation type motor, which can increase the cost of the apparatus. Therefore, it is preferable to perform centrifugation at 500 to 3000 rpm. Thereby, the water-containing binder A2 can be reliably adjusted to a water content of 3 to 9% in a short time. A more preferable rotation speed is 1000 to 2000 rpm.

  As described above, the water-containing binder A2 having a water content of 10 to 60% recovered in the recovery process becomes the dehydrated binder A3 having a water content of 3 to 9% through the dehydration process. After the dehydrated binder A3 is taken out from the centrifuge 3, the dehydrated binder A3 proceeds to the “drying step” described in the next “binder regeneration method”.

[Binder regeneration method]
The binder regeneration method according to this embodiment further executes a drying step after the binder treatment method.

<Drying process>
In the drying step, the dehydrated binder A3 having a water content of 3 to 9% after the dehydration step is dried and adjusted so that the water content is further lowered. Thereby, the regenerated binder A4 having a water content of less than 1%, which can be reused as the binder A1 used in the method for producing the glass chopped strand mat M, is obtained. Although the drying process in this embodiment is performed by the reduced pressure dryer 4, it may be performed by sun drying or the like. Usually, drying by the vacuum dryer 4 or sun drying requires a relatively long time, and the moisture content of the binder after drying tends to vary. However, in the present invention, since the dehydration step is performed in advance, the dehydrated binder A3 is treated to a low moisture content (3 to 9%) within a certain range, and the regenerated binder A4 having a moisture content of less than 1% is reliably generated. It becomes possible. The regenerated binder A4 thus obtained can be easily dispersed without causing the binders to agglomerate together, so that the regenerated binder A4 can be uniformly attached to the glass chopped strands. The regenerated binder A4 has a quality comparable to that of the unused binder A1.

  The processing method of the binder used for the production of the glass chopped strand mat of the present invention, and the method of regenerating the binder are as follows. Although it is particularly effective for the treatment and regeneration, it is naturally applicable to the treatment and regeneration of the water-containing binder generated during the production of a normal glass chopped strand mat based on JIS standards. Moreover, the glass chopped strand mat obtained by the glass chopped strand mat manufacturing apparatus of the present invention can be used for, for example, automobile molded ceiling materials, interior materials for vehicles other than automobiles, interior materials for buildings, and the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Binder disperser 2 Collection container 3 Centrifugal separator 4 Vacuum dryer 10 Chamber 20 Cutting machine 30 Dispersion conveyor 40 Water spray machine 50 First conveyor 60 Second conveyor 70 Heating furnace 80 Cold pressure roll 90 Winding machine 100,200 Glass chopped strand mat manufacturing equipment F Glass fiber S, S 'Glass chopped strand A1 Binder (resin powder)
A2 Water-containing binder A3 Dehydrated binder A4 Regenerated binder M Glass chopped strand mat

Claims (6)

A method for treating a binder used for manufacturing a glass chopped strand mat formed by forming a glass chopped strand into a sheet,
When the binder is sprayed on the glass chopped strands in a wet state, the water-containing binder containing 10-60% water recovered without adhering to the glass chopped strands is treated,
A method for treating a binder comprising a dehydration step of adjusting the water content to 3 to 9% by centrifugation.   The method for treating a binder according to claim 1, wherein in the dehydration step, centrifugation is performed at 500 to 3000 rpm. The method of treating a binder according to claim 1 or 2,
A method for regenerating a binder, wherein the binder obtained through the dehydration step is dried to produce a regenerated binder having a water content of less than 1%. An apparatus for producing a glass chopped strand mat formed by forming a glass chopped strand into a sheet,
Spraying means for spraying a binder to the glass chopped strands in a wet state;
Recovery means for recovering the binder that did not adhere to the glass chopped strand as a water-containing binder containing 10 to 60% water,
Dehydration means for adjusting the water content of the water-containing binder to 3 to 9% by centrifugation;
A drying means for drying and regenerating the dehydrated binder to a moisture content of less than 1%;
With
An apparatus for producing a glass chopped strand mat, wherein a recycled binder obtained by drying is reused as the binder used in the spraying means.   The apparatus for producing a glass chopped strand mat according to claim 4, wherein a filter for promoting dehydration of the water-containing binder is used in combination when the centrifugal separation by the dehydrating means is performed.   The apparatus for producing a glass chopped strand mat according to claim 5, wherein the opening of the filter is 2 to 500 μm.