WO2016110547A1

WO2016110547A1 - A method to manufacture a textile product, a use thereof and a device for applying the method

Info

Publication number: WO2016110547A1
Application number: PCT/EP2016/050224
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chris Reutelingsperger
Original assignee: Dsm Ip Assets B.V.
Priority date: 2015-01-09
Filing date: 2016-01-07
Publication date: 2016-07-14
Also published as: US20180002863A1; AU2016206015A1; CN107208342A; EP3242969A1

Abstract

The invention pertains to a method to manufacture a textile product comprising a first sheet having polyester yarns fastened to this sheet to form a pile thereon, the method comprising providing the sheet, stitching the polyester yarns through the sheet to form the pile on a first surface of the sheet and loops of the yarns at a second surface of the sheet, contacting the second surface of the sheet with a surface of a hot body to at least partly melt the loops of the yarns to fasten the yarns to the sheet, wherein the second surface is actively cooled to force the temperature to be below the glass transition temperature of the polyester yarns within 60 seconds after the contacting of the second surface with the hot body. The invention also pertains to a device for applying this method.

Description

A METHOD TO MANUFACTURE A TEXTILE PRODUCT, A USE THEREOF AND A

DEVICE FOR APPLYING THE METHOD

GENERAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains to a method to manufacture a textile product comprising a first sheet having polyester yarns fastened to this sheet to form a pile thereon, the method comprising providing the sheet, stitching the polyester yarns through the sheet to form the pile on a first surface of the sheet and loops of the yarns at a second surface of the sheet (the second surface being opposite to the first surface), and contacting the second surface of the sheet with a surface of a hot body to at least partly melt the loops of the yarns to fasten the yarns to the sheet. The invention also pertains to a method to use a textile product obtained with the new method and a device for applying the said method. BACKGROUND ART

EP1598476 (Klieverik Heli) describes a method for manufacturing a textile product as indicated supra. In particular, the first sheet serves as a primary backing, which after the yarns have been fastened thereto, can act as an intermediate for making a carpet or other textile product, in which method the backing does not use a latex to anchor the yarns in place. The backing comprises a sheet with piles of thermoplastic yarns (also called fibres) stitched through the thickness of the sheet and protruding from its upper surface. At the lower surface the yarns form loops to provide for an intermediate anchoring of the yarns to the sheet (the yarns can still be removed easily by applying only a light pulling force by hand). The backing is then fed (yarn upwards) along a heated roller surface and its underside is pressed against the roller so the yarns will melt. Klieverik states that after cooling the yarns are firmly anchored to each other and the backing without the need for a latex polymer. One embodiment teaches that a thermoplastic adhesive (such as hot melt adhesive) may be applied additionally as a powder to the underside of the backing so the heated surface melts the yarns and adhesive together to create a good adhesion between the piles, the adhesive and the backing. In another embodiment pressure may be applied after heating (e.g. by a pressure roller) to the backing and piles in a direction perpendicular to the backing surface (i.e. from below) to smear the plasticised yarns together to enhance their mutual adhesion, thus allowing the heated roller to be held at a lower temperature, below that at which the yarns would fuse by heat alone. This method provides the advantage that the intermediate backing can be easily recycled since the yarns and backing sheet can be made from the same polymer. There is no

incompatible latex penetrated into the fibre piles. There is also saving in energy and raw material costs compared to prior art methods.

WO 2012/076348 (Niaga) describes a method for manufacturing textile products that even improves the anchor strength of the yarn. In this method when the first yarn bearing sheet is pressed against the heated surface, the relative speed of the sheet and surface are adjusted to provide an additional mechanical force between them in the machine direction (i.e. the direction of transport of the sheet) which spreads the material of the yarn whilst it is still molten resulting in a stronger bond between the first sheet and the yarn. Though in theory in many cases an additional secondary support layer may no longer be necessary, this document does teach that such a support layer may still be useful, especially if it comprises a reactive adhesive relying on thermally reversible reactions between reactive molecules present at the interface between the textile product and the carrier material.

A research disclosure (RD591084) was also published anonymously on 25 June 2013 describing certain methods for manufacturing carpets using a method as described here above in combination with polyester hot melt glues. WO

2014/198731 describes methods corresponding to the methods as known from this Research Disclosure.

WO 00/61853 describes a method for manufacturing a textile product wherein a heated body is brought in contact with the back surface of a primary backing provided with polyester yarns, and thereafter cool down the surface. It is not described that in the heating step, the polyesters yarns are melted. Next to this, the apparatus as described in WO 00/61853 applies a coating layer before the back surface is cooled down.

In many cases, a textile product as known from the art described here above will be glued to either a second sheet (as secondary backing, for example when manufacturing carpet tiles), or glued to a surface to be covered, such as a floor, the interior of a car, the interior of a boat or plane etc. It was found now that when polyester yarns are used, the gluing durability, all things being equal (same glue, same amount of glue per square meter etc.) is less then when for example polyamide yarns are used. Since polyester yarns are generally high in strength, have a high modulus, low shrinkage, great heat set stability, high light fastness and chemical resistance, and are relatively low price, they are used a lot in textile products. Therefore, adequate gluing properties are of the utmost importance.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved method to manufacture a textile product, which method results in adequate gluing properties when polyester yarns are used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to meet the object of the invention a method to manufacture a textile product as defined in the GENERAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION section has been devised, wherein the second surface is cooled, preferably actively cooled, to force the temperature to be below the glass transition temperature of the polyester yarns (i.e. the glass transition temperature of the polyester material constituting the yarns), preferably within 60 seconds after the contacting of the second surface with the hot body, or even within 59, 58, 57, 56, 55, 54, 53, 52, 51 , 50, 49, 48, 47, 46, 45, 44, 43, 42, 41 , 40, 39, 38, 37, 36, 35, 34, 33, 32, or 31 seconds.

Surprisingly, it was found that forced cooling of the second surface, such that its temperature is forced to drop below the glass transition temperature of the polyester yarns (i.e. below the glass transition of the polyester material used for constituting the yarns), a gluing property can be obtained which is the same as when using polyamide yarns. The reason for this is not 100% clear, but without being bound to theory, it is believed that the molten polyester, as long as this is above its glass transition temperature can rearrange to a structure that is less favourable for gluing the ultimate layer to a further sheet or other surface (for example from a relatively flat homogenous state, which is very advantageous for gluing, to a more discontinuous and/or bumpy state which is less advantageous for gluing). By cooling the second surface below the glass transition temperature of the polyester yarns, the state wherein the molten yarns are forced, i.a. due to the contact with the hot body, can be durably fixated. This way, it appears that gluing properties can be obtained comparable with those of a textile product wherein polyamide yarns are used. Without active cooling, the temperature of the second surface may not cool fast enough to prevent rearrangement of the molten polyester, and therefore active cooling is preferred Typically, when relying only on non-active cooling (thus, no cooling medium is forced to be contacted with the object to be cooled and one relies solely on radiation), depending on the

circumstances, it may take more than 15 minutes before the temperature of the second surface drops below the glass transition temperature of the polyester. With active cooling, this temperature drop can be arrived at faster, for example within 5 minutes, 4 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 minutes or even, as indicated here above, within 60 seconds.

The invention also pertains to the use of a textile product obtainable in line with the above described method to cover a surface of a building or any other artificial or natural construction.

The invention also pertains to a device for use in manufacturing a textile product comprising a first sheet having polyester yarns fastened to this sheet to form a pile thereon, the yarns being stitched through the sheet to form the pile on a first surface of the sheet and loops of the yarns at a second surface of the sheet, the device comprising a hot body that can be heated to above a melting temperature of the polyester yarns, means for contacting the second surface of the sheet with the hot body, transport means for transporting the sheet along the hot body while the second surface is in contact therewith, and cooling means, preferably active cooling means, for cooling the second surface to a temperature below the glass transition temperature of the polyester yarns within 60 seconds after the second surface is in contact with the hot body (which typically equals a distance of at maximum 10 meters between the, preferably active, cooling means and the position where the hot body contacts the second surface, assuming a typical process speed of 10 m/min) , and downstream of the cooling means, a means for applying a layer of adhesive to the second surface..

DEFINITIONS

A textile product is a product that comprises textile (i.e. material made mainly of natural or artificial fibres, often referred to as thread or yarn), optionally with other components such as backing layers, carrier layers and/or adhesives. Laminated textile products typically comprise an upper layer of pile attached to a backing (where the raised pile fibres are also denoted as the "nap" of the product), but may also be flat weave. Such products can be of various different constructions such as woven, needle felt, knotted, tufted and/or embroidered, though tufted products are the most common type. The pile may be cut (as in a plush carpet) or form loops (as in a Berber carpet).

A polyester yarn is a yarn in which the yarn forming substance is any long chain synthetic polymer composed at least 85% by weight of an ester of a dihydric alcohol (HOROH) and a di-acid, for example terephthalic acid. The most widely used polyester yarn is made from the linear polymer polyethylene terephtalate, and this polyester class is generally referred to simply as PET. Typically, the polyesters used for yarns have a melting point (Tm) of about 250 to 280°C and a glass transition temperature (Tg) of about 150 to about 180°C.

A loop of a yarn is a length of this yarn that is curved away from the basic part of the yarn (not excluding that the loop is longer than the main part itself). For a textile product, the basic part of the yarn is the part that forms the upper, visible part of the product. For example, for a carpet this is the part of the yarns that forms the pile. For clothing, this is the part of the yarn that forms part of the outer surface of the clothing.

The glass transition temperature is the temperature at which an amorphous solid becomes soft upon heating or brittle upon cooling. The Tg is the temperature region where the polymer (when heated) transitions from a hard, glassy material to a soft, rubbery material. The glass transition temperature is always lower than the melting temperature (Tm) of the crystalline state of the material. The Tg can be established by using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) at speed of 20K min as commonly known in the art, typically by defining the midpoint of the said

temperature region as Tg.

A sheet is a substantially two dimensional mass or material, i.e. a broad and thin, typically, but not necessarily, rectangular in form, and inherently has two opposite surfaces.

Stitching is a method of mechanically making a yarn part of an object by stitches or as if with stitches, such as by tufting, knitting, sewing, weaving etc.

Active cooling is forced cooling by using forced convection of a cooling medium, or forced conduction of heat to such a cooling medium, which medium can be a gas, liquid or solid. Simple cooling down in essentially stationary air, thus relying solely on heat radiation, is not a form of active cooling. For active cooling, cooling air, cooling liquid or another cooling medium is forced to contact the object to be cooled, for example by blowing cooling air along the object or contacting the object with a cooling element.

A laminate is a structure comprising multiple stacked layers mechanically connected to each other.

Resilient means to be able to deform and automatically return to the original configuration.

A hot melt adhesive is a thermoplastic adhesive that is designed to be melted, i.e. heated to transform from a solid state into a liquid state to adhere materials after solidification. Hot melt adhesives are typically non-reactive, crystalline and comprise low or no amount of solvents so curing and drying are typically not necessary in order to provide adequate adhesion.

Fibrous means consisting basically out of fibres. "Basically" means that the basic mechanical constitution is arranged out of fibres: the fibres may however be impregnated or otherwise treated or combined with a non-fibrous material such that the end material also comprises other constituents than fibres. Typical fibrous sheets are woven and non-woven textile products, or combinations thereof.

EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

In a first embodiment of the invention the second surface is cooled, preferably actively cooled, to force the temperature to be below the glass transition temperature of the polyester yarns within 30 seconds after the contacting of the second surface with the hot body, or even within 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21 , 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 1 1 , 10, 9, 8, 7, 6,5, 4, 3 or 2 seconds or even within 1 second.

In another embodiment the surface is actively cooled by contacting the second surface with a cold body, i.e. a body having a temperature below the glass transition temperature of the polyester yarns. It appears that by actually contacting the second surface with a cold body, a surface can be obtained which is very smooth, most probably due to an extra mechanical pressing of the molten fraction of the yarns to become a more flat and/or more homogenous layer. This further improves gluing properties of the second surface, such as for example the amount of glue needed to obtain a strong and durable bond (which is typically less for a smooth surface when compared to a rough surface).

In a further embodiment the cold body is a stationary beam having a contacting surface that runs in essence parallel to the second surface. A stationary body appears to give a good cooling and smearing result and is relatively easy to maintain. In still a further embodiment the cold body is maintained at a temperature below the glass transition temperature of the polyester yarns by actively cooling the body using convection and/or conduction. In particular at high process speeds, the cold body needs active cooling to remain at a temperature below the glass transition temperature of the polyester yarns. Such cooling can be provided for example by using a cooling liquid that is forced to flow through the cold body, or by using cooling fins through which cold air is blown etc.

In another embodiment the surface of the hot body has a relative speed (and thus moves at a relative speed greater than 0 m/s) with respect to the second surface of the first sheet. As such, the use of a hot body that has a relative speed with respect to the second surface during the melting process of the yarns is known from WO 2012/076348. It now appears that this feature is ideally suitable for use in a method wherein the yarns are polyesters yarns, and the molten fraction is actively cooled in accordance with the present invention. This combination of features leads to a durable textile product having excellent gluing properties. In a further embodiment the surface of the hot body is stationary, whereas the first sheet is transported along the hot body.

In an embodiment wherein the textile product is a laminate of the first sheet and a second sheet, after the second surface of the first sheet has been processed according to any of the embodiments as described supra, an adhesive is applied to this second surface to which adhesive the second sheet is adhered. In a further embodiment the adhesive is a hot melt adhesive, for example a hot melt adhesive that comprises at least 50% by weight of a polymer chosen from the group consisting of polyurethane, polycarbonate, polyester, polyamide, poly(ester-amide), polyolefine, mixtures thereof and/or copolymers thereof.

In a further embodiment of the laminated textile product, an intermediate layer is provided between the first sheet and the second sheet wherein the intermediate layer is resilient to allow local deformation of this layer along the second surface of the first sheet or along the surface of the second sheet adjacent to the intermediate layer. This embodiment appears to be suitable to prevent or at least mitigate a common problem of laminated textile products: internal strain in the laminate, in particular due to the influence of moist, temperature or other environmental variables. Internal strain on its turn may lead to various problems. With carpet tiles for example, internal strain may lead to the problem of curl: the edges or corners of the tiles tend to curl up. Curling of edges or corners is a problem since the edges in general to not coincide with an edge of the surface to be covered, and thus, the curled up edges or corners may lead to irregularities in center areas of the covered surface. With broadloom carpet, internal strain may lead to deformation such that interstices are formed at the joint of two sections of carpet. Also, for any laminated textile product, internal strain may lead to bulges and local excessive wear. An important reason for the occurrence of internal strain is that the laminate inherently comprises different layers (note: the term "layer" or "sheet" does not exclude that the layer or sheet is actually constituted out different sub-layers) that need to provide very different properties to the textile product (from now on also called "carpet", not excluding other types of textile products such as upholstery, clothing and wall coverings): the first sheet, also called primary backing, needs to stably bear the pile yarns. The second sheet, also called secondary backing, in general provides dimensional stability to the textile product. For this reason, the structure of the different layers is inherently different. And thus, even when for example the first and second sheet are made of the same material, the occurrence of internal strain due to different deformations by the action of moist and temperature, is inherently present. The problem is even increased when different materials are being used for constituting the sheets, in particular when these materials per se expand and contract differently due to moist and or temperature. For example, typical polymers used for making carpet are polyamide, polyester and polyalkylene. These polymers have totally different deformation characteristics due to moist and temperature. It has now been surprisingly found that this problem can be solved or at least mitigated when using a resilient layer as described here above in between the first and second sheet. Without being bound to theory, it is believed that due to the resilient properties as defined here above, it is provided that each of the sheets may expand or contract ("deform") in the horizontal direction independently of an expansion or contraction of the other sheet, and thus, that no (or only low) internal strain (which may lead to curl or other deformation) may arise. This can be understood as follows: due to the resiliency of the intermediate layer which allows local deformation of the material in this layer along the surface of at least one sheet, the horizontal deformation of (one of) the sheet(s) may now be locally absorbed by the intermediate layer, without mechanical forces being transferred directly from the first sheet to the second sheet or vice versa.

In a further embodiment the intermediate layer is a knitted layer. A knitted layer, although the fibres are in essence endless, appears to be perfectly suitable to allow only local deformation. Like a tubular knitted sock that fits every curve of a foot, a knitted layer can easily deform locally without transferring forces to neighboring areas. A knitted layer for use in the present invention is for example Caliweb®, obtainable from TWE, Emsdetten, Germany.

In another embodiment each of the first sheet, the second sheet, the adhesive and, if present, the resilient layer, are made of polyester. This embodiment has the advantage that the textile product is a mono-material product which makes recycling much easier.

The invention will now be further explained based on the following figures and examples. EXAMPLES

Figure 1 schematically shows a cross section of a textile product manufactured according to the invention

Figure 2 schematically shows a configuration for applying a yarn melting process Figure 3 schematically shows details of an active cooling means

Figure 4 schematically represents a laminating configuration

Example 1 provides process parameters for a method according to the invention Example 2 is an example of a specific laminated textile product according to the invention

Figure 1

Figure 1 is a schematic representation of respective layers of an embodiment of a laminated textile product manufactured according to the invention, in this case a carpet tile. The tile comprises a first sheet 2, the so called primary backing, which may be a tufted nonwoven sealed polyester backing. The polyester yarns 5 extend from the first surface 3 of this first sheet and are sealed to the second surface 4 of the sheet using the yarn melting method as described with reference to figure 2. The weight of this first sheet is typically about 500-800 g per m². In order to provide mechanical stability, the tile 1 comprises a second sheet 6, in this case a polyester needle felt backing. The weight of this second sheet is typically about 700-900 g/m ². In between the first and second sheet is an optional resilient layer 10 (which could for example be a polyester expansion fleece having a weight of 330 g/m², obtainable from TWE, Emsdetten, Germany as Abstandsvliesstof). The three layers (first and second sheet and intermediate layer) are laminated together using a glue, which may be a polyester hot melt glue as obtainable from DSM, Geleen, the Netherlands, applied as layers 1 1 and 12 at a weight of about 300 g/m².

Figure 2

Figure 2 which schematically represents a configuration for applying a yarn melting process (also called a fibre-binding process) for use in the present invention. In the configuration shown in Figure 2 a first heating block 500 and a second heating block 501 are present, in order to heat the heating elements, also denoted as heating blades or heating bodies, 505 and 506 respectively. These heating elements have a working surface 515 and 516 respectively, which surfaces are brought in contact with a product to be processed, typically a primary carrier to which yarns are applied via a stitching process such as tufting. The working surfaces both have a working width of 18 mm, and the intermediate distance is 26 mm. The back surface of the product is brought in contact with the working surfaces of the heating elements. In order to be able and apply adequate pressure for the product to be processed, a Teflon support 520 is present which is used to counteract a pushing force applied to the heating elements. In operation, the heating elements are moved relatively to the product, as indicated with arrow X. Typically, the heating elements are stationary and the product is forced to travel between the working surfaces and the Teflon support in a direction indicated with X.

The (intermediate) textile product to be processed with the above described configuration (the product itself is not shown in Figure 2) consists of a primary sheet provided with a cut pile of polyester yarns, tufted into the sheet. The yarns typically have a melting temperature of about 260-280°C. This product is processed using a temperature of the first heating element of 200-220°C, in order to pre-heat the product. The second heating element is kept at a temperature about 15°C above the melting temperature of the polyester yarns. To keep the temperatures at the required level, the heating blocks and heating elements are provided with layers of insulating material 510, 51 1 , 512 and 513 respectively. The product is supplied at a speed of 12 mm per second (0.72 metre per minute) or higher, and the pressure applied with the heating elements is about 1.35 Newton per square centimetre.

Downstream of the heating blocks, at both sides of the transport path 200 of the intermediate textile product to be processed, is an active cooling means 300. In this embodiment, the means 300 comprise inverted domes 301 and 302. Through these domes, cold cooling air can be blown towards the textile product, in order to actively cool the heated surface of the textile product. Although depending on the glass transition temperature of the polyester one dome may be sufficient, in this embodiment, in order to cool the heated surface fast enough, preferably within 60 seconds after the textile product has been fully heated with heating body 505, two domes are used.

Figure 3

Figure 3 schematically shows details of an active cooling means according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the heating bodies 505 and 506 are arranged around a circular support 520'. The intermediate textile product 2 is transported with its second surface 4 towards the heating bodies, while the product 2 is lying with its first surface 3 on the rotating support drum 520'. At the downstream side of the drum 520', the intermediate product is transported along transport path 200 and encounters active cooling means 300'. In this embodiment, the cooling means is a Teflon® coated aluminum stationary massive beam 305 having a thickness of 20 mm, kept at a temperature below the glass transition temperature of the polyester yarns, typically below 120°C. The beam has a length L-i of 80 mm in the transport direction, and is situated at a distance L₂ of 76 mm from heating body 505. Depending on the process speed, the beam needs to be actively cooled to prevent that its temperature rises too much. Such cooling means for example exist of cooling fins in combination with a blower for cold air, or internal canals for flushing the beam with a cooling liquid. At process speeds below 1 -2 meters/minute active cooling of the beam is generally not required. Above a process speed of 3 m/min, active cooling is usually required. The beam is pressed against the second surface 4 of the textile product 2 to provide for an additional calendering action. Roller 307 is used to counteract the pressing action and provide for the option to use a high pressing force. This way, the process may lead to a product having a smooth and glossy back surface at the sites where the stitched yarns extend from this back surface.

Figure 4

Figure 4 schematically represents a laminating configuration for applying a second sheet, in this case a dimensionally stable secondary backing sheet, to the back of the first sheet that is produced with a method as described in conjunction with Figure 2. In this embodiment the term target sheet denotes either the separate resilient layer and second sheet applied one after the other in that order, or the combined laminate of them both applied together to the first sheet. Both the second sheet and the resilient layer may be of polyester. In this figure a first roller 600 is depicted on to which roller is wound a 2 metre wide web of the said (pre-fabricated) product made according to the method described in conjunction with Figure 2. The product is unwound from the roller 600 to have its back-side 217 to come into contact with a second roller 601. This roller is provided to apply a layer of hot melt adhesive (HMA) 219 to the back side 217. For this, a bulk amount of HMA 219 is present and heated between the rollers 601 and 602. The thickness of this layer can be adjusted by adjusting the gap between these two rollers. In practice other means for applying a layer of adhesive could be applied, such as using a row of dosing needles, using a doctor blade, spraying, dosing fine particulate adhesive grains, etc. Downstream of the site of HMA application is the target sheet 215, which sheet is unwound from roller 603. This sheet is pressed against the hot and tacky adhesive and cooled in the unit 700. This unit consists of two belts 701 and 702 which on the one hand press the target sheet 215 against the primary product, and on the other hand cools down the adhesive to below its solidification temperature. The resulting end product 201 (corresponding to textile product 1 of Figure 1 ) is thereafter wound on roller 604. In an alternative embodiment the fibre-binding process as described in relation with Figure 2 and the lamination process take place in line. In that case, the fibre-binding set-up as shown in Figure 2 could be placed between roller 600 and roller 601 (in which case roller 600 holds an intermediate textile product, of which the yarns are to be bound by melting). In the shown embodiment of Figure 4, the applied HMA is the polyester of Example D as described in the Research Disclosure RD591084 as mentioned herein before. A suitable temperature of the roller 601 at the site where this HMA is applied to the backside of the primary backing is 140°C. By having a gap of 2 mm, the HMA, at a web speed of 2m/min, roller 602 not revolving and roller 601 having a circumferential speed of ± 1.6 m/min, will be applied with a thickness of about 500g/m². This is adequate to glue the target sheet 215 to the primary backing (i.e. the first sheet).

The hot melt adhesive may be optionally provided as a layer having a thickness of less than 1 mm, usefully less than 0.5 mm, more usefully from 0.2 to 0.4 mm. Whereas in the prior art carpets on the market, the hot melt layer typically has a thickness well above 1 mm, applicant found that when reducing the thickness of this layer to 1 mm or below an adequate adhesion can still be obtained. Therefore the adhesive layer present in textile products of the present invention may have preferred mean thickness of from 50 microns to 1 mm, more preferably from 0.1 mm to 0.8 mm, most preferably from 0.2 mm to 0.4 mm. The amount of HMA used to form the adhesive layer in textile products of the present invention may be from 0.01 to 1000 g / m ² of HMA per area of the adhesive layer. In another embodiment the HMA may be applied in an amount of from 0.05 to 800 g / m². In a still yet other embodiment HMA may be applied in an amount from 0.1 to 600 g / m².

Example 1

Example 1 provides process parameters for a method according to the invention. In this example, the process parameters for a set up as depicted in figure 3 are given. At a process speed of 1 m/min, the cooling beam 305 is not actively cooled. During the process, the beam will obtain an equilibrium temperature which is low enough to be able and actively cool intermediate product 2 such that the temperature at the second surface is forced to be below the glass transition temperature of the polyester (typically below 150°C). The textile product is heated with heating body 505 to a temperate of 260°C. When the product arrives at the cooling beam, its temperature is still above the glass transition temperature, namely around 190°C. The beam actively cools the surface very quickly, due to the intensive contact, to a temperature of about 145°C at the end of the length L-i of the beam. This temperature is reached within 10 seconds after the second surface is heated with heating body 505. This is well below 60 seconds which are typically needed to prevent that molten PET can rearrange to arrive at a surface that is less favourable for gluing.

Example 2

Example 2 is an example of a specific laminated textile product according to the invention. Reference numbers refer to parts corresponding to the textile product as shown in Figure 1. The textile product of this example comprises a first sheet 2 (the primary backing), which is a 100% polyester non-woven having a weight of 120 g/m² obtained from Freudenberg Vliesstoffe SE & Co. KG Neuenburg, Germany. This primary backing is tufted with a cut pile of 100% PET yarns obtained from Pharr Yarns LLC, McAdenville, NC, USA, at 12 needles per inch. The polyester yarns 5 extend from the first surface 3 of the primary backing and are sealed to the second surface 4 of the primary backing using the fibre binding method as described with reference to Figure 2. The total weight of this tufted sheet is about 700 g/m². In order to provide mechanical stability, the textile product comprises a secondary backing (second sheet 6), in this case a backing of a polyester needle felt backing fleece obtained as Qualitex Nadelvlies from TWE, Emsdetten, Germany. The weight of this second sheet is about 900 g/m². The layers are glued together using a polyester hot melt glue from DSM, Geleen, The Netherlands (available under the trade name Uralac®), applied at a weight of about 300 g/m² (which is the same amount as typically used for textile products having polyamide yarns tufted to the primary backing and processed with the same fibre binding method). The total weight of the carpet tile is thus about 1.9 kg/m². The laminated textile product appears to be very durable and resistant against delamination.

Claims

A method to manufacture a textile product comprising a first sheet having polyester yarns fastened to this sheet to form a pile thereon, the method comprising:

providing the sheet,

stitching the polyester yarns through the sheet to form the pile on a first surface of the sheet and loops of the yarns at a second surface of the sheet,

contacting the second surface of the sheet with a surface of a hot body to at least partly melt the loops of the yarns to fasten the yarns to the sheet,

characterised in that the second surface is cooled to force the temperature to be below the glass transition temperature of the polyester yarns within 60 seconds after the contacting of the second surface with the hot body.

A method according to claim 1 , wherein the second surface is actively cooled. A method according to any of the preceding claims , characterised in that the second surface is cooled to force the temperature to be below the glass transition temperature of the polyester yarns within 30 seconds after the contacting of the second surface with the hot body.

A method according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the surface is activelycooled by contacting the second surface with a cold body. A method according to claim 4, characterised in that the cold body is a stationary beam having a contacting surface that runs in essence parallel to the second surface.

A method according to any of the claims 4 and 5, characterised in that the cold body is maintained at a temperature below the glass transition temperature of the polyester yarns by actively cooling the body using convection and/or conduction.

A method according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the surface of the hot body has a relative speed with respect to the second surface of the first sheet.

A method according to claim 7, characterised in that the surface of the hot body is stationary, whereas the first sheet is transported along the hot body. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the textile product is a laminate of the first sheet and a second sheet, characterised in that after the second surface of the first sheet has been processed according to any of the preceding claims, an adhesive is applied to this second surface to which adhesive the second sheet is adhered.

A method according to claim 9, characterised in that the adhesive is a hot melt adhesive.

A method according to claim 10, characterised in that the hot melt adhesive comprises at least 50% by weight of a polymer chosen from the group consisting of polyurethane, polycarbonate, polyester, polyamide, poly(ester- amide), polyolefine, mixtures thereof and/or copolymers thereof.

A method according to any of the claims 9 to 1 1 , characterised in that an intermediate layer is provided between the first sheet and the second sheet wherein the intermediate layer is resilient to allow local deformation of this layer along the second surface of the first sheet or along the surface of the second sheet adjacent to the intermediate layer.

A method according to claim 12, characterised in that the intermediate layer is a knitted layer.

A method according to any of the claims 9 to 13, characterised that each of the first sheet, the second sheet, the adhesive and resilient layer are made of polyester.

Use of a textile product obtainable according to any of the claims 1 to 14 to cover a surface of a building or any other artificial or natural construction. A device for use in manufacturing a textile product comprising a first sheet having polyester yarns fastened to this sheet to form a pile thereon, the yarns being stitched through the sheet to form the pile on a first surface of the sheet and loops of the yarns at a second surface of the sheet, the device

comprising:

a hot body that can be heated to above a melting temperature of the polyester yarns,

means for contacting the second surface of the sheet with the hot body, transport means for transporting the sheet along the hot body while the second surface is in contact therewith, and

cooling means for cooling the second surface to a temperature below the glass transition temperature of the polyester yarns within 60 seconds after the second surface is in contact with the hot body, and

downstream of the cooling means, a means for applying a layer of adhesive to the second surface.

A device according to claim 16, wherein the cooling means is an active cooling means.