WO2020101588A1

WO2020101588A1 - A nonwoven surface structure manufactured from wool wastes

Info

Publication number: WO2020101588A1
Application number: PCT/TR2018/050892
Authority: WO
Inventors: Duygu YAVUZKASAP AYAKTA
Original assignee: Yünsa Yünlü Sanayi̇ Ve Ti̇caret Anoni̇m Şi̇rketi̇
Priority date: 2018-11-12
Filing date: 2018-12-25
Publication date: 2020-05-22

Abstract

The present invention is related to a nonwoven surface featuring a hardly flammable characteristic obtained by means of a nonwoven surface formation technique that comprises low melt polyester and a blend fiber consisting of the wool fiber waste and the wool yarn waste provided from the combed yarn production line to be used in heat and sound insulation.

Description

A NONWOVEN SURFACE STRUCTURE MANUFACTURED FROM WOOL WASTES

Technical Field

This invention is related to a nonwoven surface suitable for use in automotive and white goods sectors with the aim of insulation.

This invention is particularly related to a nonwoven surface structure that is used as a mixture of wool fiber and yarns separated as waste and and polyester melting at low temperatures.

State of the Art

Today, various type and featured insulation materials are used particularly in the automotive and white goods sector in order to prevent the transfer of heat, sound and vibration to the interior and/or exterior environment. Specifically there are phenolic felt and melamine sponges among the materials used widely especially in this field within he market. The phenolic felts are structures with phenol additives that are formed thermally. The heat resistance of the phenolic felts is high and even they are structures that are resistant to the flame. It provides good sound insulation. However the phenol chemical in their structure is hazardous effects to health and they are within the forbidden chemicals group. Melamine sponges; has low density, is resistant to fire and has open pore structure and due to these features they present improved sound damping feature. However these sponge structures become heavy when they are wet and it creates unpleasant smell by causing bacteria formation within its structure. In addition to these disadvantages, the chemicals used within the structures increases the production costs and also, they cause current problems such as the environmental pollution. Today there are nonwoven surface and composite materials that have a structure substituting such disadvantageous products and at the same time are achieved by using the wool waste.

In the literature, as a result of the search made in terms of the subject matter, the Application No TR 2014/02501 is found. Said application is not only related to the wool wastes specifically but also related to the use of materials such as cotton, under-weave cotton fiber, polyester, polyester-cotton mixture, paper wastes, fine mdf powder, wool, any kind of cellulose based material like wood flour that are left as a waste in nature or burnt to be eliminated. This cellulose based material or materials are mixed with some specific chemical compounds and a composite material for heat and sound insulation (isolation) is provided. Although the product of the present invention provides an insulation material manufactured from waste materials, it causes high production costs due to the chemicals involved in it and it limits the environmentally friendly production.

Another invention with application no WO8904886 in terms of this subject matter is related to an insulation cover wherein said felt fibers and bonding fibers are used in a combination. Basically in the invention, a method is described wherein a cover is provided by means of bonding fibers up to 25 % with a softening or melting temperature between 120 - 200 Ό by waste wools for insulation and ther moplastic or similar featured materials. Here the features of the bonding fibers provide the fibers to be kept together by the effect of the applied heat. The wool fiber used in this application is provided from the clothes; basically it is not about the usage of the wool fiber from recycling. Therefore wool fibers provided from the clothes by means of recycling creates an extra cost during the production and it increases the production costs.

As a result dues to the abovementioned disadvantages and lack of sufficiency of the current solutions about the subject matter, it is required to make an improvement in the relevant technical field.

Brief Description of the Invention

The present invention is related to a nonwoven surface structure achieved by means of using pinning or padding methods to be used particularly in the heat and sound insulation by waste wool fiber and its yarns that fulfills said requirements, eliminates all disadvantages and brings some additional advantages.

The main aim of the invention is to provide a nonwoven surface to be used in sound and heat insulation by the wastes occurred from fiber and yarn wastes that are provided during the combed yarn production.

Another aim of the invention is to provide a nonwoven surface that does not include any chemical for insulation. Another aim of the invention is to provide a nonwoven surface that performs environmentally friendly manufacture.

Another aim of the invention is to provide a nonwoven surface that has a high added value.

Another aim of the invention is to provide a nonwoven surface that is hardly flammable.

For the purpose of fulfilling the above mentioned aim, the invention is a nonwoven surface to be used in heat and sound insulation that is hardly flammable, provided by means of a nonwoven surface formation technique with blend fiber. Thus said nonwoven surface comprises blend fiber consisting of polyester that melts at low temperatures and wool fiber and wool yarn waste provided from the combed yarn production.

For the purpose of fulfilling the aims of this invention, a nonwoven surface formation technique preferably uses the padding or the pinning method.

For the purpose of fulfilling the aims of this invention, the wool fiber waste ratio shall be preferably between 25 - 45 %, the wool yarn waste ratio shall be preferably between 25 - 45 % and the polyester that melts at low temperatures shall be preferably between 20 -40 % within the blend fiber provided by means of the padding method.

For the purpose of fulfilling the aims of this invention, the wool fiber waste ratio shall be preferably between 30 - 50 %, the wool yarn waste ratio shall be preferably between 30 - 50 % and the polyester that melts at low temperatures shall be preferably between 10 -30 % within the blend fiber provided by means of the pinning method.

For the purpose of fulfilling the aims of this invention, the wool fiber waste ratio within the blend fiber provided by means of the padding method shall be preferably 35 %.

For the purpose of fulfilling the aims of this invention, the wool yarn waste ratio within the blend fiber provided by means of the padding method shall be preferably 35 %.

For the purpose of fulfilling the aims of this invention, the ratio of the polyester that melts at low temperatures, within the blend fiber provided by means of the padding method shall be preferably 30 %. For the purpose of fulfilling the aims of this invention, the wool fiber waste ratio within the blend fiber provided by means of the pinning method shall be preferably 40 %.

For the purpose of fulfilling the aims of this invention, the wool yarn waste ratio within the blend fiber provided by means of the pinning method shall be preferably 40 %.

For the purpose of fulfilling the aims of this invention, the ratio of the polyester that melts at low temperatures, within the blend fiber provided by means of the pinning method shall be preferably 20 %.

For the purpose of fulfilling the aims of this invention, the fibers provided from said waste fibers to be used in a nonwoven surface shall be preferably with 2,4 - 2,7 dtex fineness and with 75 - 88 mm length.

For the purpose of fulfilling the aims of this invention, the melting temperature of the polyester introduced to said blend fiber shall be preferably 80 TT

For the purpose of fulfilling the aims of this invention, preferably a chemical finish process that has a flame retardant (FR) feature to provide vertical hardly flammable feature to the nonwoven surface, is applied or the waste fibers are mixed with a fiber group with flame retardant (FR) feature.

The structural and characteristic features and all advantages of the invention shall be acknowledged clearly by means of referring to the following figures and the detailed description written by referring to these figures and therefore the evaluation shall be made by taking these figures and the detailed description into consideration.

Figures Clarifying the Invention

Figure 1 , is a flow diagram in terms of the manufacture of the nonwoven surface of the present invention.

The figures must not be scaled and the unnecessary details to understand the invention may be omitted herein. Moreover, the elements that are at least substantially similar or at least with substantially similar functions, have the same reference numerals. Detailed Description of the Invention

In this detailed description the subject of the invention as the nonwoven surface manufactured from wool wastes, is described in such a manner to understand the subject matter clearly and it has a non-limiting effect.

The nonwoven surface from waste wools as the subject of the invention is provided by means of the production method and its flow chart is given in Figure 1. Accordingly, the waste wool fibers and the waste wool yarns from the combed yarn production line and classified as a waste, are used in providing a nonwoven surface. The fibers obtained from the combed yarn production line have preferably 2,4 - 2,7 dtex fineness and 75 - 88 mm length. It is very important for determining the intensity and conductance of the nonwoven surface to be obtained by selecting fibers between these fineness and length values. The waste fiber and waste yarns are subjected to an opening process in a carnet machine and at the end of this opening process, the opened waste fiber is obtained. The waste fiber is included within the nonwoven surface formation. Together with the waste fiber, polyester- low melt polyester- that melts at low temperatures (it starts to melt at 80 O) is added to the fiber blend. When the temperature of the polyester that melts at low temperatures is increased then it becomes more adhesive and the nonwoven surface to be obtained adhered to the other fibers and it is hardened. Accordingly, the fiber blend that comprising waste wools, waste wool yarns and the polyester that melts at low temperatures provides the raw material of the nonwoven surface. The blend fiber is brought into the nonwoven surface form by means of the padding method or the pinning method. The obtained final product can be used as an insulation material as it is or after some chemical finishing applications.

It is possible to obtain an insulation material by means of the two different methods which are among the methods of the nonwoven surface formation. The method used in obtaining a nonwoven surface from a blend fiber is determined in terms of the features required from the final product. Accordingly, in the padding method; the prepared blend fiber is subjected to a heat treatment within a vessel and thus they are integrated and they pass through press rollers at the end of the vessel in order to have a form. On the other hand in the pinning method; instead of the heat treatment included within the padding method, pinning is made on the fibers in a vertical direction mechanically and the fibers are provided to be integrated. The ratios of the components included within the blend fiber not only affects the method for the formation of the nonwoven surface the form and the technical features of the insulation material. In this sense, the ratios of the components included within the blend fiber in the nonwoven surface to be provided by means of the padding method are as follows; the waste fiber is between 25 -45 % and preferably it is 35 %, the waste yarn is between 25 - 45% and preferably it is 35 % and the polyester that melts at low temperatures is between 20 - 40 % and it is preferably 30 %. The final product provided by means of the padding method has preferably 500 - 800 gr/m² weight in grams and 15 - 25 mm thickness. The ratios of the components included within the blend fiber in the nonwoven surface to be provided by means of the pinning method are as follows; the waste fiber is between 30 - 50 % and preferably it is 40 %, the waste yarn is between 30 - 50 % and preferably it is 40 % and the polyester that melts at low temperatures is between 10 - 30 % and it is preferably 20 %. The final product provided by means of the padding method has preferably 800 - 1400 gr/m² weight in grams and 14 - 18 mm thickness.

The performance tests are made for the products provided by means of two nonwoven surface formation technique and comparisons are made between them and also with the phenolic felt and melamine sponges that are alternatively produced. In this direction the test results in terms of the nonwoven surface products of the present invention are given in the following Table 1. Also, the features of the phenolic felt are given in the Table 2 and the features of the melamine sponge are given in the Table 3.

Table 1. The test results in terms of the nonwoven surface features of the present invention

Table 2. The features of the phenolic felt

Table 3. The features of the melamine sponge

As it can be seen from the tables, the features of the environmentally friendly nonwoven surface product obtained by means of both the padding method and the pinning method are improved when compared to the features of the phenolic felt and the melamine sponge. This situation also provides to eliminate the disadvantageous usage conditions of the phenolic felt and the melamine sponge. The selection made between the padding method and the pinning method depends on the usage area of the obtained nonwoven surface. Together with the nonwoven surface of the present invention, the wastes of the combed yarn production line are evaluated and therefore the productions costs are decreased and an environmentally friendly sustainable production with a high added value is enabled.

The hardly flammable feature of the obtained nonwoven surface is especially very important in the fields that it will be used as an insulation material. The wool fibers have hardly flammable features due to their structure (Limit oxygen index is -LOI- 24 - 25). Accordingly, the obtained nonwoven surface provides the horizontal hardly flammable feature without using any chemical. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, if the vertical hardly flammable feature from the nonwoven surface is required, the chemical finish processes with flame retardant (FR) feature are applied on the nonwoven surface. The hardly flammable effect obtained by means of the chemical finish processes provides a long term usage opportunity on floors that are not washed or wet. However this vertical hardly flammable feature obtained by means of the chemical finish is limited with a predetermined number of washing and will disappear in time. Therefore in order to provide a more stable hardly flammable effect, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided to select the components to be used with the wool waste fiber from the raw materials that exhibit hardly flammable feature. Accordingly, fibers with high limit oxygen index such as acrylic (LOI=40), polyester (LOI=28), polyamide (LOI= 30 - 32) with flame retardant feature can be added within the waste wool fiber.

Claims

1. A nonwoven surface presenting a hardly flammable feature obtained from a blend fiber by means of the nonwoven surface formation technique to be used in heat and sound insulation; characterized in that said blend fiber comprises low melt polyester and wool fiber waste and wool yarn waste obtained from the combed yarn production line.

2. A nonwoven surface according to claim 1 , characterized in that as a nonwoven surface formation technique preferably a padding method or a pinning method is used.

3. A nonwoven surface according to claim 1 and 2, characterized in that the waste wool fiber ratio is between 25 - 45 %, the wool yarn waste ratio is between 25 - 45 % and the polyester ratio that melts at low temperatures is between 20 - 40 % in the blend fiber of the nonwoven surface to be provided by means of the padding method.

4. A nonwoven surface according to claim 1 and 2, characterized in that the waste wool fiber ratio is between 30 - 50 %, the wool yarn waste ratio is between 30 - 50 % and the polyester ratio that melts at low temperatures is between 10 - 30 % in the blend fiber of the nonwoven surface to be provided by means of the pinning method.

5. A nonwoven surface according to claim 1 and 2, characterized in that the wool fiber waste ratio in the blend fiber of the nonwoven surface to be provided by means of the padding method is preferable 35 %.

6. A nonwoven surface according to claim 1 and 2, characterized in that the wool yarn waste ratio in the blend fiber of the nonwoven surface to be provided by means of the padding method is preferably 35 %.

7. A nonwoven surface according to claim 1 and 2, characterized in that the low melt polyester ratio in the blend fiber of the nonwoven surface to be provided by means of the padding method is preferably 30 %.

8. A nonwoven surface according to claim 1 and 2, characterized in that the wool fiber waste ratio in the blend fiber of the nonwoven surface to be provided by means of the pinning method is preferable 40 %.

9. A nonwoven surface according to claim 1 and 2, characterized in that the wool yarn waste ratio in the blend fiber of the nonwoven surface to be provided by means of the pinning method is preferably 40 %.

10. A nonwoven surface according to claim 1 and 2, characterized in that the low melt polyester ratio in the blend fiber of the nonwoven surface to be provided by means of the pinning method is preferably 20 %.

11. A nonwoven surface according to claim 1 , characterized in that the fibers obtained from said waste fibers to be used in a nonwoven surface is preferably with a 2,4 - 2,7 dtex fineness and 75 - 88 mm length.

12. A nonwoven surface according to claim 1 , characterized in that the melting temperature of the polyester that is added into said blend fiber is preferably 80‘C.

13. A nonwoven surface according to claim 1 , characterized in that a chemical finish process that has a flame retardant (FR) feature is applied or the waste fibers are mixed with a fiber group with flame retardant (FR) feature to provide vertical hardly flammable feature to the nonwoven surface.