Pile fabrics and systems and methods for forming pile fabrics

Abstract

An example method for forming a pile fabric includes: providing a primary backing material (configured as a sheet), a layer of thermoplastic material (disposed at the back side of the primary backing material), and a plurality of pile tufts extending through the primary backing material and at least partially into the layer of thermoplastic material with back stitch portions of the pile tufts being disposed at the back side of the primary backing material; and heating only the back of the pile fabric to melt the back stitch portions of the pile tufts and the layer of thermoplastic material to form a melt bond disposed at the back side of the primary backing material to secure the pile tufts to the primary backing material.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This utility patent application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62 / 991,897, filed on 19 Mar. 2020, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.BACKGROUNDTechnical Feld[0002]The disclosure relates to pile fabrics and the formation of pile fabrics.Description of the Related Art[0003]Pile fabrics (which include tufted carpets, carpet tiles, artificial turf, rugs and mats, for example) generally are formed of pile tufts that are stitched into a backing layer and then bonded to the backing layer by a binder. Currently in the art, binders such as styrene butadiene rubber, vinyl acetate ethylene, natural rubber, hot melt thermoplastics and polyurethane are utilized to create a tuft bind and delamination in the pile fabric. The application of binders can be an expensive method and process for producing pile fabric with tuft bind and delamination. Additionally, the utilization of such binders...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent text is about using a second chill roller to help prevent pile tufts and thermoplastic material from sticking to the roller during the manufacturing process. The solution is to wet the second chill roller to reduce the possibility of such issues.

Problems solved by technology

The application of binders can be an expensive method and process for producing pile fabric with tuft bind and delamination.

Additionally, the utilization of such binders can reduce the ability to recycle spent or discarded pile fabric, which results in the disposal of the spent pile fabric in landfills.

Moreover, these processes may also utilize a lot of energy associated with drying or curing of the binder material.

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