Process and apparatus for producing filler clusters starting from filled textile products

Abstract

A process and an apparatus for producing filling or fiber clusters starting from a filled textile product that is recycled or obtained from surplus products, wherein all the textile materials forming the same starting filling product are processed together and simultaneously. Compared to known embodiments of the industry, the process and the apparatus of the invention allow the production of filling or fiber clusters that can be used as insulating filling in the clothing and furniture industries in an economical, rapid and fully mechanized manner.

Description

Background of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a process and related equipment for producing padding from recycled padded textile products.

[0003] The field of the invention is the recovery of fibers from garments intended for disposal.

[0004] Currently, this type of recycling is carried out by manually sorting the individual components that make up the garment – ​​the inner and outer fabrics, padding and other parts. Each single component is then separated and cut into small parts before being processed using a traditional ripping machine (called a Garnett machine).

[0005] However, the fibrous material obtained by the above-mentioned screening of the different materials constituting the garments to be recycled is very dense and not very bulky and is therefore not suitable for forming a filling material that can be used as a filling material for clothing and furniture in general.

[0006] The above-mentioned conventional methods also have the disadvantage of requiring expensive and lengthy manual separation of the various materials to be processed and machined, which involves a considerable effort in terms of time and electricity.

[0007] CN 208 917 366 U, CN 104 120 510 A and US 4 241 474 A describe devices for opening or stripping unfilled garments, wherein only a rotating drum is used. On the other hand, the device disclosed by CN 108 060 474 A simply cuts the unfilled fabric by means of a rotating blade. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a process and an apparatus for recovering, in a single operation, stuffed textile products that are recycled or obtained from surplus production, which, unlike traditional methods of the same type, allow obtaining fillings that can be commonly used as fillings in the clothing and furniture industries.

[0010] Another object of the invention is to provide a process and an apparatus of the above type by means of which thermal insulation fiber or filling clusters can be manufactured in a simple, rapid operation and without manual intervention, starting from recycled filled textile products or filled textile products obtained from surplus products.

[0011] These and other objects are achieved by the process and the apparatus according to claims 1 and 4, respectively. Preferred embodiments will be apparent from the remaining claims.

[0012] The process and the apparatus of the invention allow, in an economical, rapid and fully mechanized manner compared to known embodiments of the industry, the production of padding or fiber clusters that can be used as insulating fillings in the clothing and furniture industries.

[0013] The process and apparatus of the invention also have the advantage of allowing the processing of more than 200 filled garments per hour of production, wherein the hourly output of the filling material is 150-200 kg / h, based on a filled garment weighing approximately 1 kg.

[0014] This equipment, which creates a sustainable circular economy, is highly compact and saves space (approximately 5m x 2m x 1.5m), but can be made larger, thereby increasing productivity.

[0015] Note that 2 kg of oil are required to produce 1 kg of fiber; therefore, with a production rate of 200 kg of filler per hour, the process and apparatus of the present invention offer the advantage of saving approximately 400 kg of oil (8,000 kg of oil per day). This eliminates the need for raw material (oil) and all subsequent operations, such as transportation and mechanical processing of the starting textile fibers. The energy consumption required by the process and apparatus of the present invention is very low (approximately 10 / 12 kW / h); furthermore, the complete absence of water consumption and any form of pollution allows the present invention to be fully integrated into the context of a sustainable circular economy.

[0016] The process of the invention also allows to leave traces of recycled starting fabric fragments on the padding thus produced, indicating that it originates from the recycling of recycled materials. A certificate will be issued guaranteeing that the original material (manufactured or mixed offcuts) has been cleaned and disinfected by UV radiation, ozone flow or similar substances. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] These and other objects, advantages and features will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of a process and apparatus according to the invention, which is illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings.

[0019] In the attached figure:

[0020] - Figure 1 is a plan view of an illustrative embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention;

[0021] - Figure 2 and Figure 3 The side views show Figure 1 A pair of rotating plates and a pair of double rollers used in the equipment;

[0022] - Figure 4 is Figure 2 a side view of a carding willow used on a board of; and

[0023] - Figure 5 Shown Figure 1 Cross section of the drum of the platform 13 of the middle device.

[0024] DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0025] In the process of the invention, the stuffing products 1 to be reused, such as production waste of insulating jackets, sleeping bags, bedquilts, stuffing materials and the like, surplus products, stuffing clothing in general, are initially washed and freed of metal or plastic parts and placed in a clean room 2 which allows a sterilization action to be performed on them, for example by contact with UV radiation, ozone flow and the like.

[0026] The product 1 thus treated in the clean room 2 is subsequently transferred by a conveyor belt 3 to a compression station 4 equipped with a pair of rollers 5 between which the product 1 is rolled and compressed in order to make it easier to process in the subsequent station.

[0027] Preferably, a metal detector is also provided, which is able to detect the presence of any metal parts to be eliminated.

[0028] At the exit of the station 4, the compacted product 1 is then processed into a whole comprising the filling and the fabric in a station 6 which defibrates and shreds all these materials together and simultaneously. For this purpose, two pairs of rotating plates 7 and 8 are provided in the station 6, one of which is Figure 2 Better diagram in.

[0029] In particular, each pair of plates in the plurality of pairs of plates is rotated in opposite directions ( Figure 2 The upper and lower plates 9 and 10 are formed by the arrows F1 and F2 in the figure. The opposing surfaces of the plates 9 and 10 (the product 1 from the compression station 4 is processed between the plates 9 and 10) have needles 11 and 12 of different sizes and densities, and the needles 11 of the plate 9 and the needles 12 of the plate 10 are staggered.

[0030] Advantageously, according to the invention, the needles 11, 12 of the pairs 7, 8 of the plates 9, 10 are shaped like arcs or combing willows, such as Figure 4 Better diagram.

[0031] Even more advantageously, the plate pair 7 (which first receives the product 1 from the compression station 4) has large-sized needles 11, 12, the needles 11, 12 of the plate pair 7 being, for example, 4 mm thick at the root 11a and 2 mm thick at the tip 11b, with a distribution density of, for example, 2 needles / cm 2On the contrary, the pair 8 of subsequent plates 9, 10 has needles 11, 12 of smaller dimensions than the previous pair, the needles 11, 12 of pair 8 being, for example, 2 mm at the base and 1 mm at the tip, distributed at a higher density, for example 6 needles / cm 2 Preferably, the length of the needles of the pairs of plates varies between 2 cm and 3 cm.

[0032] In this way, the first pair 7 of plates performs a first coarse shredding of the stuffing product 1, while the second pair 8 of plates performs a finer and more thorough shredding of the fibers of the fabric and stuffing. In this way, virgin fibers of the stuffing and fabric are produced from the first pair 7 of plates 9, 10, while the fibers obtained from the second pair 8 of plates are finer and shorter than the fibers from the previous pair of plates 9, 10.

[0033] The fibrous material obtained in station 6 is then transferred by a suitable pneumatic conveying system (not shown) to a subsequent station 13 where it is transformed into a thin layer of parallel fibers which essentially forms a filler layer.

[0034] In particular, the station 13 is provided with two pairs of rollers 14 and 15 which transform the fibrous material prepared in the previous station 6 into parallel fiber layers. To this end, each pair of rollers 14 and 15 consists of an upper roller 16 and a lower roller 17, with directions of rotation F3 and F4 opposite to each other ( Figure 3 Each roller 16 and 17 also carries needles 18 and 19, respectively, of different length and density, fixed to suitable supports, with the needles 18 of roller 16 alternating with the needles 19 of roller 17. Advantageously, the needles 18 and 19 of the first pair of rollers 14 are of greater dimensions (length and thickness) than the needles of the second pair 15, arranged downstream of the previous pair. Preferably, the pair 14 of rollers 16, 17 (which first receives the fibers from the preceding stage 6) has a lower density of needles 18, 19 than the needles present on the subsequent pair 15 of rollers.

[0035] Thanks to the above pair of rollers present in station 13, the bulky and randomly oriented fabric and filler fibers coming out of the previous station 6 are stretched and arranged parallel to each other, forming a single layer of fibers suitable for conversion into filler clusters in the next station.

[0036] The material layer emerging from the station 13 is then sucked by a suction machine 20 into a subsequent air circulation station 21 in which the textile material layer, from which the filling clusters 22 are obtained, is shredded and spread out.

[0037] The process and the device described above thus make it possible to unfold together and simultaneously the different materials forming the product 1 to be recycled (textiles, linings, fillings of different nature, synthetic, artificial or natural, etc.), transforming them into high-quality filling fibers that can be used as filling material and for the insulation of newly produced thermal products that are easy to maintain.

[0038] The result is a cluster 22 composed of fibers, which, even if not necessarily integrated with additional fibers relative to those already present in the initial product 1, may have a density of at least 350-400 Cuin (inches). 3 If a higher FP is required, then adding x% of fiber in the mixing chamber is sufficient.

[0039] The product bulkiness (FP) significantly affects the CLO value. Theoretically, we can assume that a CLO value of approximately 1.7-1.8 can be achieved by using recycled material with a FP of 400 cuin and wrapping it in a special fabric.

[0040] The invention described above and illustrated in the drawings may be modified to produce variations that still fall within the scope of the appended claims. Thus, for example, stations 6 and 13 of the apparatus of the invention may also comprise a single pair of rotating plates and a single pair of rollers, respectively. Furthermore, since the defibration and shredding station 6 and the filler forming station 13 are essential to the invention, the cleanroom 2 may be omitted.

Claims

1. A process for producing a filling starting from a stuffing textile product which is recycled or obtained from surplus products, characterized in that The process provides for the combined and simultaneous defibration and shredding of the fabric and filler fibers forming the stuffing product to form a single filler layer which is subsequently converted into filler clusters, wherein: (a) the textile product is processed at a compression station (4), wherein the textile product is rolled and compressed; (b) the milled product from step (a) is processed in a defibring and shredding station (6) which defibres and shreds all of the material together and simultaneously by means of two pairs (7, 8) of rotating plates (9, 10) each provided with needles (11, 12); (c) the fibrous material obtained from step (b) is then processed in a subsequent wadding-forming station (13) by means of two pairs (14, 15) of rollers (16, 17), each provided with needles (18, 19), to transform the fibrous material into a thin layer of parallel fibers, which essentially forms the wadding layer; (d) The textile material layer obtained in step (c) from which the filler clusters were obtained is shredded and opened in a subsequent air circulation station (21).

2. The process according to claim 1, characterized in that The filled textile products include thermal insulation jackets, sleeping bags, quilts, production waste of filling materials, surplus products, and general filled clothing.

3. A device for producing a filling starting from a filled textile product using a process according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that The device comprises: A defibration and shredding station (6), comprising two pairs (7, 8) of rotating plates (9, 10), wherein each pair (7, 8) of rotating plates consists of an upper plate (9) and a lower plate (10), wherein the upper plate (9) and the lower plate (10) have needles (11, 12) of different sizes and densities, and wherein the needles (11) of the upper plate (9) and the needles (12) of the lower plate (10) are arranged in a staggered manner, and the upper plate (9) and the lower plate (10) have mutually counter-rotating motions; a subsequent wadding-forming station (13) for converting the fibrous material into a thin layer of parallel fibers, said thin layer of parallel fibers essentially forming a wadding layer, wherein the wadding-forming station (13) is provided with two pairs (14, 15) of rollers (16, 17) which convert the fibrous material prepared in the preceding defibring and shredding station (6) into a layer of parallel fibers, wherein each pair (14, 15) of rollers consists of an upper roller (16) and a lower roller (17) rotating in opposite directions, wherein each roller (16, 17) also carries needles (18, 19) of different lengths and densities, respectively, fixed to suitable supports, said needles (18) of the upper roller (16) and said needles (19) of the lower roller (17) being arranged in a staggered manner; A subsequent air circulation station (21) is provided in which the textile material layer is shredded and spread out, from which the filling clusters are obtained.

4. The device according to claim 3, characterized in that The density of needles (11, 12) of a first pair (7) of rotating plates is lower than the density of needles of a second pair (8) of rotating plates, said second pair (8) of rotating plates being arranged downstream of said first pair (7) of rotating plates.

5. The device according to claim 3, characterized in that The dimensions of the needles (18, 19) of the first pair (14) of rollers are greater than the dimensions of the needles (18, 19) arranged on the second pair (15) of rollers, said second pair (15) of rollers being arranged downstream of said first pair (14) of rollers.

6. The device according to any one of the preceding claims 3 to 5, characterized in that The air circulation station (21) is arranged downstream of the station (13) for forming the filler and is provided with a suction machine (20) for transforming the layer obtained in the previous station (13) for forming the filler into clusters of filler.

7. The device according to any one of the preceding claims 3 to 5, characterized in that The apparatus further comprises a chamber (2) with a flow of UV rays or ozone for purifying the product (1).

8. The device according to any one of the preceding claims 3 to 5, characterized in that The device also provides a compression station (4) provided with rollers (5) for compressing and rolling the product (1) upstream of the defibration and shredding station (6) with rotating plates.

9. The device according to any one of the preceding claims 3 to 5, characterized in that The device further provides a metal detector for detecting whether there is a metal part to be eliminated.

10. A filler cluster produced using the process and the apparatus according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that The filler clusters have a bulkiness of at least 350-400 Cuin.

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