Method for treating carpet waste

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for treating a carpet product comprising a veil and a backing material embedded in a lower portion of the veil using an apparatus comprising a container for receiving at least a portion of said carpet product, said container comprising a bottom wall and a top wall connected by an upright wall, and at least one rotating crank, the at least one rotating crank is positioned in the container, the upright wall comprises a disassembly arrangement positioned on the periphery of the rotating crank, the disassembly arrangement comprises a projection arranged on the upright wall, and the projection extends from the wall towards the rotating crank to the interior of the container. The method comprises: feeding the at least a portion of the carpet product into the container; the rotating crank is rotated to cause the at least a portion of the carpet product to travel along the protrusion to disassemble the carpet product into a first fraction comprising at least a portion of the veil and a second fraction comprising at least a portion of the backing material.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention generally relates to a method for treating carpet product waste to enable recovery of its constituent materials, in particular at least its face yarn and backing materials. In particular, the present invention relates to treating post-consumer carpet products, but this does not exclude the treatment of newly produced but surplus (and therefore unused) carpet products (also called post-industrial waste or pre-consumer type). Background Art

[0002] Carpet products such as broadloom carpets, carpet tiles, mats, rugs, carpet strips, etc. (also simply referred to as "carpet") are commonly used to cover floors, walls, interiors of cars, airplanes, boats, etc. to provide a comfortable feel and a pleasing appearance. Machine-made carpet products usually include a fiber (textile) sheet as a primary backing, and polymer yarns (loosely) connected to the primary backing as a basic component, which yarns constitute the face surface of the product. For example, most carpets are produced by sewing (this term includes weaving) polymer yarns into the primary backing to provide a pile of polymer yarns protruding from the top surface of the backing. The yarns are called face fibers and can be inserted by cutting into shorter lengths or not. In the latter case, the carpet has a loop-like appearance and the fibers are endless over the entire length of the carpet. In the first case, the carpet has a velvety appearance and the face fibers have a limited length from a few millimeters to a few centimeters. The side opposite to the front face of the carpet is usually provided with a polymer binder or other embedded backing material, such as latex, a cross-linkable polymer or a hot melt adhesive or other material, to durably bond the yarns to the primary (usually textile) backing and at the same time form a durable carpet backing. Regarding the secondary backing (also called "back coating" or "heavy layer"), this backing is usually used to improve mechanical properties, such as dimensional stability of the carpet. The secondary backing can be, for example, an asphalt layer, a fusible polymer layer such as PVC, PU, ​​PO, a plastic sheet, a polymer foam or a fiber sheet including polymer yarns (such as a dense felt layer) or a layer of different rubber types, such as but not limited to SBR, NBR rubber.

[0003] Carpet products are everywhere: in homes, offices, cars, airplanes, schools, etc. Old carpets are therefore one of the largest waste streams in the world. Therefore, adequate recycling of carpet products (carpets and parts of carpets) is essential to provide new carpet products in a sustainable way. In the prior art, numerous methods for producing carpets have been described with the aim of providing the possibility of recycling carpets.

[0004] EP 747525 (BASF) describes a recyclable carpet product made from a backing comprising protruding tufts (preferably of the same material as the backing), a carrier of a thermoplastic substrate bonded to the back of the primary backing with a hot melt adhesive (HMA). The backing and tufts are made of materials such as nylon, polyolefins and / or polyester, and the thermoplastic carrier is made of materials such as polyolefins, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and / or polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The HMA is applied to the back of the primary backing to lock the tufts in place and act as a buffer between the backing and the carrier, and is therefore selected to be compatible with the polymers of the backing and carrier. The carpet can be recycled by heating to a temperature sufficient to (re)soften the HMA but below the melting point of the polymers of the tufted backing and carrier substrate so that it separates into its two component layers.

[0005] US 5538776 (Hoechst Celanese) describes a recyclable thermoplastic tufted carpet made of a primary backing having tufts and a secondary backing attached to the primary backing with a layer of polyester hot melt adhesive. HMA replaces the latex binder (see column 2, lines 50 to 51), and the tufts, primary backing, HMA and secondary backing are made of one type of thermoplastic polymer, preferably polyester. The carpet can therefore be recycled by known methods, such as processes for recovering polyester by glycolysis or methanolysis and / or extrusion, wherein the specific recovery process is determined by the type of polyester.

[0006] EP 1598476 (Klieverik Heli) describes a method for making a backing as an intermediate for making carpets, wherein the backing does not use latex to anchor the fibers (yarns) in place. The backing comprises a sheet having a pile of thermoplastic fibers sewn through the thickness of the sheet and protruding from its upper surface. The backing is fed along a heated roller surface (fibers upward) and its underside is pressed against the roller so that the fibers will melt. The advantage of this method is that the intermediate backing can be easily recycled because the fibers and the backing sheet can be made of the same polymer. No incompatible latex penetrates into the fiber pile (see paragraph

[003] ). However, this method still has some disadvantages. The fibers are still not anchored firmly enough to the backing for use in many applications, for example, where the fibers are subjected to high mechanical loads (for example, in the interior of cars, trains, airplanes, offices, shops, etc.). Thus, in the practice of making carpet from an intermediate backing as described by Klieverik, it would still be necessary to apply an additional (incompatible) adhesive or latex to the underside of the backing, and / or to heavily impregnate the carpet pile and backing with HMA to provide adequate bonding with the HMA alone. The presence of such incompatible materials and / or embedded HMA would mean that such carpet products would be difficult to recycle.

[0007] WO 2012 / 076348 (Niaga) describes a method for making carpets, which improves the anchoring strength of yarns. In this method, when the first yarn-bearing sheet is pressed against a heated surface, the relative speed of the sheet and the surface is adjusted to provide additional mechanical force between them in the machine direction, which unfolds the yarn material when the yarn material is still in a molten state, thereby producing a stronger bond between the first sheet and the yarn. In addition, it is proposed to use a reactive binder. However, although the use of a reactive binder provides strong adhesion and is recyclable (unlike latex), the use of this binder causes the textile product to not have optimal mechanical properties. The other disadvantage of using a chemically reactive binder is that both the component to be connected and the binder must carry a co-reactive group. Therefore, the polymer used to prepare the primary backing and / or tufting may need to be chemically modified in an additional step because standard commercial polymers may not include the functional groups required for use with reactive binders.

[0008] WO 2014 / 198731 (DSM IP Assets BV) describes a method for manufacturing carpets based on the technology known from WO 2012 / 076348 (Niaga), with the proviso that a hot melt adhesive is used on the back of the primary backing, which is usually used to bond the primary backing to a secondary backing to form a laminate. The patent publication recognizes (page 22, first two paragraphs) that this opens the way to using polymers of the same (chemical) type for the yarn as well as the binder. It is said that if the melting points of these materials are comparable, the materials can be recycled together and do not need to be separated. However, in carpet products, the yarns of the fiber sheets usually have to fully meet other requirements (high durability, elasticity, stain resistance, etc.) compared to the polymers used in the binder (good gluing properties and easy application at relatively low temperatures). This explains why the polymers used in the fibers usually have a high molecular weight (Mw in excess of 50,000 g / mol and therefore in excess of 5x10 4 g / mol, or even more than 75,000 g / mol) and a melting point in the range of 180°C to 300°C (typically between 220°C and 280°C). The polymer used as a binder is a completely different type of polyester. This binder is a low molecular weight material (Mw less than 35,000 g / mol, typically between 15,000 g / mol and 30,000 g / mol) and has a melting point in the range of 50°C to 150°C. The viscosity is typically very low at temperatures of about 100°C to 160°C, making it possible to apply the binder at a temperature far below the melting temperature of the yarn material. According to the teachings of WO 2014 / 198731, these materials cannot be recycled together and need to be separated, making the recycling process relatively complicated.

[0009] In short, although the prior art describes many methods for producing easily recyclable carpets, this means that complex new production technologies must be applied. In addition, it does not provide a solution for recycling millions of square meters of carpet products produced in a traditional way.

[0010] Therefore, in the prior art, methods are available for processing carpet waste which are intended to separate the various constituent materials, in particular the face yarn and the (secondary) backing material, to the greatest possible extent. This results in a waste stream of relatively pure material which cannot be used as starting material for new applications.

[0011] WO 2018 / 035565 (Collins) provides a method for recycling carpet products, which involves promoting the separation of polymers bound to a substrate by contacting a polymer composite structure with a composition comprising an organic solvent, the organic solvent being absorbed in one or both of the polymer and the substrate, wherein the composition comprising the organic solvent does not dissolve the polymer or the substrate, and contacting the polymer composite structure with a liquid having a temperature higher than the boiling point of the composition comprising the organic solvent used in the step, and the organic solvent does not dissolve the polymer or the substrate, which acts to promote the separation between the polymer and the substrate. The involvement of the organic solvent and the high temperature makes the process complicated and is not disadvantageous from an environmental point of view.

[0012] US2017 / 0305038 (Broadview Group International LLC) discloses a method for recovering various constituent materials from waste carpet products, the method comprising applying mechanical force to the carpet product to break the bond between the binder and the face fiber material of the carpet. Thereafter, a centrifugal screening device is used to separate the face fiber material from the binder and recover a low-ash fiber product from the carpet product. The disadvantage of this method is that the separation between the face veil and the secondary backing is relatively incomplete and the process cannot be run continuously because the screen needs to be cleaned regularly.

[0013] US20190233609 (Fraunhofer Gesellschaft) discloses a method for recycling carpet products comprising waste containing polyolefins by using a solvent having specific Hansen parameters and contacting the mixture with a liquid filter aid before separating the polyolefin from the mixture. Again, the use of solvents is disadvantageous from an environmental point of view, and moreover, the method is only suitable for treating very specific carpet products, namely those based on polyolefin polymers. A comparable method is known, for example, from US 9,284,431.

[0014] US 6,752,336 (Johnsonville Acquisition) discloses a method for recycling carpet material by converting carpet products into size-reduced fibers, pulping the size-reduced fibers in a liquid medium, and then selectively separating the size-reduced fibers in a centrifuge. This method has only very limited applicability, namely for recovering nylon or polyester facestock fibers from post-industrial and pre-consumer carpet waste.

[0015] US 5,535,945 (Shred-Tech ltd) discloses a method for recovering a portion of polymeric fibers from a post-consumer carpet product, the method comprising shredding the post-consumer carpet into strips, disassembling the carpet strips to form a mixture of fibers to be recovered and backing material to be discarded, and then separating a substantial portion of the fibers from the backing material. The carpet strips are disassembled by striking the carpet strips against an anvil structure using a hammer mill with hammer elements. The separation into the various constituent materials is relatively incomplete.

[0016] EP 3816345 (New Wave by Innovations BV) discloses a method for disassembling waste objects such as flooring material using a chamber comprising an upright wall provided with sieve holes and at least two upright axes provided with at least one arm extending transversely to the respective axis and entering the chamber. The arm rotates, cutting the product introduced into the chamber and cutting the product into a pure waste stream, thereby aiming to separate complex materials into pure waste streams, wherein the product is made of complex materials. However, this process is not very suitable for processing carpet products. It is obvious that with the simple "kitchen blender-like" technology of EP 3816345, the embedding of the backing material into the lower (inner) part of the yarns (where the yarns form loops in the primary backing) limits the substantial separation of these yarns from the backing material. Another disadvantage of the known method is that the carpet is mostly broken up, but the different components are not significantly separated from each other, which is a particularly big problem in the case of carpets backed with an elastic layer (such as for dust-proof carpets or carpet tiles in which the yarns are essentially loop pile connected at both ends). When processing carpet products, another disadvantage is that due to the presence of the sieve, the two short face yarns, the glue and the small pieces of backing extracted from the carpet are removed from the chamber simultaneously through the sieve and thus become mixed, while the sieve needs to be cleaned regularly due to material accumulation. Another disadvantage is that large carpet fragments and fiber bundles of loop pile carpets are generated and they cannot be extracted from the sieve. Therefore, another disadvantage is that the process cannot be run continuously, but the machine must be opened each time to extract the resulting material mixture, which has a significant impact on the process costs.

[0017] Therefore, there remains a need for an improved method of processing carpet products to attempt to separate a substantial portion of the face veil from the (secondary) backing material. Summary of the invention

[0018] In order to meet the objectives of the present invention, a method for processing a carpet product using an apparatus is designed, the carpet product comprising a veil and a backing material embedded in a lower portion of the veil, the apparatus comprising a container for receiving at least a portion of the carpet product, the container comprising a bottom wall and a top wall connected by upright walls, and at least one rotating crank, the at least one rotating crank being positioned in the container, wherein the upright wall comprises an unravelling arrangement positioned at the periphery of the rotating crank, the unravelling arrangement comprising a protrusion disposed on the upright wall, the protrusion extending from the wall toward the at least one rotating crank to the interior of the container, the method comprising: feeding the at least a portion of the carpet product into the container; and rotating the rotating crank to cause the carpet product to travel along the protrusion to unravel the carpet product into a first fraction and a second fraction, the first fraction comprising at least a portion of the veil, the second fraction comprising at least a portion of the backing material.

[0019] Surprisingly, it has been found that by adding a disassembly arrangement comprising a protrusion, which is provided on an upright wall of the container of a device as disclosed in EP3816345, carpet products can be processed to result in substantial separation of the face yarn from the heavy backing materia. It is obvious that in the case of carpet products, the disassembly action between the two rotating cranks known from EP 3816345 is very poor. By adding the protrusion, a very good disassembly action is introduced around the periphery of the cranks, in particular in the space between the protrusion and the distal end of the cranks (where a knife or knife-like arrangement is usually provided). The advantage that follows is that only one crank is required for the disassembly action, which means that a less complex device can be made. It is very surprising to find that a less complex device is able to process more complex materials more effectively.

[0020] definition

[0021] A carpet product is a product comprising as an essential component a primary backing, which is usually of a fibrous nature, wherein the primary backing face yarns are stitched (i.e. tufted, woven or by any other means) to mechanically connect the face yarns to the primary backing, wherein the lower (inner) ends of the face yarns are embedded in a secondary backing (commonly referred to in the art as "backing") at the location where they are connected to the primary backing (thus opposite the outer visible surface of the carpet) to durably secure the face yarns to the carpet product. The backing is usually composed of a heavy durable material (such as a layer of asphalt, rubber, thermoplastic polymer or foam form) or a textile material impregnated with a binder.

[0022] A cut pile carpet product is one in which the pile yarns are cut at the top surface so that the yarns actually form loops at the backing, terminating in two end cuts at the upper surface of the carpet.

[0023] A protrusion is an extension beyond the normal surface, indicating a protrusion or projection from the surface such that the extension appears to be a deformation of the underlying surface.

[0024] The cutting edge is a sharp edge which is suitable for cutting material by forcing the material to follow the contacting cutting edge. Typically, the sharp edge has an acute angle (thus 90° or less), which is preferably less than 90°, 80°, 70°, 60°, 50°, 40°, 30°, 20° or less. The BESS (Brubacher Edge Sharpness Scale) value is preferably below 2000 grams, preferably below 1000 grams or even below 500 grams.

[0025] A process performed semi-continuously means that the process is designed to run continuously in principle, so that no interruptions are required to run the process continuously, but the process may be stopped or interrupted for example due to maintenance, repairs or due to e.g. lack of input material or insufficient final material produced.

[0026] Further embodiments of the invention

[0027] In a first further embodiment of the method of the present invention, the wall is impermeable to the first fraction at least near the rotating crank. In EP 3816345, a sieve is applied at the height of the crank, through which the light fraction of the product to be processed is removed from the chamber. However, in the case of processing carpet materials, it has been found that there is a serious risk that a small part of the heavy backing also travels through these sieves, thereby contaminating the light (yarn) fraction. A solution may be to use a sieve with a smaller mesh size, but at a level where the backing material no longer passes through the sieve, the risk of the sieve clogging is high due to the accumulation of yarn material in front of the sieve. This means that the process must be interrupted regularly to clean the sieve. This is avoidable in the current embodiment. By removing the yarn fraction at a higher level in the chamber, the sieve is no longer used at the crank height, and the risk of the backing part traveling with the light fraction is low or even zero, and therefore, an arrangement that is less prone to clogging (such as a sieve with a larger mesh size, or a simple vacuum tube, etc.) can be used. Preferably, the complete upright wall is impermeable to the first fraction, thus eliminating all screens (in the wall). This completely solves the problem of screen clogging and / or backing part contamination of the yarn fraction.

[0028] In an embodiment, the projections extend into the container with a length of between 2 mm and 40 mm, preferably between 5 mm and 30 mm, such as, for example, between 10 mm and 20 mm. Although longer projections may be used, for example up to 20 cm or even 30 cm, such as a length of 5 cm, 6 cm, 7 cm, 8 cm, 9 cm, 10 cm, 11 cm, 12 cm, 13 cm, 14 cm, 15 cm, 16 cm, 17 cm, 18 cm, 19 cm, 20 cm, 21 cm, 22 cm, 23 cm, 24 cm, 25 cm, 26 cm, 27 cm, 28 cm, 29 cm or 30 cm, it has been found that a length of between 2 mm and 40 mm is ideally suited for treating carpet products.

[0029] In another embodiment of the method according to the invention, the first fraction is removed from the container by: using a first suction unit having an inlet opening arranged above the rotating crank, the air comprising the first fraction is sucked through the inlet opening of the first suction unit, thereby removing the first fraction from the container. By simply using a suction unit (such as a suction pipe above the rotating crank), the first fraction remains (almost completely) free of parts of the secondary backing, which remain at the bottom of the container due to their typical weight, i.e., if the turbulence is kept at a low level by preventing the crank from rotating at very high speeds. The critical speed of the crank depends on the type of carpet product (heavier backings allow the use of higher speeds) and can be easily found by routine experiments. In a further embodiment, the inlet opening of the suction unit is located at the end of a suction pipe, which extends from the wall of the chamber to the center of the chamber. This minimizes the risk of parts of the secondary backing contaminating the yarn fraction and minimizes the need to control the crank speed to regulate air turbulence.

[0030] Correspondingly, remove this second fraction (second fraction) from this container in the following manner: use the second suction unit with the inlet opening being positioned below this rotating crank, suck the air comprising this second fraction by this inlet opening of this second suction unit, thereby remove this second fraction from this container.In prior art (EP 3816345), if heavy fraction (heavy fraction) can not be removed from sieve, then it must be removed from container top by suction pipe.This means that very strong turbulence (heavy turbulence) is needed in container, otherwise heavy fraction will not advance to the top part of chamber.However, strong turbulence can cause the potential mixing of different fractions, which is not convenient for recovery.By having the arrangement that can remove backing part from bottom, need far less turbulence, and therefore, the risk of mixing various fractions is less.In addition, it is no longer necessary to clean the bottom of container intermittently, and therefore, this process (the process) can be run semi-continuously.

[0031] In a further embodiment, the projection comprises a cutting arrangement, in particular a cutting edge, and the carpet product is disassembled by cutting the carpet product while travelling along the cutting arrangement. Although a blunt projection will also result in a disassembly action of the carpet product, it has been found that the cutting arrangement, in particular the cutting edge, is conducive to significantly improving the efficiency of the process.

[0032] In yet another embodiment, the protrusions are arranged in a row perpendicular to the circumference of the container, in a row parallel to the circumference of the container, in a row perpendicular to and parallel to the circumference, and / or in a row inclined to the circumference, and optionally, the protrusions are arranged equidistant from each other.

[0033] In yet another embodiment, the disassembly arrangement is provided in the upright wall at a height of the upright wall, at least substantially between 1 / 4 and 3 / 4 of the height of the upright wall, preferably at least substantially between 1 / 3 and 2 / 3 of the height of the upright wall.

[0034] Preferably, when rotating, the rotating crank passes the protrusion at a distance in the range between 0.5 cm and 25 cm, such as between 1 cm and 20 cm, or between 1 cm and 10 cm, or between 2 cm and 5 cm. Above 25 cm, the disassembly efficiency decreases to a level that is not conducive to the economic use of the process. Below 0.5 cm, the carpet product needs to be chopped into very small pieces before entering the chamber to prevent clogging of the crank. Crushing into small pieces is energetically disadvantageous and also introduces the risk of overheating (and partial melting) of the carpet product.

[0035] In an embodiment, the rotating crank is flat in nature to minimize turbulence at the bottom of the container to avoid mixing different parts of the disassembled carpet. Flat in this sense means that the height (or thickness) is less than 15%, preferably less than 14%, 13%, 12%, 11%, 10%, 9%, 8%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 4%, 3%, 2% or 1% of the highest length and width dimensions (whose length and width extend in the 2D plane).

[0036] In another embodiment, two rotating cranks are positioned to rotate in the same plane in the container. It has been found that by having two rotating cranks in the same plane, the cranks can be used to chop the carpet product into smaller pieces. In this way, if desired, the chopping action can be performed entirely or mostly in the container itself, rather than at a remote processing station before the product is fed to the container. Preferably, the rotating cranks rotate in the same direction. The latter appears to result in an improved chopping action.

[0037] In still another embodiment of the method according to the invention, each protrusion is at essentially the same distance from the rotating crank facing said protrusion.

[0038] Preferably, the process is performed semi-continuously, whereby the carpet product (e.g., broadloom, or piece of rug, carpet strip, etc.) is essentially continuously fed into the chamber and the first fraction and the second fraction are continuously removed from the chamber, with the second fraction also being removed only during limited time periods.

[0039] Although the method may be effective at high moisture percentages such as 50w%, 60w%, 70w% or even higher, it has been found to be advantageous to feed the carpet product when it has a moisture content of at most 0wt%, such as, for example, 35wt%, 30wt%, 25wt%, 24wt%, 23wt%, 22wt%, 21wt%, 20wt%, 19wt%, 18wt%, 17wt%, 16wt%, 15wt%, 14wt%, 13wt%, 12wt%, 11wt%, 10wt%, 9wt%, 8wt%, 7wt%, 6wt%, 5wt%, 4wt%, 3wt%, 2wt%, 1wt% or less.

[0040] In an embodiment, the carpet product being fed has a longest dimension of at most 50 cm, preferably at most 40 cm, 30 cm, 25 cm, 20 cm, 15 cm, 14 cm, 13 cm, 12 cm, 11 cm, 10 cm or less.

[0041] In yet another embodiment, the carpet product is a cut pile carpet product.It has been found that the method of the present invention is ideally suited for processing cut pile carpet, ie carpet in which the face veil is cut, rather than being joined at both ends as in woven carpet.

[0042] Additional aspects of methods and apparatus for treating carpet products are described herein below.

[0043] As described above, a method and arrangement for processing waste objects is known from EP 3816345. The arrangement comprises a chamber comprising upright walls, wherein the upright walls are provided with a plurality of screen parts. The screen parts are distributed on the upright walls and are arranged at an angle relative to the peripheral direction of the chamber. The arrangement also comprises at least two rotating arms positioned at the lower part of the chamber. The part of the waste object comprising various materials is torn apart by making the part of the waste object between the at least two rotating arms. The torn apart part of the waste object is suspended on a plurality of screen parts by the at least two rotating arms, for separating a first stream from the torn apart part of the waste object, wherein the first stream comprises a first material in the various materials.

[0044] Arrangements known from the prior art for processing waste objects can be further optimized by improving the separation of the first material from the plurality of materials to further reduce a residual flow of the first material that has not been separated from the plurality of materials and which remains inside the chamber and needs to be carried away. This results in the generation of non-separable waste material which, for example, needs to be burned or collected at a waste accumulation. Therefore, there is a need for an improved method and apparatus for processing waste objects, and more particularly, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improved method and apparatus for processing waste objects to reduce unseparated waste material in an apparatus for processing waste objects.

[0045] In a first further aspect, an apparatus for processing said waste objects is disclosed, wherein said waste objects include a plurality of materials, said apparatus comprising: a container for receiving a portion of said waste objects, said container comprising an upright wall, wherein said upright wall comprises a screen arrangement and a disassembling arrangement; at least two rotating cranks, said at least two rotating cranks being positioned at a lower portion of said container, adjacent to each other and arranged to rotate on a common rotation plane, for tearing said portion of said waste object into torn portions of said waste object by positioning said portion of said waste object between said at least two rotating cranks, wherein said disassembling arrangement is positioned at the periphery of said rotating cranks, for disassembling said torn portions of said waste objects into disassembled torn portions of said waste objects, said disassembling arrangement comprising: protrusions, said protrusions being positioned in a pattern on said upright wall The at least two rotating cranks are provided with a screen arrangement and extend to the interior of the container for disassembling the torn parts of the waste objects, wherein the screen arrangement is positioned at the periphery of the rotating cranks, the screen arrangement comprises a plurality of screen portions, wherein the screen portions are distributed on the upright walls and are arranged at an inclined angle relative to the peripheral direction of the container, the screen portions are arranged for separating a first stream from the disassembled torn parts of the waste objects by throwing the disassembled torn parts of the waste objects toward the plurality of screen portions through the at least two rotating cranks, the first stream comprising a first material among the plurality of materials.

[0046] The waste material object processed by the equipment according to the present disclosure may include various materials.Therefore, the equipment may be arranged to process the chemical components of various materials, which may be the same or different, different in density, different in specific gravity and / or different in surface / weight ratio, for example, two or more materials in various materials include components attached to each other.For example, the equipment may be arranged or configured to process multilayer waste material objects.An example in this regard is a laminate.The waste material object is, for example, composed of one or more layers selected from plastic foil, rubber, foam, cellulose fiber and / or textile.In another example, the first material in various materials includes fiber, wherein the fiber is a synthetic fiber (such as polyethylene fiber) and / or a natural fiber (such as paper, cotton, hemp or jute).In addition, various materials may include a material of low specific gravity and a component stream of high specific gravity.The component of high specific gravity generally includes hard plastic (PVC) and / or rubber.The component of low specific gravity generally includes plastic foil, such as polyethylene or polyethylene terephthalate foil.Additionally, the waste material object may include a high specific gravity generally having a high specific gravity (such as stone and / or metal component).

[0047] The container comprises a bottom, an upright wall and an upper portion located at a lower portion of the container, the bottom being used to receive a portion of the waste object, the upper portion being open or closable by a lid. From a top view, the container may be hexagonal and / or made of steel.

[0048] The upright wall of the container may include a screen arrangement including a plurality of screen parts, adjacent to a disassembly arrangement including a plurality of disassembly parts. In an embodiment, the upright wall includes a wall portion, wherein the wall portion is detachably connected to the upright wall, each wall portion including a screen portion and / or a disassembly portion. In particular, each wall portion includes a steel plate, and the screen portion and / or the disassembly portion is received on or in the steel plate. The size of the wall portion is typically 200×200 mm, but is not limited thereto.

[0049] A rotary crank, in particular one, two or three rotary cranks, is positioned at the lower portion of the container. The rotary cranks are positioned adjacent to each other and are arranged to rotate on a common rotation plane at least substantially parallel to the bottom of the container. Each rotary crank is rotatably connected to an upright shaft, wherein each upright shaft extends into the container at least substantially parallel to the upright wall. The rotary cranks extend transversely to the respective upright shaft and into the container.

[0050] A set of two (or more) rotating cranks are arranged to tear the parts of the waste object into torn parts of the waste object by placing the parts of the waste object between at least two rotating cranks. The two rotating cranks in a pair tear apart large components, and the friction generated between the rotating cranks tears apart various components that are attached to each other, such as a variety of materials including fibers that are attached to other materials, wherein the other materials include materials with low specific gravity (such as plastic foil) and materials with high specific gravity (such as rubber).

[0051] Preferably, each rotating crank comprises a fixed crank element and a disposable pulverizing tip or pulverizing knife. The pulverizing tip is preferably configurable at a position on the crank so that the mutual distance between the free ends of the tips of two adjacent rotating cranks can be set in a range between 1 cm and 10 cm, and preferably between 1 cm and 5 cm, while in a preferred configuration, the mutual distance is set at approximately 5 cm.

[0052] Furthermore, during the processing of the waste object, large components of mutually attached materials are torn into smaller components. The longer the components of mutually attached materials spend between the at least two rotating cranks, the smaller the size of the components, wherein during the tearing process, a first material such as fibers is separated from the plurality of materials.

[0053] The inventors' insight is to provide the apparatus with an additional disassembly arrangement, which is positioned at the periphery of the rotating cranks and which comprises protrusions arranged in a pattern on the upright wall and extending into the interior of the container for disassembling the torn parts of the waste object into disassembled torn parts of the waste object. The disassembly arrangement is arranged for generating a friction force on the torn parts of the waste object for disassembling the torn parts of the waste object by throwing the torn parts of the waste object towards the protrusions by at least two rotating cranks. The protrusions extend into the interior of the container, such as but not limited to, for example, in a range between 5 mm and 30 mm.

[0054] The main function of the disassembling arrangement is to further disassemble the components of mutually attached materials into smaller components of mutually attached materials and / or to further disassemble the components of mutually attached materials in order to separate the first material from the plurality of materials during the processing of the waste objects. The insight generated is that by applying the disassembling arrangement to additionally disassemble the torn parts of the waste objects in addition to the rotating crank for tearing off the parts of the waste objects, the process of processing the waste objects is much more efficient. An advantage of the device according to the invention is that the first material is more effectively and efficiently separated from the plurality of materials compared to the arrangements known in the prior art, resulting in less residual non-separable waste material, which needs to be burned or collected at the waste pile.

[0055] A further advantage of the apparatus is that the energy transferred from the rotating crank to the material is less than in arrangements known from the prior art. Advantageously, less power is required to drive the rotating crank and less heat is generated inside the container due to friction than in arrangements known from the prior art. This results in a more energy efficient arrangement, less deterioration due to heat generated inside the container, and a more fireproof process for handling waste objects.

[0056] The screen arrangement may be positioned at the periphery of the rotating crank.The screen parts of the screen arrangement are distributed on the upright wall and are arranged at an inclined angle of preferably at most 5 degrees relative to the peripheral direction of the container.

[0057] Due to the rotation of the rotary crank, an airflow is generated at the periphery of the rotary crank, thereby defining the airflow direction inside the container. Each screen section includes a downstream section located downstream in the airflow direction and an upstream section located upstream in the airflow direction, wherein the downstream edge of the corresponding screen section extends further into the container than the upstream edge of the corresponding screen section. This reduces the risk of material being caught by the screen section and / or material accumulating in the screen section.

[0058] The first material, such as fibers, can be lifted out through the screen of the screen arrangement and collected outside the container, thereby separating the first stream of the first material from the disassembled torn parts of the waste object. The remaining materials of the plurality of materials (including materials with low specific gravity and materials with high specific gravity) remain inside the container. Impurities in the waste object (usually with higher specific gravity) are also retained inside the container.

[0059] In an example, at least two cranks are configured to generate thermal turbulence to separate further materials of the plurality of materials into a second stream of materials of low specific gravity and a third stream of materials of high specific gravity. Advantageously, the third stream of materials of high specific gravity can be collected at the bottom of the container and removed from the bottom. The remaining materials of the plurality of materials are dispersed by the turbulence generated by the at least two rotating cranks, and the second stream of materials of low specific gravity will form a vortex in the container and can be collected and removed at the upper portion of the container.

[0060] In an example, the projection comprises a rod extending into the interior of the container. The rod is fixedly or removably attached to the disassembly part and extends into the interior of the container at least substantially perpendicular to the upright wall, for example, in a range between 15 mm and 30 mm, the rod being preferably made of metal. For example, the rod is cylindrical. In another example, the projection comprises a welding projection extending into the interior of the container. The welding projection is suitable for roughening the surface of the sieve part of the interior of the container, and the range extending into the interior of the container is, for example, between 5 mm and 15 mm.

[0061] In an example, the projection comprises a cutting arrangement. For example, the projection is one of a knife with a cutting edge or blade extending into the interior of the container and a rod extending into the interior of the container, wherein at least one longitudinal edge of the projection comprises a cutting edge or blade, wherein the cutting edge or blade is arranged to receive a torn portion of the waste object, and wherein the cutting edge or blade is directed upstream in the direction of the air flow for disassembling the torn portion of the waste object by cutting the torn portion of the waste object into smaller components. This is particularly useful, for example, for disassembling large components of high density included in waste objects (e.g., shoes, in particular safety shoes with steel toes) into smaller components.

[0062] In examples, the protrusions are arranged in rows perpendicular to the peripheral direction of the container, in rows parallel to the peripheral direction of the container, or both, and optionally, wherein the protrusions are arranged equidistant from each other.

[0063] In a further example, the disassembling arrangement comprises a plurality of disassembling parts, wherein the protrusions are detachably connected to the plurality of disassembling parts, and / or wherein the length of the protrusions is adjustable. This may be beneficial because the disassembling arrangement is adjustable for different types of waste objects, thereby adjusting the amount of friction on the torn apart parts of the waste objects, wherein the number of protrusions of the respective disassembling parts is adjustable, the protrusions of the respective disassembling parts may be arranged in different patterns, such as in rows or in a matrix, the distance between subsequent protrusions may be adjustable, and / or the length of individual protrusions may be adjustable.

[0064] In an example, the sieve portion and the disassembly portion may be arranged at different locations of the upright wall and / or at different heights of the upright wall.The disassembly arrangement may for example be arranged in a corner of a container, for example a corner of a hexagonal container.

[0065] In an example, the sieve arrangement is arranged in the upright wall at the height of the upright wall, at least substantially between 1 / 4 and 3 / 4 of the height of the upright wall, preferably at least substantially between 1 / 3 and 2 / 3 of the height of the upright wall, and / or the disassembly arrangement is arranged in the upright wall at the height of the upright wall, at least substantially between 1 / 4 and 3 / 4 of the height of the upright wall, preferably at least substantially between 1 / 3 and 2 / 3 of the height of the upright wall. In an example, the sieve has a mesh diameter in the range between approximately 1 mm and 20 mm, for example between approximately 2 mm and 12 mm, such as between approximately 2 mm and 6 mm, such as, for example, a mesh diameter of approximately 2 mm.

[0066] In an example, when there are multiple cranks, two of these rotating cranks are positioned at a mutual distance such that the distance traveled by the at least two rotating cranks is in the range of approximately 1 cm to 25 cm, preferably approximately 2 cm to 20 cm, more preferably approximately 3 cm to 15 cm, and most preferably approximately 5 cm to 10 cm. This facilitates efficient tearing of portions of the waste object.

[0067] In an example, the rotating crank has a rotation frequency in the range of approximately 100 rpm and 3000 rpm, such as approximately 400 rpm and 1600 rpm, in particular approximately 800 rpm and 1200 rpm, such as, for example, a rotation frequency at 900 rpm. This is advantageous for effectively tearing apart parts of the waste material object and / or generating turbulence through the crank to further separate the low specific gravity material from the plurality of materials.

[0068] In an example, at least one upright air guiding element is arranged inside the container for cooperating with the upright wall to define a channel for air along the upright wall, which channel tapers in the direction of airflow, wherein the airflow direction is defined as the direction of airflow generated by the at least two rotating cranks at the periphery of the at least two rotating cranks. At least one upright air guiding element is arranged outside the rotation volume of the at least two rotating cranks and is at least partially higher than the rotation volume of the at least two rotating cranks. The at least one upright air guiding element cooperates with the upright wall to define a channel for air along the upright wall, which channel tapers in the direction of flow. This is conducive to guiding the torn portion of the waste object to the screen arrangement and / or the disassembly arrangement, and / or for guiding the torn portion of the disassembled waste object to the screen arrangement and / or the disassembly arrangement.

[0069] In an example, the device further comprises at least one motor for driving the at least two rotating cranks, and a power supply for powering the at least one motor. The device may comprise one motor for driving each rotating crank individually. Preferably, the device comprises one motor for driving at least two rotating cranks, which is advantageous for the power consumption of the device.

[0070] In an example, the apparatus further comprises an air pump for generating an air flow to remove the stream of the low specific gravity component from the container. The low specific gravity component forms a vortex in the container and can be advantageously removed from the upper portion of the container by the air pump.

[0071] In an example, the portion of the waste object has a humidity of at most 40wt%. The process for handling the waste object is most effective for waste objects with a humidity of at most 40wt%. If the humidity is higher than 40wt%, the waste object will accumulate inside the container, particularly against the sieve portion and the disassembly portion or accumulate around it, which is undesirable. If the initial humidity of the waste object is higher than 40wt%, additional drying process steps can be started, for example, by heating, centrifugation, wringing or rolling. If the humidity of the waste object is lower than 40wt%, water can be added, for example, by a nozzle inside the container to control the humidity and keep it at a constant level.

[0072] In a second further aspect, there is disclosed a method for processing waste objects, the method comprising the steps of:

[0073] - providing said portion of said waste object to said container;

[0074] - tearing said portion of said waste object into torn portions of said waste object by placing said at least one portion between said at least two rotating cranks;

[0075] - disassembling said torn-apart parts of waste objects into said disassembled torn-apart parts of waste objects by said disassembling arrangement;

[0076] - separating a first stream comprising a first material of said plurality of materials from said disassembled and torn parts of waste objects by throwing said disassembled and torn parts towards said plurality of screen arrangements.

[0077] In an example, the method further comprises the following steps:

[0078] - separating a further material of the plurality of materials into a second material flow of low specific gravity and a third material flow of high specific gravity by generating thermal turbulence by the at least two cranks.

[0079] Embodiments of the method according to the present invention will now be explained with reference to the following figures and examples.

[0080] Figure 1 A top view of an embodiment of an apparatus for processing carpet waste is shown.

[0081] Figure 2 Shows Figure 1 Side view of the device.

[0082] Figure 3A and Figure 3B Different embodiments of disassembled parts are shown.

[0083] 4A to 4D Different arrangements of projections are shown.

[0084] FIG. 5A to FIG. 5D Different forms of protrusions with sharp edges are shown.

[0085] Fig. 6A and Figure 6B A side view of two devices with partially enclosed upright walls is shown.

[0086] Fig. 7A and Figure 7B Shown are side views of two devices with fully enclosed upright walls.

[0087] Fig. 8A and Figure 8B Shown is a side view of two single crank devices with fully enclosed upright walls.

[0088] Fig. 9 An embodiment of a method of treating a carpet product is shown.

[0089] Example 1 describes various tests used to treat carpet products. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0090] Figures 1 to 9

[0091] Figure 1 and Figure 2 A top view and a side view, respectively, of an embodiment of an apparatus 100 for treating waste carpet products are shown. The basic arrangement is known from EP 3816345 and comprises a container 101 comprising an upright wall 103, which in this particular embodiment is provided with a screen arrangement 105 positioned at the periphery of two rotating cranks 111', 111". The screen arrangement 105 comprises screen sections 105' provided with screens with a mesh diameter of, for example, 2 mm, which are selected according to the type of carpet product to be treated (cut or loop pile, length of veil, type of backing material, type of primary backing, etc.). The screen sections 105' are distributed on the upright wall 103 and are arranged at an inclination angle of 4 degrees with respect to the peripheral direction of the container 101. Each screen section 105' comprises a downstream section located downstream in the air flow direction D and an upstream section located upstream in the air flow direction D, wherein the downstream edge of the respective screen section extends more into the interior of the container 103 than the upstream edge of the respective screen section 105'.

[0092] The upright wall 103 also includes a disassembly arrangement 107 positioned at the periphery of the two rotating cranks 111', 111". The disassembly arrangement 107 includes a disassembly portion 107' provided with protrusions 109. The type, length and pattern of the protrusions 109 on the respective disassembly portion 107' also depend on the type of carpet product to be processed. In this embodiment, the protrusions 109 are cylindrical metal rods with a length of 20 mm extending into the interior of the container 101, and the cylindrical metal rods are arranged in a matrix pattern.

[0093] The sieve section 105' and the dismantling section 107' are arranged in or on a metal wall plate having a size of 200×200 mm and are detachably attached to the upright wall 103. Both the sieve section 105' and the dismantling section 107' can be easily replaced or reordered according to the type of waste objects to be processed. In addition, a protrusion is detachably connected to the dismantling section, and the length of the protrusion is adjustable.

[0094] A portion of the waste object, such as a coarsely shredded broadloom carpet, is supplied to the lower portion of the container 101 continuously or in stages via the upper portion of the container 101, for example using one or more conveyors located above the container 101. The carpet tiles are pre-cut into tiles of approximately 0.1 m2 to 0.5 m2, so that the carpet tiles can be easily supplied to the apparatus 100. The carpet comprises an upper layer of cut pile yarns, firmly attached using a secondary (heavy weight) backing such as bitumen or a rubber layer embedded in the lower portion of the yarns (facing away from the upper surface), sewn into a textile sheet used as a primary backing. If a post-consumer carpet product is processed, the product may include impurities such as dust or even small stones, metal components and plastic foil.

[0095] The container 101 is provided with two upright shafts 109', 109". The first upright shaft 109' is provided with a rotating crank 111' having a distal end 113'. The second upright shaft 109" is provided with a rotating crank 111". having a distal end 113". The distal end 113', 113" comprises a fixed crank element and a disposable shredding tip or shredding knife. The upright shafts 109', 109" are driven by a motor 121, and both rotate in the same direction (counterclockwise as viewed from above in this embodiment), thereby defining an air flow direction D at the periphery of the upper wall 103. The distal ends 113', 113" of the two rotating arms 111', 111" simultaneously pass through a line extending between the two upright shafts 109', 109" for tearing a carpet tile introduced into the lower part of the container 101 into ripped portions of the carpet. The two rotating cranks 111', 111" define a rotating volume. Two upright air guiding elements 115 are arranged above the rotating volume of the rotating cranks 111', 111". The upright air guiding elements 115 have a conical profile with rounded ends to prevent material from sticking to the upright air guiding elements 115 instead of being discharged from the container 101. The upright air guiding elements 115 cooperate with the upright wall 103 to define a channel 117 for air along the upright wall 103, which channel 117 gradually tapers in the air flow direction D.

[0096] The torn parts of the carpet are thrown by two rotating cranks 111', 111" towards the screen arrangement 105 and the disassembling arrangement 107. The fibers that have been separated from the carpet are thrown through the screen openings of the screen arrangement 105 and discharged by the screw conveyor 123. The carpet pieces from which the fibers have not yet been separated are thrown against the protrusions 107' of the disassembling arrangement 107 for further disassembling of the fibers from the carpet.

[0097] The disassembled torn parts of the carpet are further torn by placing them between two rotating cranks 111', 111", and by throwing them towards the disassembling arrangement 107 by the two rotating cranks 111', 111", thereby tearing and disassembling the disassembled torn parts of the carpet into smaller parts and separating fibers (yarns) from the carpet. The upright air guide elements 115 guide the disassembled torn parts of the carpet to the screen arrangement 105 and the disassembling arrangement, where the fibers are finally separated from the carpet and hung out through the screen openings of the screen arrangement 105.

[0098] Materials with a high specific gravity, in particular backing, stones and metal components, remain at the bottom of the container 101 and can be discharged from the container 101 after the process of treating the waste objects is completed. In an alternative embodiment, these materials at the bottom can be removed using a suction arrangement, which will be explained in further examples. Due to the thermal turbulence generated by the two rotating cranks 111 ', 111 "and by the heat generated in the container 101, materials with a low specific gravity, in particular plastic foil, form a vortex in the container 101 and can be discharged from the upper part of the container 101 using an air pump 125.

[0099] Figure 3A An embodiment of a disassembly portion is shown, which includes two cylindrical metal rods 109, a metal plate adjustably attached to the disassembly portion 107'. The length of the two rods can be adjusted by a rod receiving arrangement 127. By rotating the screw 129 clockwise, the rods 109 are displaced inside the rod receiving arrangement 127, thereby reducing the length of the rods 109 extending inside the container 101. By rotating the screw 129 counterclockwise, the rods 109 are displaced outside the rod receiving arrangement 127, thereby increasing the length of the rods 109 extending inside the container 101.

[0100] Figure 3B Another embodiment of the disassembly portion is shown, which includes two knives 109 with cutting edges extending into the interior of the container 101, wherein the cutting edges of the knives 109 are located upstream of the air flow D and are arranged to receive the torn portions of the waste objects for disassembling the torn portions of the waste objects by cutting them into smaller components.

[0101] 4A to 4D Various disassembled parts 107 are shown with different arrangements of protrusions 109. Figure 4A In the embodiment, the protrusion is in the form of an elongated triangle (see Figure 5A ), having a sharp upper edge which extends parallel in the vertical direction. Figure 4B The protrusions in the figure are small elongated triangles arranged in an oblique direction (see the form of Figure 5B ).and Figure 4B compared to, Figure 4C The protrusion (for its form, see Figure 5C ) are tilted in different directions. Figure 5D The protrusion and Figure 4B The projection of the same upward direction, but longer (for its form see Figure 5D ).

[0102] FIG. 5A to FIG. 5D Figure 4 shows different forms of protrusions, each having at least one sharp edge 190. These figures are top views of the elongated protrusions along their length (this way showing a cross section of each of the protrusions 109 present on portion 107). Figure 5C A protrusion having two sharp edges 190 is shown.

[0103] Fig. 6A and Figure 6B Two apparatuses 100 are shown in side views with partially enclosed upright walls 103. Furthermore, a hopper 130 is shown in each case for feeding carpet products into a central container. Fig. 6A In the embodiment of the invention, the upper part of the wall 103 has a screen part 105. The lower part of the wall is closed and therefore impermeable to the yarn-containing (first) fraction. The yarn-containing fraction is removed from the container by using a suction unit 132. The second fraction containing the heavy backing particles remains at the bottom of the device and is removed by a suction unit 131. Figure 6B A device 100 is shown, which is essentially the same as Fig. 6A The equipment is identical, although the suction unit 132 now emerges from the top rather than the side wall 103 .

[0104] Fig. 7A and Figure 7B The side view of two devices with completely enclosed upright walls is shown. These devices are actually almost the same Fig. 6A and Figure 6B The apparatus depicted is identical except that the upright walls 103 are completely closed and therefore impermeable over their entire height to the first fraction containing the yarns of the carpet being treated.

[0105] Fig. 8A and Figure 8B A side view of two single crank devices with fully enclosed upright walls is shown. Fig. 7A and Figure 7B The equipment shown is equivalent. Fig. 8A and Figure 8BThe devices of are different in that they are single crank devices. Although still suitable for processing carpet products, the carpet tiles fed via hopper 130 are preferably of relatively small size (e.g., between 2 cm and 5 cm in length) so as to keep the time required to process the product short.

[0106] Fig. 9 An embodiment of a method 200 for treating waste carpet products according to the second aspect of the present disclosure is shown. The method 200 for treating carpet products uses the method described above with respect to Figure 7B The described apparatus 100 comprises the step of providing said waste carpet tile (having a size of about 15×15 cm) to the container 101 via the hopper 130 in step 201. Then, in step 203, the carpet tile is torn into torn portions of carpet having smaller sizes by placing the carpet portions between two rotating cranks 111 ′, 111 ″. Then, in step 205, the torn portions of the waste carpet are disassembled into disassembled torn portions of said carpet by the disassembling arrangement 107. And then in step 207, the light fraction is sucked by the suction unit 132, separating a first stream (i.e., a first fraction) from the disassembled torn portions of the waste objects, wherein the first stream comprises at least a part of the veil of the carpet. Next, in step 209, the heavy fraction is sucked from the bottom by the suction unit 131, separating a second material stream (i.e., a second fraction) of high specific gravity.

[0107] Example 1

[0108] Several tests have been conducted to separate the textile (yarn) part and the rubber part from industrial dust control mats. These mats are extremely difficult to recycle due to the embedding of the yarn in the heavy rubber, and therefore, in the field of recycling carpet products, the recycling of these mats is actually the worst case. The dust control mats used for the experiment include a non-woven PET (polyester) textile sheet as the main backing, a cut pile of nylon yarn and a rubber secondary backing embedded in the main backing and a pile yarn sewn therein by tufting. The rubber layer of the mat is a relatively dense layer with a weight of about 1,65 kg / m2, which is made using a standard vulcanized nitrile rubber compound (about 50% NBR rubber, 35% carbon black and 15% plasticizer, zinc oxide and other components). The main backing is a non-woven PET sheet of 125 g / m2, in which tufts are nylon 675 g / m2 cut pile of velvet type. This means that about 67% of the dust control mat is made of rubber compound, while the textile part is the remaining 33%.

[0109] The quality of the separation process is evaluated by measuring the weight of the textile part separated and released from the rubber by processing in the dismantling device. This is evaluated in different output flows from the suction unit and the sieve. Finally, the part remaining inside the central container (also called "chamber") is also evaluated accordingly. In the case where some rubber pieces are also present in the yarn-containing fraction (also called "textile fluff"), the separation after dismantling is carried out using a cyclone separator of the prior art to evaluate the quality of the test.

[0110] The final assessment of the separation quality was done by calculating the total textile portion (pile and primary backing) removed from the rubber substrate. On the top, the presence of rubber pieces inside the released textile pile was also observed and indicated as a non-positive result.

[0111] The machine used is highly similar to the one disclosed in EP 3816345 (manufactured by NewWave Engineering BV, Echt, The Netherlands), as described herein above. Figure 1 As shown, and consists of two cranks, both of which rotate counterclockwise at a frequency of 50 Hz. The rotating part is L-shaped. As a disassembled arrangement, multiple steel bars of different shapes (see Figure 1 ) were welded to the surface in the area in front of the rotating axis. The experiments were run in the presence of a sieve (also called a “grid”) (e.g. Figure 1 ), and in the alternative, runs on a closed container wall which is impermeable to the textile fluff fraction.

[0112] In a setup with two rotating cranks, the mats are fed without any prior comminution. The processing cycle consists of the following steps:

[0113] 1. Using a slow rotation speed (30 Hz) of both shafts, 15 kg of dust control mat was introduced into the chamber through the opening at the top of the chamber.

[0114] 2. Close the opening at the top of the chamber and increase the speed to a maximum of 60 Hz, starting with the side units (see Fig. 6A ) Suction the villi for 240 seconds.

[0115] 3. Reduce engine speed and open the side door to remove remaining material inside.

[0116] In this manner, the following series of tests were performed:

[0117] - Tests were carried out using the machine described in patent EP 3816345, which comprises a full set of grids on the chamber walls. In different tests, different mesh sizes of the grids have been tested.

[0118] - Tests performed without any grid on the walls (walls completely closed) with a top suction unit for removing the textile fluff fraction and a bottom suction unit for removing the fraction containing the dense rubber part.

[0119] - In the closed wall tests, the positioning of the top suction unit was changed, with a different vertical position (height) and lateral position in the chamber.

[0120] The results show that in the setup using the grid, almost independently of the mesh size of the sieve (5 mesh, 10 mesh and 15 mesh), about 50% to 55% of the textile yarns can be separated from the floor mat, however, with some serious disadvantages: a portion of the textile fluff clogs the sieve and, therefore, the chamber needs to be opened to remove the textile fluff. In addition, the fraction with textile fluff includes small rubber particles, which need to be removed via an additional cyclone treatment of the textile fluff fraction.

[0121] In an arrangement with closed walls and suction openings in the top and / or side walls of the chamber, about 80% of the textile yarns can be separated from the mat. This depends almost independently on the number (one or two) or position (top, side or top and side walls) of the suction openings. However, there are still some rubber particles present in the textile fluff fraction, which require post-treatment.

[0122] In the arrangement in which the suction tube extends into the chamber, the best results were achieved, ie approximately 90% of the textile yarns were separated from the mat and no rubber particles were present in the textile fluff fraction.

Claims

1. A method for treating a carpet product using an apparatus, the carpet product comprising a veil and a backing material embedded in a lower portion of the veil, the apparatus comprising a container for receiving at least a portion of the carpet product, the container comprising a bottom wall and a top wall connected by an upright wall, and at least one rotating crank, the at least one rotating crank being positioned in the container, wherein the upright wall comprises a disassembly arrangement positioned at a periphery of the rotating crank, the disassembly arrangement comprising a protrusion disposed on the upright wall, the protrusion extending from the wall toward the rotating crank to an interior of the container, the method comprising: - feeding the at least a portion of the carpet product into the container, - rotating the rotary crank to cause the at least a portion of the carpet product to travel along the protrusion to disassemble the carpet product into a first fraction including at least a portion of the face veil and a second fraction including at least a portion of the backing material.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The wall is impermeable to the first fraction at least in the vicinity of the rotating crank.

3. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that The complete wall is impermeable to this first fraction.

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that The projection extends into the container with a length of between 2 mm and 50 mm, preferably between 5 mm and 30 mm, such as for example between 10 mm and 20 mm.

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that The first fraction is removed from the container by using a first suction unit having an inlet opening disposed above the rotating crank, and sucking air including the first fraction through the inlet opening of the first suction unit, thereby removing the first fraction from the container.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The inlet opening of the suction unit is located at the end of a suction tube which extends from the wall of the chamber towards the centre of the chamber.

7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that The second fraction is removed from the container by using a second suction unit having an inlet opening located below the rotating crank to suck air including the second fraction through the inlet opening of the second suction unit, thereby removing the second fraction from the container.

8. Method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the projection comprises a cutting arrangement, in particular a cutting edge, characterized in that The carpet product is disassembled by cutting the carpet product while advancing along the cutting arrangement.

9. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that The protrusions are arranged in a row perpendicular to the circumference of the container, in a row parallel to the circumference of the container, in a row perpendicular to and parallel to the circumference, and / or in a row inclined to the circumference, and optionally, the protrusions are arranged equidistantly from each other.

10. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that The disassembly arrangement is provided in the upright wall at a height of the upright wall, at least substantially between 1 / 4 and 3 / 4 of the height of the upright wall, preferably at least substantially between 1 / 3 and 2 / 3 of the height of the upright wall.

11. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that When rotating, the rotating crank passes the protrusion at a distance in the range between 0.5 cm and 25 cm, for example between 1 cm and 20 cm or between 2 cm and 15 cm.

12. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that The rotating crank is flat in nature to minimize turbulence at the bottom of the vessel.

13. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that In this container, two rotating cranks are positioned to rotate in the same plane.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The rotating cranks rotate in the same direction.

15. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that Each projection is at essentially the same distance from the rotating crank facing said projection.

16. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that The process is performed semi-continuously.

17. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that The carpet product was fed at a moisture content of at most 40 wt%.

18. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that The longest dimension of the carpet product being fed is at most 25 cm, preferably at most 20 cm, 15 cm, 14 cm, 13 cm, 12 cm, 11 cm, 10 cm or less.

19. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that The carpet product is a cut pile carpet product.

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