MOTOR VEHICLE FLOOR COVERING, LUGGAGE COMPARTMENT COVERING OR LOADING FLOOR COVERING WITH STRUCTURED NEEDLE CARPET SURFACE (II)

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a three-dimensionally shaped floor covering, luggage compartment covering or loading floor covering for motor vehicles, the carpet surface of which has a needled structure on the visible side, as well as the coverings themselves.

[0002] The surface material for a motor vehicle itself is a velour carpet, which may have several underlayers and may also have foam or fiber / fleece insulation towards the bodywork.

[0003] Particularly due to the development of electric vehicles, designers are looking for alternative solutions in the deformable carpet surface, in comparison to the monochrome, smooth flat needle-punched, velour and tufted carpet.

[0004] In vehicles with a tailgate (estate / station wagon) and folding rear seatbacks, this styling also applies particularly to the luggage compartment, since with the tailgate open and the rear seatbacks folded down, one looks into the now exposed interior of the vehicle from behind. Both the luggage compartment and the passenger compartment must then embody a unified, coherent styling.

[0005] Various types of carpet coverings for motor vehicle floor coverings, luggage compartment coverings and loading floor coverings are known in the prior art, namely in particular tufted, velour and flat needle-punched carpets.

[0006] In tufted carpets, PA6.6, PA6, PP, rPA and PET, rPET as well as the corresponding bio-based polyamides (PA 5.10; PA 6.10) are used in particular; and in velour and flat needle-punched carpets, PET, PET / PP, PP, PA / PET and rPET are predominantly used as yarn / fiber material.

[0007] Methods for manufacturing velour carpets are known in the prior art, see among others DE 44 09 771 A1, DE 29 00 935 C2 and DE 10 2008 026 968 A1.

[0008] A velour nonwoven is a refined needle-punched nonwoven fabric in which a fiber pile is created from a pre-made nonwoven material by needling it into a continuous, homogeneous brush strip. When this is then sheared to a defined pile height, it is called a sheared velour.

[0009] A velour carpet differs from a needle-punched carpet in its higher quality appearance and feel, as well as its improved wear resistance.

[0010] Specific methods for homogenizing the puncture pattern in a needle-punched nonwoven are described in US 9,567,698 B2, US 2016 / 0069006 A1, US 9,260,806 B2, US 2015 / 0259836 A1, and EP 2 918 719 A1. In the production of a flat needle-punched nonwoven, staple fibers are bonded between two metal plates after a carding and cross-folding process using multiple needle-punching steps. In a further step, this flat needle-punched nonwoven can be transformed into a velour needle-punched nonwoven by re-needling into a brush strip. For both variants, thermal or chemical bonding of the staple fibers after needle-punching is necessary to achieve good final strength.

[0011] The fibers are primarily incorporated using foamed latex or acrylate. A combined use of latex or acrylate and BiCo fiber (coPET / PET bicomponent fiber) is also common in practice. Furthermore, incorporation is sometimes achieved exclusively using BiCo fiber.

[0012] Specifically, WO 2017 / 061970 A1 addresses the bonding of carpets using bicomponent (BiCo) fibers. It describes the optimization of (BiCo) fiber fixation through the use of special slot dies in the drying oven. Other known methods include: sprinkled PE, EVA / PE mixtures, extruded PE, films, hot melt adhesives, thermoplastic dispersions, and thermobonding (EP 1 598 476 B1).

[0013] In DE 2 008 439 C [US 3 755 055] a process is described in which a monochrome or melange nonwoven web and a nonwoven web printed on one side with pigment dyes with an ornamental pattern in one or more colors are placed on top of each other, the printed side of one nonwoven web being turned away from the unprinted nonwoven web, and then both nonwoven webs are needled from the unprinted surface to such an extent that the fibers of the unprinted nonwoven web mix with the fibers of the printed nonwoven web to form a pile on its printed surface and its printed ornamental pattern is changed to a soft and three-dimensional-looking pattern.

[0014] DE 39 04 526 A1 discloses a floor covering and a method for its manufacture. To produce a floor covering consisting of two layers of needle-punched nonwoven fabric, the top layer of which is structured on its upper surface, the underside of the structured top layer is needled into it from the underside. The needle depth is significantly less than the thickness of the top layer. Needle-punching the two layers together from the back of the top layer does not destroy the structure of the top layer. Following needle-punching, the two layers are further bonded by impregnation with a binder through the top layer.

[0015] EP 0 888 743 A1 [US 2002 / 0029445 A1, US 6 287 407 B1, US 6 398 895 B1] describes a structured textile material made of at least two different base nonwovens for use in cleaning textiles. The technical teaching relates to a structured textile material made of at least two different needle-punched base nonwovens, wherein the base nonwovens have a structure obtained by needle-punching on at least one side, wherein the needles used for the structure-punching are fork or crown needles, and the depth of the forks or burrs is selected such that they are completely filled with fibers of the base nonwoven facing the needles upon penetration, and wherein the textile material has unmixed, pure fibers in the pattern, background, and reverse side.The process for producing the structured textile material involves, firstly, laminating the two needled base nonwovens containing melt fibers without activating the melt fibers, followed by one- or two-sided structural needle densification, and activating the melt fibers of the base nonwovens after structural needle densification; and secondly, before entering a structural needle densification machine, inserting an intermediate layer of a material capable of bonding the two base nonwovens, in particular an adhesive nonwoven, between the two needled base nonwovens containing melt fibers, subjecting the two base nonwovens and the intermediate layer to one- or two-sided structural needle densification, and then bonding the two base nonwovens and the intermediate layer by activating the melt fibers and the intermediate layer.

[0016] WO 2011 / 045691 A1 describes a graphic velour carpet and its production. The process utilizes two structuring machines, each equipped with two needle boards, and a base and a top layer nonwoven fabric. The base nonwoven is fed onto the top layer between the two structuring machines and needled into a nonwoven fabric in the second structuring machine. The needles in the needle boards are arranged according to predetermined patterns. An adhesive is applied to the base nonwoven, which then fixes / binds the fibers of the nonwoven layers.

[0017] It is also known to create patterns in a needle-punched felt web using several components, fiber layers and several needling processes, see among others DE 103 46 473 A1 and WO 2011 / 065851 A1.

[0018] German patent DE 20 2009 000 775 U1 describes a fiber-reinforced nonwoven fabric consisting of a needle-punched nonwoven or fiber nap (surface layer) on the visible side and a fiber nap or nonwoven (pattern layer) that are joined together by needling with different needle types / patterns and / or needle arrangements and / or insertion directions and / or insertion depths. The pattern layer is pre-treated; it differs from the surface layer in the fibers themselves and in the fiber coloring. Furthermore, the pattern layer is die-cut and / or cut out before needling with the surface layer; and it is dyed and / or printed. Several different pattern naps or nonwovens are used as the pattern layer. The surface layer is back-needled and surface-treated.

[0019] Further relevant information can be found in the documents CN 1 399 023 A, JP S63 12748 A, EP 0 411 248 A1 and DE 10 2018 101321 B3.

[0020] All "structured needle-punched" applications, processes, and devices, as well as material structures, described in the prior art do not apply to (single-layer) flat needle-punched nonwoven or velour carpets for use in motor vehicles, specifically their three-dimensional forming into vehicle floor coverings, luggage compartment linings, or load floor linings. No non-destructive structure is reported that retains its surface structure effectively during three-dimensional forming in a contact heating field (laminating press), radiant heating field, or within the forming tool itself.

[0021] The object of the present invention, compared to the aforementioned prior art, is therefore to provide a deformation-resistant, textured needle-punched carpet that enhances the passenger and / or luggage compartment and / or cargo space of motor vehicles by creating a "living room / comfortable atmosphere". In particular, the object of the invention is to introduce a permanent, durable surface pattern with a possibly three-dimensional structure into the production of velour carpet or the velouring of needle-punched carpet. This pattern is structured differently across the width of the carpet surface and withstands three-dimensional deformation to form a motor vehicle floor or luggage compartment covering.

[0022] The present invention, according to claim 1, relates to a method for producing a three-dimensionally deformable velour carpet for a floor covering, a luggage compartment covering or a loading floor covering of a motor vehicle with a structured, needle-punched, deformation-resistant surface and a carpet weight in the range of 300 g / m² to 700 g / m², characterized in that two or more needle types of different lengths are arranged segmentally across the width of a needle board, the structured velour carpet is produced from a starting nonwoven by needle-punching with a defined setting of the needle penetration depth and a defined setting of the needle penetration density, and the velour carpet is provided with one or more underlayers and deformed, wherein needles are used that differ in length, fineness, fork opening and fork orientation.

[0023] The core of the present invention is therefore the provision of a velour carpet, manufactured using a conventional standard process, for use as floor covering, luggage compartment lining, or cargo floor lining of a motor vehicle, with a structured, deformation-resistant visible surface, solely by arranging needle types of different lengths across the width of the needle board and / or needle boards used for needling or velouring the carpet. The needle boards are fitted across the width with predefined needle types / geometries, namely the needle lengths, which thus create a predetermined, optionally three-dimensional, structure of the velour surface.In a particularly preferred embodiment, needle types are used segmentally, which can differ not only in length but also in other parameters, such as fineness, fork opening and fork orientation.

[0024] The advantage of the present invention lies in providing a deformation-resistant / -stable, structurally needled velour carpet for the production of motor vehicle floor coverings, luggage compartment coverings or loading floor coverings without an additional work step in its production compared to standard velour carpet production.

[0025] The method of the present invention can be implemented - without additional nonwoven layers, needle-punching stages, needle machines or needle boards - in "standard" systems solely through the needle geometry / needle type, the needle length of the needles arranged across the width of the needle board.

[0026] Another embodiment of the present invention consists of a three-dimensionally shaped velour carpet for a floor covering, a luggage compartment covering or a loading floor covering of a motor vehicle with a structured needled, deformation-resistant surface with a grammage of the carpet in the range of 300 g / m² to 700 g / m², further comprising one or more underlayers, wherein the visible side of the velour carpet has a structured needled, durable surface.

[0027] The design will be implemented on both a single-layer and a two-layer velour carpet. In the case of a two-layer version, additional color effects with different textures can be needle-punched in. Example implementation:

[0028] To produce a dimensionally stable, textured velour carpet, a pre-weave consisting of a fiber mix of 60% standard 12 dtex fibers (60 mm fiber length), 30% standard 17 dtex fibers (69 mm fiber length), and 10% standard 4.4 dtex fibers (51 mm fiber length) (BiCo) was used as the base nonwoven. The basis weight was 615 g / m².

[0029] The Groz-Beckert KG fork needles of different lengths, 15X16X20X40X73.0 DG 9077 / 616751 [length: 74.8 mm] and 15X17X32X40X74.8 DG 9077 / 615921 [length: 76.6 mm], were installed alternately in 20 cm wide strips in a Velours IV (8000 n / lm) needle board. The machine's zero adjustment was set to the longer of the two needles. During production, it was important to determine the optimal needle depth and needle density through testing and machine settings. Fig. 1 The velour carpet shown had a puncture density of 650 st / cm2 and a puncture depth of 5 mm.

[0030] The resulting textured velour carpet was then bonded with 80 g / m² latex and coated with 80 g / m² PE. Subsequently, the velour carpet was formed with a 150 g / m² nonwoven film to create a floor covering for a mid-range vehicle using the following process parameters: contact heating field 170°C, 58 seconds; radiant heating field 140°C; and a tool closing time of 66 seconds at a tool surface temperature of 7°C.

[0031] In Fig. 2 This shows a section of the deformed floor covering material. The structure is clearly visible. Especially in Fig. 2 It can be seen that the structural needlework of the carpet is deformation-resistant and dimensionally stable.

Claims

1. A method for the production of a three-dimensionally deformable velour carpet for a floor panelling, a luggage compartment panelling or a load floor panelling of a motor vehicle with a structurally needled, deformation-resistant surface having a grammage of the carpet in the range from 300 g / m2 to 700 g / m2, characterised in that more needle types of different lengths are arranged in segments across the width of a needle board, with a defined setting of the penetration depth as well as a defined setting of the penetration density, the structured velour carpet is produced from an initial nonwoven by needling, and the velour carpet is provided with one or more underlayers and deformed, wherein needles are used which differ in length, fineness, fork opening and fork orientation.

2. Three-dimensionally shaped velour carpet produced with the method according to claim 1.