Needle-punched felt carpet layer with an aesthetically pleasing surface

Abstract

Needle-punched felt intended for forming the surface layer of automotive parts, comprising a carded, layered, and needle-punched fibrous web, the fibrous web comprising discontinuous fibers, characterized in that the fibrous web further comprises yarn ends having at least one color distinct from that of the discontinuous fibers, amalgamated into the fibers to form the web, and the majority of the yarn ends being only partially open and forming colored streaks throughout the needle-punched felt. Figure for the abstract: [Fig. 1]

Description

Title of the invention: Needle-punched felt carpet layer with an aesthetic surface. Technical field

[0001] The present invention relates to a layer of needle-punched felt carpet for automotive parts, a method of manufacturing such a layer and the use of such a layer in automotive parts. State of the art

[0002] In the automotive industry, needle-punched felt carpet structures are known to be used to cover the main floor as well as other areas. In most cases, a single color, usually a shade of black, is used for the overall appearance of the carpet. In some cases, fibers of different colors or fibers with different tones of the same color may be blended to obtain a more muted color.

[0003] In all these cases, thermoplastic fibers of a certain length and defined colors constitute the starting material. The mixing and amalgamation of the fibers makes it possible to obtain a homogeneous color in the final product.

[0004] The mixing and amalgamation of the starting fibers can be carried out on a mixing or amalgamating unit combined with various opening machines, and completed on a carding machine. The felt thus obtained at the carding machine exit is then layered and needle-punched to form the final needle-punched felt carpet layer. This layer can be used alone or in combination with other layers to form automotive parts. To this end, the needle-punched felt carpet and other optional layers can be molded to form a carpet structure or an automotive trim piece intended for use on a surface, for example as flooring, trunk carpeting, trim pieces, seat back covers, or door panels.

[0005] There has long been a need to obtain a more attractive surface, breaking with the classic black or homogeneous amalgamated fibers.

[0006] However, if colored fibers are simply added to the base mass of essentially black fibers, the fibers are amalgamated into the main mass by the carding process and end up blending with the main black fibers or producing a very uniform, homogeneous mixture effect. Amalgamating a particular color in a large volume can modify the overall color—in an extreme case, using equal quantities of black and white can produce a “salt and pepper” effect. - but it proves more difficult to obtain blocks of color or variation in the surface of the felt.

[0007] Another possibility would be to add colored fibers to the surface of the felt web as it exits the carding machine, either before or after the lamination process and before needle punching. While this solution provides a certain aesthetic appeal, it hinders the processes already underway. Furthermore, these fibers on the surface may not be sufficiently visible, may be concealed during the lamination process, or may form a more distinctive pattern more closely related to the application method. The formation of a distinctive pattern has the disadvantage that the material's positioning in the car may require more careful attention, or that the molding process may distort the initially obtained pattern.

[0008] The invention therefore aims to provide another patterned needle-punched felt, having a random pattern over the entire surface of the needle-punched felt layer for aesthetic purposes, and a method for creating such a layer, as well as the use of such a layer for automotive parts, in particular floor coverings and trim parts. Summary

[0009] This objective is achieved by the needle-punched felt according to the invention, intended to form the surface layer of automotive parts, comprising a carded, layered, and needle-punched fibrous web, the fibrous web comprising discontinuous fibers. This objective is also achieved by the manufacturing process of such needle-punched felt and the use of such needle-punched felt in automotive parts.

[0010] More particularly, the use of yarn ends in the fibrous web having at least one color distinct from that of the discontinuous fibers - the yarn ends being amalgamated in the fibers forming the web and the majority of the yarn ends, being only partially open and forming streaks of color - makes it possible to obtain streaks of color throughout the needle-punched felt material.

[0011] By color stripe, we mean a line or mark of a different color than that of the background in the final needle-punched felt, a color stripe according to the invention being formed from at least a small tuft of fibers originating from a single end of yarn. The stripes may be arranged randomly over the entire surface as well as within the layer.

[0012] By “a color distinct from that of the discontinuous fibers,” we mean the existence of a difference in color, shade, or tone, such that the yarn ends form streaks of color that are visible to the user of the surface. This could be, for example, dark-colored yarn ends on a light version of the same color, a tone-on-tone effect, or a dark background with streaks of bright color and vice versa.

[0013] Unexpectedly, the use of yarn scraps in conjunction with carding, layering, and needle-punching makes it possible to create streaks of color throughout the needle-punched felt material, thus creating a pattern on the surface, which was previously impossible with conventional fiber blends. Even more unexpectedly, not only does adding yarn scraps to the fiber mixture prior to carding ensure random distribution, but the yarn scraps also remain in tufts of filaments and / or fibers, forming the streaks of color.

[0014] Depending on the initial material used for the ends of the thread, the striations may be of different colors within the same striation or from one striation to another and / or the striations may be of variable size and / or variable direction within the needle-punched felt.

[0015] Since the color streaks are formed throughout the entire needle-punched felt layer, the felt material can always be used on both sides, and any surface scratches will not fade the color streaks over time. Furthermore, any stretching during molding will preserve the uniform random distribution of the color streaks regardless of the direction of stretching or use of the felt.

[0016] A yarn can be cut into pieces of defined length to produce the yarn ends. A yarn of endless filaments is preferably used, preferably based on partially oriented yarns (POY) or yarns derived from POY yarns, such as textured drawn yarns (DTY).

[0017] Alternatively, yarn derived from textile or industrial waste may be used, for example, scraps of textile or industrial production waste. Combining yarn scraps from chair / seat cover fabric scraps in needle-punched felt for floor covering and / or the visible surfaces of the upholstery pieces allows for an aesthetic color matching, which was not previously possible, as the color stripes in the floor covering and upholstery pieces matched the seat cover fabric.

[0018] However, scraps of yarn from other sources, both recycling and recovery, can also be used to obtain the needle-punched felt according to the invention. It is important, however, to incorporate the yarn scraps, and not the yarn-based fabric or textile, into the fiber mass to obtain the needle-punched felt according to the invention. It will therefore be necessary to tear pieces of woven fabric into yarn scraps without significantly reducing the integrity of the yarn itself. The selvedges, waste from textile production, are particularly suited to this constraint.

[0019] Varying the thickness of the yarn ends used in the amalgam for the needle-punched felt according to the invention, for example by increasing the thickness of the yarn filaments and / or the cross-section and / or the number of filaments within a tuft, allows to create an even more varied pattern, thicker pieces of thread are likely to increase the width of the color stripe.

[0020] The length of the streaks can be varied by changing the length of the yarn ends used. Preferably, a yarn length of between 3 and 10 cm, and preferably between 3 and 6 cm on average, can be used. If the yarn ends are too short, the openers and the carding machine may open them, and the yarn will become entangled with the fibers. A combination of yarn ends of different lengths can also be used to obtain a more varied pattern of colored streaks.

[0021] The final length of the ridges also depends on the card used and its setting, as well as its lining. A non-woven card is preferably used with a lining—namely, the teeth on the main and secondary rollers of the card, as well as on the static carding tools around the rollers—chosen to ensure that the yarn ends are not shredded by the carding action. Therefore, care should be taken to select a less aggressive overall setting. The objective is to amalgamate the yarn ends and discontinuous fibers in the fibrous felt layer at the card exit without completely disintegrating the yarn ends into individual monofilaments.

[0022] In the needle-punched felt according to the invention, bits of yarn are combined with discontinuous fibers and, optionally, with a binder.

[0023] The ends of the wire may be at least 2.5 cm long, preferably 3 to 10 cm long, preferably 3 to 6 cm long.

[0024] The fibrous veil may include a binder, preferably binding fibers in the form of single-component or two-component fibers.

[0025] The ends of thread may constitute at least 3% by weight of the layer, preferably between 5 and 40% by weight of the layer, preferably between 5 and 20% by weight of the layer.

[0026] The fibrous veil may further comprise at least 10 to 30% by weight of the bonding fiber layer.

[0027] The staple fibers constitute the fiber mass and may be in the form of thermoplastic synthetic fiber or any natural fiber, preferably made from the same material as the yarn ends. The staple fibers are preferably polyester-based, preferably primarily terephthalate-based. The staple fibers used may be recycled, recovered, or spun from recycled polyester.

[0028] Alternatively, the fibers, binder and yarn ends may be based on polyamide, for example polyamide 6 or polyamide 66, or olefin, in particular polypropylene or polyethylene.

[0029] The base fibers used are preferably produced in a color that contrasts with that of the yarn ends used, in order to obtain an optimal visual effect. Optionally, the base fibers may take the form of an amalgam of fibers of different tones or different shades of a color, in order to obtain a variegated effect of the background color that will enhance interest.

[0030] The discontinuous fibers used for the base fiber mass may be, at choice, solid fibers, hollow fibers or profiled fibers, or a combination thereof.

[0031] Unexpectedly, a small percentage of yarn ends already has a visual impact on the surface. Preferably, at least 3% by weight of yarn ends are used in the mixture with the staple fibers. Preferably, no more than 30%, preferably no more than 20%, of yarn ends are used, as an excessive volume of yarn ends can compromise the visual appearance as well as the shaping of the needle-punched felt. High levels of yarn, in particular, can lead to distortion of the color streaks or to an overlapping of the streaks, resulting more in color patches than inconsistent color streaks. Unexpectedly, a percentage between 5 and 10% will already achieve a good visual impact without an overloaded appearance. The final quantity also depends on the colors used, the thickness and / or length of the yarn ends, as well as the visual appearance desired by the designers.

[0032] Optionally, the needle-punched felt further comprises a binder, preferably binding fibers, and even more preferably two-component binding fibers. Single-component or two-component binding fibers are preferably used, preferably two-component fibers with a core-sheath structure, the sheath being composed of a polyester with a melting point lower than that of the core. Preferably, a two-component CoPET / PET binding fiber or a polypropylene binding fiber is used, preferably of the same type of material as the fibers and yarn ends.

[0033] Thermal molding of the needle-punched felt to give it the desired shape causes the bonding fibers or the sheath of the bonding fibers to melt, forming droplets that bind adjacent fibers together. The use of a binder in addition to needle-punching to consolidate the needle-punched felt layer can increase the rigidity of the needle-punched felt, which is advantageous in certain applications, particularly in areas subjected to compressive forces. However, since needle-punching already binds the fibers and yarn ends together, it is not necessary to use a binder for the needle-punched felt according to the invention.

[0034] Preferably, the components of the needle-punched felt, the staple fibers, the yarn ends, and the optional binder are polyester-based, preferably a polymer or a polyester copolymer or a combination of a polymer and a polyester copolymer are used, preferably either poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, or poly(butylene terephthalate), PBT, or another terephthalate-based polyester.

[0035] The needle-punched felt according to the invention can be used as a visual surface layer for door panels, floor coverings, floor mats, rear parcel shelves, trunk linings or front storage compartments, trim pieces, and seat back covers. It can be used as a single layer, with or without a binder, and, if necessary, in combination with one or more other layers.

[0036] At least one of the following layers or at least one of the following materials may be combined to form an automotive part: a layer of foam or felt, a layer of film, a thermoplastic barrier layer, a rigid core material in particular cardboard, honeycomb plates.

[0037] The needle-punched felt can be thermally molded into a 3-D shape, alone or in combination with additional layers. The combination of layers can be achieved by thermal molding, optionally incorporating adhesive layers to ensure surface-to-surface bonding or lamination of the layers together.

[0038] Unexpectedly, 3-D shaping and / or molding of needle-punched felt with or without binder and with or without additional layers does not have a negative impact on the color streaks or their distribution.

[0039] The manufacturing process for the needle-punched felt layer according to the invention comprises the following steps - Formation of a pre-amalgamated fiber blend containing yarn ends by pre-mixing and amalgamating the base fibers and binder with yarn ends in a conventional fiber amalgamation line. The line may include bale openers, mixing and amalgamation units, and dosing systems such as weighing devices to obtain the correct fiber combination. Preferably, at least 5% by weight of yarn ends relative to the final weight are added. Preferably, a binder in the form of bonding fibers or bi-component fibers is used. Preferably, between 10 and 30% bi-component fibers by weight are used as the binder in the final amalgamation. - Carding of the previously amalgamated mixture to form a fibrous web. The fibrous web thus obtained at the exit of the carding machine is then layered and needled to form the final needle-punched felt carpet layer.

[0040] Unexpectedly, yarn ends can be layered along with the staple fibers without causing complete disintegration into monofilaments, the yarn ends only partially fraying and forming colored streaks throughout the felt layer. The advantage is that the felt can be molded, the material being stretched and given a three-dimensional shape without losing its attractive surface aesthetic created by the streaks of color, oriented and arranged randomly, formed by the ends of the thread.

[0041] Under the effect of carding and needle-punching, the ends of yarn are no longer just more or less straight ends of yarn, but form streaks of colour partly frayed incorporated into the base fibre and bound under the effect of the needles.

[0042] The final length of the ridges also depends on the card used and its settings, as well as the carding material. Preferably, a non-woven card is used, with a material—namely, the teeth on the main and secondary rollers of the card, as well as on the static carding tools around the rollers—chosen to prevent the yarn ends from being shredded by the carding action. Therefore, care should be taken to select a less aggressive overall setting. The aim is to amalgamate the yarn ends within the fibrous felt layer as they exit the card without completely disintegrating the yarn ends into monofilaments.

[0043] This needle-punched felt can be used alone or in combination with other layers to form automotive parts. To this end, the needle-punched felt and other optional layers can be molded to form a carpet structure or an automotive trim piece intended for use in covering the body surface of the car, for example as floor covering, trunk carpet, trim pieces, seat back covers or door panels.

[0044] The needle-punched felt disclosed according to the invention has a non-directional pattern, offering the freedom to manufacture automotive parts or an assembly of automotive parts without constraints on their positioning on the needle-punched felt due to the random nature of the pattern. This optimizes the use of needle-punched felt blanks and reduces waste. It is possible to choose the material for all components, making them identical or compatible and allowing, for example, their recycling in fiber spinning processes. Drawings

[0045] [Fig. 1] represents a black and white photograph of an example of a surface of a needle-punched felt according to the invention.

[0046] [Fig.2] represents a piece of automotive floor covering equipped with a needle-punched felt according to the invention.

[0047] [Fig.3] represents a diagram of the manufacturing process of a needle-punched felt according to the invention.

[0048] [Fig.4] represents a photograph of a selvage, a waste product of textile manufacturing, showing how to recover long, undamaged fibers.

[0049] Figure 1 shows a black and white photograph of a surface 1 of a needle-punched felt according to the invention. The original needle-punched felt was made from black staple fibers and 8% by weight of yarn scraps from car seat fabric remnants in three different colors, namely pink, yellow, and blue, cut to substantially the same length. The color streaks 2 visible on the surface 1 of the needle-punched felt are of varying sizes and patterns but stand out clearly against the black fiber background. Unexpectedly, the tuft of filaments forming the yarn scraps is partially frayed but has remained substantially compact to form the color streaks.

[0050] The example in [Fig. 1] was subjected to an abrasion test, and while it is not surprising that the abrasion was not generally influenced by the wire ends, it is nevertheless unexpected that there was also no early degradation of the visual quality. The abrasion had no visible effect on the appearance of the wire ends, which were neither damaged nor torn from the surface.

[0051] Figure 2 shows an example of a possible use of needle-punched felt 1 in a floor covering part 3 for automobiles, in combination with a decoupling layer 5 and, optionally, with an adhesive layer 4 for laminating the two layers together. The floor covering part 3 is molded with all the layers together in the conventional shape required for covering a car floor, in this case comprising a center console or a center channel, the left and right sides of the channel forming the left and right sides of the passenger compartment along the length of the car.

[0052] Figure 3 shows the process for forming a needle-punched felt according to the invention, comprising the steps of - mixing and amalgamating the ends of yarn A with the base fibers B and, optionally, with the binder C

[200] ; - carding of the material thus amalgamated to obtain a fibrous veil

[300] ; - layering of the fibrous veil

[400] ; - needle punching of the fibrous web to obtain needle-punched felt, the ends of the yarn forming streaks of color throughout the needle-punched felt

[500] .

[0053] The yarn ends A may come from an additional step, for example from cutting textile waste D into small pieces of approximately equal size and tearing the ends into loose yarn ends A without significant deformation of the yarn

[100] . Preferably, textile waste from car seat fabric may be used.

Claims

Demands

1. Needle-punched felt intended to form the surface layer of automotive parts, comprising a carded, layered and needle-punched fibrous web, the fibrous web comprising discontinuous fibers, characterized in that the fibrous web further comprises yarn ends having at least one color distinct from that of the discontinuous fibers, amalgamated in the fibers forming the web, and the yarn ends being only partially open and forming streaks of color throughout the needle-punched felt.

2. Needle-punched felt according to claim 1, the ends of the thread being at least 2.5 cm long, preferably 3 to 10 cm long, preferably 3 to 6 cm long.

3. Needle-punched felt according to any one of the preceding claims, the fibrous web comprising a binder, preferably binding fibers in the form of single-component or two-component fibers.

4. Needle-punched felt according to the preceding claims, the yarn ends and / or discontinuous fibers and / or binder being based on polyester, preferably polyester terephthalate, or polyamide, preferably polyamide 6 or 6.6, or polyolefin, preferably polypropylene.

5. Needle-punched felt according to any one of the preceding claims, the ends of the yarn constituting at least 3% by weight of the layer, preferably between 5 and 40% by weight of the layer, preferably between 5 and 20% by weight of the layer.

6. Needle-punched felt according to any one of claims 3 to 5, the fibrous web further comprising at least 10 to 30% by weight of the binding fiber layer.

7. A method for forming needle-punched felt according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the yarn ends are obtained from fabric waste, preferably from waste from the manufacture of automotive parts, in particular seat fabric.

8. A method for forming a needle-punched felt according to any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising the steps of - mixing and amalgamating yarn ends with discontinuous fibers and, optionally, with a binder; - carding the material thus amalgamated to obtain a fibrous web; - layering of the fibrous veil; - needle-punching of the fibrous veil to obtain a needle-punched felt, the ends of the yarn forming streaks of color throughout the needle-punched felt.

9. A method according to the preceding claim, further comprising the step of cutting textile waste into small pieces of approximately equal size and tearing the ends into loose yarn ends without significant deformation of the yarn.

10. Method according to claim 9, the textile waste being waste scraps from the manufacture of automobile seat covers.

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