Carpet backing formed from recycled soft surface articles

Abstract

The present invention relates to a sheet or panel made from various sources including trim waste, shearing lint, bottle flake rejects, laminate sawdust, and lint. The sheet or panel may be used as an underlayment or pad for any soft surface article such as a carpet, carpet tile, or rug. The sheet or panel may also be used as a thermal and / or acoustic barrier.

Description

[0001] Carpet backing formed from recycled soft surface articles

[0002] The present invention relates to a sheet or panel made from various sources including trim waste, shearing lint, bottle flake rejects, laminate sawdust, and other lint.

[0003] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0004] The present application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Patent Application 63 / 664,208, filed on June 26, 2024, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.

[0005] BACKGROUND

[0006] The operations of making flooring products may produce some processing material that has heretofore been considered waste. In this, during the process of making carpets, carpet tiles, rugs, mats, and other flooring products, some components are removed from the intermediate product to make a final product. Some of those components have been considered to be waste. Some examples of material that has been considered waste include: trim waste, shearing lint, bottle flake rejects, laminate sawdust, and miscellaneous lint. Of these streams, the majority of the streams by weight comes from the trim waste and the shearing lint.

[0007] Multi-plant operations encompassing the production of soft surfaces for commercial, residential, and other uses generate diverse waste streams from their manufacturing processes. These waste streams often contain multiplastic materials of fibers and particles where each has varying sizes. Some of the particle and fiber sizes are quite small which complicates re-utilization efforts.

[0008] Consequently, landfilling has become the necessary course of action in the absence of the process disclosed and taught herein. This process is economical and capable of repurposing these waste streams. Repurposing these waste streams offers the benefits of cost savings, operational efficiency, and market compliance.

[0009] Cost savings come from savings in landfill fees and reductions in waste management cost.

[0010] Operation efficiency is realized by streamlining operations to reduce the need for raw materials and reusing manufacturing and / or intermediate product waste without having to purchase new materials.

[0011] Market compliance results from offering sustainable products and practices, which is being more frequently requested by customers, and which may be regulated by regulatory agencies.

[0012] Trim waste is made when the edges of a carpet or carpet tile are separated from the desired product. In some operations, this may be done after applying and curing a backing such as a latex and / or a hot melt adhesive. This usually includes selvage ends with some polymeric backing material and some portions of the pile of a carpet or carpet tile. Cutting the selvage results in long strips, which may be the length of the carpet fabric being made, along with portions of pile material, with or without backing, which may separate from the selvage strips after being cut away. The diversity of polymers in the piles, the backings, and any adhesives results in multiplastic fibers and particles.

[0013] A majority of the fibers from trim waste may be between about 10 millimeters and about 25 millimeters. The operation of cutting away the trim waste may make some of the fibers have lengths down to 5 millimeters or less. In this, many of the fibers still bundled as yarns may still be attached to portions of latex in the trim waste.

[0014] Shearing lint is made when a carpet pile is cut to produce a textured pile such as a cut pile or a Saxony pile. During shearing, other pieces of fuzz and / or yam that protrude above the desired level of the cut pile are also cut off as lint. In many cases, shearing lint has been found to have a fiber length of between 1 and 10 millimeters, with a great deal of it having lengths of between 1 and 5 millimeters. In the shearing process, some shearing blades may become dull and, rather than cutting the tufts, may pull out a strand of yarn. In that situation, a piece of yam may be pulled away that may have a length of a meter or more before the operators can stop the pullout. Plastic bottles are ground and cleaned so that desirable polymers, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) may be spun into new yarns for new carpets or other products. However, other types of plastic are usually bundled with the PET bottles to be recycled, and frequently other matter adheres to the PET particles. While some impurities may be recycled with the desirable polymers, most are separated as bottle flake rejects. Some types of bottle flake rejects are described in U.S. Patent No. 11,912,903 Bl. The bottle flake rejects, as they come from being ground, will typically be able to go through a screen where the openings of the screen are about 2 millimeters across. A screen of this size will allow bottle flake rejects having cross- sectional dimensions of 2 millimeters or less. A screen this size will also allow bottle flake rejects to pass through that have a major axis dimension of greater than 2 millimeters if they go through presenting their minor axis and it has a cross-section of less than 2 millimeters along the minor axis.

[0015] Some laminate tiles are edged to form interconnections so they may be interconnected to adjacent laminate tiles. These edges may be formed by spinning blades that create laminate sawdust. Shaping the edges may also results in splinters of laminate tile material being trimmed away. The sizes of the particles from these operations will be from about 1 millimeter with larger particles and with splinters having lengths of about 5 millimeters. The majority of particles from this operation will have sizes of between about 2 millimeters and about 5 millimeters.

[0016] Other processes may make other types of waste streams. A typical one comes from making nonwovens from melt blown filaments. In this process, the edges of nonwovens may be trimmed and / or some of the melt blown fibers may not adhere to the pad as it is being moved along the bed. Another process that may produce a waste stream is from needle punching batting to entangle the fibers when making a backing. There may be trim edges and / or loose fibers from this process. These types of fibers or lint may be called miscellaneous lint. The length of the fibers from miscellaneous lint may be as small as between 1 and 50 millimeters with most of it being between 1 and 20 millimeters. Some portion may be between 1 and 5 millimeters.

[0017] In another way, separated tufts and other carpet scraps may be produced from testing samples of carpet. That is to say that when a carpet is produced, a sample is sometimes taken to a testing area where the sample is subject to various tests that ascertain the physical properties of the carpet, such as delamination strength tests and fiber pull out strength tests. In preparing the samples, lint is usually produced from cut-away yam and other pieces that fall away from the samples. Once the results are measured, the samples and any lint they produced have usually been discarded. Instead, the intact samples may be treated as trim waste and the lint may be treated as shearing lint and processed as disclosed and taught herein.

[0018] While there is an economy of resources from obtaining the trim waste, shearing lint, bottle flake rejects, laminate sawdust, and other lint from within the same facility that it will be turned into a pad, sheet, or panel, the inventions disclosed and taught herein are not limited to only internal sources. The inventions taught and disclosed herein may be utilized without departing from the scope of the claims through the use of materials from other sources. In one way, that may include the acquisition of the material from other locations, such as recycling centers. In one exemplary embodiment, the pile of a used carpet may be sheared from the base of a carpet such that the base may undergo hydrolysis or glycolysis to recover the polymeric base of the carpet into useful monomers. In that exemplary embodiment, the sheared pile will still be useful as shear lint in the inventions disclosed and taught herein. In another exemplary embodiment, the miscellaneous lint may come from extruded continuous filaments that were not gathered and drawn into yarn. This may happen during the startup of an extrusion of filaments or at a period of maintenance when the extruded filaments may not be suitable for making into a yam. Those filaments may still find use and purpose in the inventions disclosed and taught here. With these exemplary embodiments disclosed herein, those of ordinary skill in the art will be able to envision and put into use other materials from other sources that will still be within the scope of the inventions disclosed, taught, and claimed herein.

[0019] Attempting to repurpose and / or recycle these waste streams presents problems in the areas of: collection; sorting; recirculation; and non-homogeneity.

[0020] In one way, the collection problem is due to the size of the particles that need to be collected. In many cases, some of the particles can be so small that it is difficult to collect them for reutilization. While larger pieces may simply drop into a bin for processing, smaller pieces may be blown away from the processing location, where they may need to be swept, blown, and / or vacuumed to gather them. In one way, the sorting problem is also due to the size of the particles that need to be collected. Even within the large pieces that are easily collected there may be pieces and particles that are very small. Any process that attempts to use particles within a specific size range would require that the pieces and particles be sorted, which could cost resources to do. Similarly, particles that are too large may present an unyielding component to a pad. This could potentially be felt by people walking across a carpet with an underlay, which would be undesirable.

[0021] In one way, the recirculation problem is also due to the size of the particles that need to be collected. The pieces that have small particle sizes are generally difficult to bring back into a reuse / recycling process.

[0022] This specification will describe an effective size of particles. If the particles were spherical then its effective size would be equal to its diameter. However, since particles of this nature will likely not be spherical, then their effective size will be the length measured on a minor axis. That is to say that if a particle has a minor axis that allows it to pass through a filter having openings of 1 millimeter then its effective size will be less than 1 millimeter even if its major axis is greater than 1 millimeter.

[0023] Similarly, this spefication will describe fibers having lengths. The length of a fiber will be measured from end-to-end regardless of the cross-sectional diameter of the fiber.

[0024] In one way, the non-homogeneity problem is due to the fact that a manufacturing plant may be producing flooring articles from many different types of material. Special processes would have to be put in place to keep the waste streams separated by their material types. Instead it has been found to be far easier to gather all of the non-homogenous waste streams together so them may be discarded together. To say this another way: having a multi-polymer waste stream limits the opportunity to put these streams back into a one product.

[0025] Some background publications include the following:

[0026] U.S. Patent No. 11,912,903 Bl discloses: “Undesirable materials that are frequently discarded from recycling desirable polymer-containing materials may be processed and used in the production of soft surfaces to produce soft surfaces with improved properties.” U.S. Patent No. 11,292,174 Bl discloses: “A method of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament which, in various embodiments, comprises: (A) grinding recycled PET bottles into a group of flakes; (B) washing the flakes; (C) identifying and removing impurities, including impure flakes, from the group of flakes; (D) passing the group of flakes through an MRS extruder while maintaining the pressure within the MRS portion of the MRS extruder below about 1.5 millibars; (E) passing the resulting polymer melt through at least one filter having a micron rating of less than about 50 microns; and (F) forming the recycled polymer into bulked continuous carpet filament that consists essentially of recycled PET.”

[0027] U.S. Patent No. 11,427,694 Bl discloses: “A method of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament, in various embodiments, comprises: (A) providing an expanded surface area extruder; (B) providing a spinning machine having an inlet that is operatively coupled to an expanded surface area extruder outlet; (C) using a pressure regulation system to reduce the pressure within the expanded surface area extruder; (D) passing a plurality of flakes comprising recycled PET through the expanded surface area extruder to at least partially melt the plurality of flakes to form a polymer melt; and (E) substantially immediately after passing the plurality of flakes through the expanded surface area extruder, using the spinning machine to form the polymer melt into bulked continuous carpet filament. In some embodiments, the method may include passing the plurality of flakes comprising recycled PET through a PET crystallizer prior to extrusion.”

[0028] U.S. Patent No. US 9,630,354 Bl discloses: “A method of recycling polymers and other plastics comprises: (A) grinding recycled PET bottles (or other suitable recycled polymer) into a group of flakes; (B) washing the flakes; (C) identifying and removing impurities, including impure flakes, from the group of flakes; (D) passing the group of flakes through an MRS extruder while maintaining the pressure within the MRS portion of the MRS extruder below about 5 millibars; (E) passing the resulting polymer melt through at least one filter having a micron rating of less than about 50 microns; and (F) preparing the polymer melt for recycling into a new product. In various embodiments, the above process may be utilized in the recycling of, for example, polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT), polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polystyrene (PS), expanded polystyrene (EPS), or any other suitable polymer or plastic.”

[0029] U.S. Patent No. US 9,636,845 Bl discloses: A method of recycling PET into PET nurdles, comprises: (A) grinding recycled PET bottles into a group of flakes; (B) washing the flakes; (C) identifying and removing impurities, including impure flakes, from the group of flakes; (D) passing the group of flakes through an MRS extruder while maintaining the pressure within the MRS portion of the MRS extruder below about 18 millibars; (E) passing the resulting polymer melt through at least one filter having a micron rating of less than about 50 microns; and (F) forming the recycled polymer into PET nurdles. In various embodiments, the polymer melt is formed into PET nurdles using any suitable technique such as, for example, any suitable strand pelletizing or melt pelletizing techniques.”

[0030] U.S. Patent No. US 11,426,913 Bl discloses: “A method of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament which, in various embodiments, comprises: (A) washing a plurality of flakes of recycled PET; (B) providing a PET crystallizer; (C) after the step of washing the plurality of flakes, passing the plurality of flakes of recycled PET through the PET crystallizer; (D) at least partially melting the plurality of flakes into a polymer melt; (E) providing a multi-rotating screw (MRS) extruder having an MRS section; and a vacuum pump in communication with the MRS section; (F) using the vacuum pump to reduce a pressure within the MRS Section; (G) after the step of passing the plurality of flakes through the PET crystallizer, passing the polymer melt through the MRS Section; and (H) after the step of passing the polymer melt through the MRS extruder, forming the polymer melt into bulked continuous carpet filament.”

[0031] U.S. Patent No. US 11,840,039 Bl discloses: “A system comprising: (1) a grinding unit configured to receive and grind recycled PET bottles into a group of polymer flakes comprising up to about ten percent colored polymer flakes and balance substantially clear polymer flakes; (2) a washing unit configured to wash the group of polymer flakes; and (3) an extruder configured to extrude material in a plurality of different extrusion streams. The extruder may be further configured to: (1) receive a concentrate-polymer mixture comprising a mixture of the polymer flakes and a color concentrate; (2) melt the concentrate-polymer mixture to produce a polymer melt; (3) reduce a pressure within the extruder; and (4) pass the polymer melt through the extruder so that the polymer melt is divided into the plurality of extrusion streams. The system may then filter the polymer melt through at least one filter and form the polymer melt into bulked continuous carpet filament.”

[0032] Australian Patent Application No. AU 2013206077 Al discloses: “A method of making a carpet backing layer by passing used carpet through a disintegrator removing latex granules from the disintegrated product and feeding the fibrous portion of the product to a non-woven layer building machine. The carpet product so produced is a needle punched web which has been cross-lapped to form a backing layer. A new carpet is made from the backing web made by joining it to an tipper decorative layer.”

[0033] WIPO Publication WO 1998 / 036114 Al discloses: “Disclosed is a recycling process for complex textile structures, such as floor or wall coverings, consisting in: selectively sorting the materials to be recycled so as to obtain a homogenous mixture of the materials to be processed; filamentation of said materials to form a mixture of fibers of varying lengths. During this filamentation process, the non-fibrous components constituting a portion of the base structure can be eliminated; incorporation into the fiborus [sic] mixture of any additives that may be required to manufacture the final product; formation of a lap from the fibrous mixture obtained [sic]; heat treatment of the newly formed lap in order to fuse a portion of the fibrous constituents of the mixture or to polymerize an additive, this heat treatment being performed by placing the lap between two conveyors permeable to air, inside a chamber subjected to a hot inflow; cooling of the newly formed lap.”

[0034] WIPO Publication WO 2006 / 103565 A2 discloses: “Method for manufacturing floor panels, wherein is started from panels (1) , these panels (1) , at their lower side (9) , are provided with at least one guiding groove (22) and these panels (1) , at least at two opposite sides (3A-3B / 4A-4B) , are provided with profiled edge regions (5A- 5B) that comprise coupling parts (17A- 17B) , characterized in that at least one of the aforementioned two profiled edge regions (5A-5B) is formed such that this region, seen in a cross-section of the panel (1) , transverse to the guiding groove (22) , extends at the lower side (9) of the panel (1) at least up to the guiding groove (22) . Further, the invention also relates to still other methods, for manufacturing as well as packaging of floor panels, and also relates to devices used therewith, as well as to floor panels.”

[0035] The foregoing publications are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

[0036] BRIEF SUMMARY

[0037] Applicant has devised ways to recycle mixtures of trim waste, shearing lint, bottle flake rejects, laminate sawdust, and miscellaneous lint into new carpet pads, underlays, tile backings, and thermal and acoustic barrier panels.

[0038] The processes taught and disclosed herein may also be used to recycle broadloom carpet and carpet tiles. These and other soft surface articles may have constructions similar to trim waste and may be processed in the same way as trim waste as disclosed and taught herein to produce the articles described.

[0039] In a first independent aspect, the invention relates to a bonded sheet comprising: a plurality of particles of polymeric material; a first plurality of fibers having lengths of between <1 millimeter to about 25 millimeters; a second plurality of fibers having lengths of about 10 millimeters to about 25 millimeters; wherein the second plurality of fibers consists of tufts.

[0040] In a second independent aspect, the invention relates to a bonded sheet comprising: a first portion and a second portion of a plurality of particles of polymeric material; wherein each particle of polymeric material in the first portion of the plurality of particles of polymeric material is associated with at least one fiber of the first plurality of fibers such that at least a portion of a length of each associated fiber is embedded within and secured to the particle of polymeric material; and wherein the at least one associated fiber of each particle of polymeric material in the first portion of the plurality of particles has a length of between about 2 millimeters to about 5 millimeters.

[0041] In a third aspect, the invention relates to a method of making the bonded sheet of either the first or second independent aspects, comprising: providing a mass of trim waste comprising fiberss and a polymeric backing comprising latex; grinding the mass of trim waste to break the polymeric backing into polymeric backing particles, wherein: the polymeric backing particles have effectives sizes of between about less than 1 millimeter to about 5 millimeters; and providing a mass of shearing lint having an effective size of between about 2.1 millimeters to about 6.4 millimeters; combining the mass of trim waste and the mass of shearing lint with a mass of multiplastics, wherein the multiplastics is selected from the group consisting of plastic bottle rejects, laminate sawdust, and combinations thereof; combining the mass of trim waste, the mass of shearing lint, and the mass of multiplastics with a low melt material; airlaying the combined mass of trim waste, the mass of shearing lint, the mass of multiplastics and the low melt material onto a perforated belt in an airlay device to form a sheet; moving the perforated belt forward to advance the sheet; heating the sheet to melt the low melt material; and cooling the sheet.

[0042] If the degree of limits is not otherwise defined or ascertainable by a person of ordinary skill in the art, as used herein, the term “about” will represent the value with a margin of plus or minus five percent. For example, a length of about 1 inch (about 2.54 centimeters) may be interpreted to mean that the length may be between 1 inch less five percent of the one inch and 1 inch plus five percent of the one inch (between 2.54 centimeters less five percent of the 2.54 centimeters and 2.54 centimeters plus five percent of the 2.54 centimeters).

[0043] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0044] With the intention of better showing the characteristics of the invention, herein after, as an example without any limitative character, some preferred embodiments are described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0045] Figure 1 illustrates a flow chart of a preferred method of creating a sheet using the methods disclosed and taught herein.

[0046] Figure 2 illustrates a flow chart of an alternative method of creating a sheet using the methods disclosed and taught herein.

[0047] Figure 3 illustrates an exemplary view of a bonded sheet formed using the methods and composition disclosed and taught herein.

[0048] Descriptions of these inventions will be defined in the appended independent claims, while preferred embodiments are defined in the dependent claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0049] Applicant has devised methods to process a multitude of different types of waste material into new carpet pads, underlays, tile backings, and thermal and acoustic barrier panels.

[0050] The steps and process may be illustrated by referring to Figures 1-3.

[0051] A preferred Process 100 starts with the Step 110 of gathering carpet trim. This may be performed by passive and / or active methods. For example, a passive method may be to have the carpet trim fall into a gathering barrel or into a chute where it may be accumulated. An example of an active method may be to have a team member sweep up carpet trim and place the pieces into a barrel or chute where it may be accumulated.

[0052] As noted elsewhere herein, broadloom carpet and / or carpet tiles may be used with, or in place of the trim waste.

[0053] Trim waste from different carpet manufacturing lines may be very heterogeneous and contain diverse multiplastics. For example, the selvage from a carpet with a latex backing may include portions of latex along with a primary backing and tufts. The primary backing may be a polyolefin while the tufts may be a polyamide, a polyester, or another polyolefin. The tufts may also be natural fibers such as staple fibers from wool or cotton. At the same time, another line may be making carpet tiles that have a hot melt adhesive made from a polyolefin or polyester with an attached underlayment or pad. While these may appear to be diverse types of trim waste, both may be accumulated together and processed within the scope of the inventions disclosed and taught herein.

[0054] While the examples given above show that the process is very open to many types of trim waste, it is flexible enough such that only one type of trim waste be processed. For example, the Process 100 will produce a desired pad even if only one type of carpet is being manufactured and the only input of trim waste is exclusively from that one type of carpet. Step 111 may be to perform any processing that may be needed prior to using the trim waste. For example, if the trim waste is exposed to water, such as if the trim waste was stored in a roll-off bin that was rained upon, the trim waste may need to be allowed to dry. Another example would be that if the trim waste was not at a site that could process it, it would need to be transported to a site that could process it.

[0055] Similarly, a broadloom carpet or a carpet tile may be processed in Step 111 if that is to be used with, or in place of trim waste.

[0056] In this exemplary embodiment, Step 111 will include grinding the trim waste. This may be done in a tearing line or by any other method known to those of ordinary skill in the art, for example through the use of processes described in Australian Patent Application 2013206077 Al and WIPO Publication WO 1998 / 036114 Al.

[0057] It must be noted here that while some prior art methods require sorting and blending of reclaimed materials, no such process is required to practice the inventions disclosed and taught herein. Similarly, while some prior art methods require that some of the particles be separated and discarded, the inventions disclosed and taught herein use the entirety of the asunder. That is to say that all of the trim waste that has been collected may be shredded and used in making new carpet pads, underlays, tile backings, and thermal and acoustic barrier panels.

[0058] The grinding process of Step 111 will break up the backing from the trim waste into particles. For example, if the trim was made with latex, the grinding process would break up the latex and grind it into particles having desirable effective sizes. No effort need be made to completely separate the fibers from the latex particles. That is to say that some of the latex particles will still have fibers attached to them after the griding process has completed. In this, the particles may be identified as having one or more fibers embedded within the ground particle such that some length of each embedded fiber is embedded within the particle and some length is outside the surface of the particle. On the other hand, many of the fibers from the trim waste will be ground down to their desirable effective size range with portions of the fibers separated from the latex particles.

[0059] Applicant has found that additional binding strength of the resulting pad may be from having fibers still bound to particles of latex in that a portion of the length of the fiber is embedded within a particle. Without wishing to be bound to any theory, this may be because the fibers adhering to the particles of latex offer points of binding along the lengths of the adhered fiber to low melt material in the formed pad. Whereas a portion of low melt material (when it is melted through heat and then cooled) may not adhere well to a particle of bare latex but will adhere well to a fiber that is bonded to and extending from the particle of latex. Alternatively, the low melt material may adhere well to the particle of bare latex, but may not adhere well to the fibers. This effectively bonds the low melt material to the particle of latex and / or the adhered fibers and any nearby components such as other fibers and other particles.

[0060] While the trim waste should be ground to reduce or eliminate large particles presenting unyielding portions in a final product, some of the fibers from the yam may emerge from the grinding process with lengths longer than would be expected from the grinding process. One way to express this is that the grinding process need not be entirely efficient with respect to the fibers. Some portion of yarn may pass through the grinding process such that it is still recognizable as a tuft or a portion of a tuft. In this, a tuft will be identifiable as being about or longer than 10 millimeters and having the fibers predominantly and visibly twisted together. The tufts or portions of tufts may also still retain some texturizing such as a crimp or twist.

[0061] Step 112 represents that shearing lint may be gathered in much the same way that trim waste was gathered in Step 110. That is to say that it may be actively and / or passively gathered and that no sorting need be done on the gathered shearing lint. The gathered shearing lint may contain all fibers gathered from all pile shearing processes. No effort need be taken to sort the shearing lint or to blend it.

[0062] Step 113 is similar to Step 111 in that any processing that needs to be performed may be performed. This may include transporting the gathered shearing lint to a facility that may process it. However, unlike Step 111, the shearing lint does not need to be ground.

[0063] Similar to the trim waste, some portions of yam may be recognizable in the shearing lint. In this, the shearing lint need not be ground or cut to any length, but only accumulated after it is shorn from the griege product. This is to say that in gathering and processing the shearing lint some portion of the shearing lint may still appear to be tufts such that they are identifiable as being about or longer than 10 millimeters and having the fibers predominantly and visibly twisted together. The tufts or portions of tufts may also still retain some texturizing such as a crimp or twist. There will not be many identifiable tufts in shearing operations where loops are only cut apart, but there will be more in shearing operations where the top portions of loops are cut off to produce a cut pile, such as a Saxony or velvet carpet face.

[0064] Step 120 in Process 100 illustrates that the ground trim waste and the shearing lint are combined. No mixing or blending need occur at this stage.

[0065] In the preferred Process 100, Steps 114-115; 116-117; and 118-119 are optional and may occur before Step 120. The inventions disclosed and taught herein are not limited to only optional Steps 114-115; 116-117; and 118-119, but those steps represent that other materials may be used in this process.

[0066] Optional Step 114 represents that bottle flake rejects may be gathered in much the same way that trim waste was gathered in Step 110. That is to say that it may be actively and / or passively gathered and that no sorting need be done on the gathered bottle flake rejects. The gathered bottle flake rejects may contain all bottle flake rejects gathered from all plastic grinding operations. No effort need be taken to sort the bottle flake rejects or to blend it.

[0067] Optional Step 115 is similar to Step 111 in that any processing that needs to be performed may be performed. This may include transporting the gathered bottle flake rejects to a facility that may process it. In the process of obtaining bottle flake rejects, the pieces of bottles and other multiplastics are ground to an effective size that may be used to make the products disclosed herein without further preparation. No further operations are needed. That is to say that the bottle flake rejects have an effective size of between about 2 millimeters to about 5millimeters and require no further size reduction.

[0068] As is noted in some of the cited background documents, another method of accumulating the bottle flake rejects may be by gathering them after a wash. From this, the bottle flake rejects may still be wet with surface water and / or interstitial water. Optional Step 115 may include drying the bottle flake rejects to reduce the surface water by some amount. However, in some of the embodiments of the inventions claimed herein, some surface water may remain on the bottle flake rejects and interstitial water may remain within the bottle flake rejects. In some embodiments, the amount of surface water is less than 5wt%. In a preferred embodiment, the amount of surface water is less than about 2% with a greater preference for it being less than about 1%. Much of the surface water and some of the interstitial water may be volatized at later stages of this process.

[0069] In a preferred embodiment, the bottle flake rejects will be substantially dry on their surface and only have nominal amounts of interstitial water. One way of obtaining bottle flake rejects may be from the process of sorting ground and washed plastics particles that contain desirable polymers from the undesirable. This may be done by any method including using any of the automated sorting machines made by TOMRA Recycling and / or by cyclone sorting.

[0070] Optional Step 116 represents that laminate sawdust may be gathered in much the same way that trim waste was gathered in Step 110. That is to say that it may be actively and / or passively gathered and that no sorting need be done on the gathered laminate sawdust. The gathered laminate sawdust may contain all laminate sawdust gathered from all laminate tile shaping operations. No effort need be taken to sort the laminate sawdust or to blend it.

[0071] In accumulating the laminate sawdust, some splinters or other pieces that are larger than the desired effective size may be included. These splinters or other pieces may either be removed or roughly broken to a desired effective size.

[0072] Optional Step 117 is similar to Step 111 in that any processing that needs to be performed may be performed. This may include transporting the gathered laminate sawdust to a facility that may process it. This may also include sieving it to ensure that large particles and splinters are removed.

[0073] Optional Step 118 represents that miscellaneous lint may be gathered in much the same way that trim waste was gathered in Step 110. That is to say that it may be actively and / or passively gathered and that no sorting need be done on the gathered miscellaneous lint. The gathered miscellaneous lint may contain all miscellaneous lint gathered from all operations that produce miscellaneous lint. No effort need be taken to sort the miscellaneous lint or to blend it.

[0074] Optional Step 119 is similar to Step 111 in that any processing that needs to be performed may be performed. This may include transporting the gathered miscellaneous lint to a facility that may process it. Unlike Step 111, the miscellaneous lint need not be ground or shredded. In a preferred embodiment, it is not shredded such that the lengths of fiber may provide greater tensile strength to the pad. Not wishing to be bound to any theory, the variety of lengths of the miscellaneous lint may allow portions of it to be secured to portions of low melt material along its lengths.

[0075] Table 1 illustrates the size of the particles that may be used in the inventions disclosed and taught herein.

[0076] Table 1 Some of the trim waste particles after grinding may still be attached to fibers. Even with fibers attached they may pass through the openings of a sieve or filter to have an effective size as disclosed herein. Figure 2 illustrates an alternative Process 200 for steps similar to the preferred embodiment of Process 100, where Steps 212-213 are equivalent to Steps 112-113 but are optional. In Process 200, only the Steps 210-211, which are equivalent to Steps 110-111 of Process 100, are required such that only the trim waste is required as an infeed to the remainder of the Process 200. That is to say that Process 100 requires both trim waste and shearing lint, but Process 200 only requires shearing lint.

[0077] In the preferred embodiment of Process 100, the trim waste and shearing lint are combined in Step 120. After Step 120, any of the optional infeed streams of bottle flake rejects, laminate sawdust, and / or miscellaneous lint may be gathered and combined and processed as is illustrated in Step 130.

[0078] In the alternative embodiment of Process 200, any of the optional infeed streams of bottle flake rejects, laminate sawdust, and / or miscellaneous lint may be gathered and processed as is illustrated in Step 230.

[0079] Whatever material is accumulated in the accumulating Step 130 / 230 may be called the accumulate waste stream. The accumulate waste stream does not need to be homogenous and it does not need to contain all of the aforementioned waste streams at any times. For example, during one time period, the accumulate waste stream may contain only trim waste. This time period may be anywhere from minutes to years. However, during a second time period, the accumulate waste stream may also contain laminate sawdust. Also, during a third time period, the accumulate waste stream may also contain bottle flake rejects. The third time period may be within the first or second time periods or it may overlap either or both. All this is to say that the accumulate waste stream may contain any of trim waste, shearing lint, bottle flake rejects, laminate sawdust, and miscellaneous lint at any time while the accumulate waste stream is being processed. The times that any of the trim waste, shearing lint, bottle flake rejects, laminate sawdust, and miscellaneous lint are present may overlap each other or be absent altogether from the accumulate waste stream.

[0080] To be clear on this, in preferred Process 100, the accumulate waste stream at Step 130 will always contain trim waste and shearing lint. As it is accumulated in Step 130, it may contain any or all of bottle flake rejects, laminate sawdust, and / or miscellaneous lint. Also, in the alternative Process 200, the accumulate waste stream at Step 230 will always contain trim waste. As it is accumulated in Step 230, it may contain any or all of shearing lint, bottle flake rejects, laminate sawdust, and / or miscellaneous lint.

[0081] Accumulating Step 130 / 230 may include baling or otherwise packaging the accumulate waste stream. For example, if the accumulate waste stream is to be stored for later processing, it may be baled and set aside.

[0082] In the preferred embodiment of Process 100, the accumulate waste stream may comprise from 99wt% to 50wt% of ground trim waste. This range includes 55wt%, 60wt%, 65wt%, 70wt%, 75wt%, 80wt%, 85wt%, 90wt%, and 95wt% of ground trim waste. The accumulate waste stream may comprise from lwt% to 60wt% of shearing lint. This range includes 5wt%, 10wt%, 15wt%, 20wt%, 25wt%, 30wt%, 35wt%, 40wt%, 45wt%, 50wt%, and 55wt% of shearing lint.

[0083] In the alternate embodiment of Process 200, the accumulate waste stream may comprise from 100wt% to 50wt% of ground trim waste. This range includes 55wt%, 60wt%, 65wt%, 70wt%, 75wt%, 80wt%, 85wt%, 90wt%, and 95wt% of ground trim waste. The accumulate waste stream may comprise from 0wt% to 60wt% of shearing lint. This range includes 5wt%, 10wt%, 15wt%, 20wt%, 25wt%, 30wt%, 35wt%, 40wt%, 45wt%, 50wt%, and 55wt% of shearing lint.

[0084] Also, in either embodiment of Process 100 or Process 200, the accumulate waste stream may comprise from 0wt% to 30wt% of bottle flake rejects. This range includes 5wt%, 10wt%, 15wt%, 20wt%, and 25wt% of bottle flake rejects. The composition of bottle flake rejects may include multiplastic and cellulosic materials. This may be between 5wt% and 70wt% cellulosic material such as cellulose, wood fiber, carbon, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), starch, jute, hemp, paper, cardboard, or combinations thereof. The multiplastic material may include polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC); polystyrene (PS); acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS); nylon; polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT); and polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG). The multiplastic material may make up the remaining portion of the bottle flak rejects. In some embodiments, the bottle flake rejects may include other matter that was not washed away, such as sand and dirt. In some embodiments, water moisture may be present in the bottle flake rejects up to about 3wt%, preferably below 2wt%, and more preferably below lwt%.

[0085] Also, in either embodiment of Process 100 or Process 200, the accumulate waste stream may comprise from 0wt% to 40wt% of laminate sawdust. This range includes 5wt%, 10wt%, 15wt%, 20wt%, 25wt%, 30wt%, and 35wt% of laminate sawdust. In preferred embodiments of a flexible pad or sheet, the amount of laminate sawdust may be between about 0wt% and about 20wt%. In a preferred embodiment to make a less flexible sheet, the amount of sawdust may be higher amounts up to about 40wt%.

[0086] Also, in either embodiment of Process 100 or Process 200, the accumulate waste stream may comprise from 0wt% to 80wt% of miscellaneous lint. This range includes 5wt%, 10wt%, 15wt%, 20wt%, 25wt%, 30wt%, 35wt%, 40wt%, 45wt%, 50wt%, 55wt%, 60wt%, 65wt%, 70wt%, and 75wt% of miscellaneous lint.

[0087] In these embodiments, an amount of low melt material is mixed within the accumulate waste stream at between 3wt% and 21wt% as is illustrated in Step 140 / 240. More preferred is an amount of low melt material added to the accumulate waste stream at between 5wt% and 15wt%. This range includes 6wt%, 7wt%, 8wt%, 9wt%, 10wt%, l lwt%, 12wt%, 13wt%, and 14wt% of low melt material.

[0088] Applicant has found that even as the mixture of components of the accumulate waste stream changes, the amount of low melt material may be kept constant. This simplifies the process and yields a consistent end product even with a constantly changing input stream.

[0089] The low melt material may be any material that will melt when heated and crystallize or transition to a flexible or semi -flexible solid when cooled such that nearby particles and fibers are adhered to the low melt material. Some types of low melt material include polymers such as coPET and PE (polyethylene). In preferred embodiments, the low melt material may be in the form of fibers, which may be continuous filaments fibers made from continuous filaments, pellets, granules, or in powder form, but staple fibers are preferred. The addition of the low melt material is illustrated in Step 140 / 240. In this Step 140 / 240, the low melt material is mixed with the accumulate waste stream so that the low melt is generally homogenously distributed throughout the accumulate waste stream. In this, the weight of the low melt material may vary by less than 5% for each successive 50-kilogram sample taken from the stream of combined accumulate waste stream and low melt fibers. However, the weight of the low melt fibers may vary by as much as 15% between each successive 1 -kilogram sample.

[0090] Process 100 and Process 200 then move to the processing Step 150 / 250. In Step 150 / 250, the accumulate waste stream mixed with low melt material is air laid onto a sheet in a horizontal airlay apparatus. Such an apparatus may be a Lap Formair H machine as made by Cormatex Sri.

[0091] The accumulate waste stream mixed with low melt material may be conveyed to a feeding section which may have a volumetric feeder to evenly form a fiber batt across the working width of the machine. The accumulate waste stream mixed with low melt material may then proceed into a forming chamber where a series of distributing rollers provides an even distribution of the accumulate waste stream mixed with low melt material onto a perforated belt. Below the perforated belt may be a vacuum or other suction device to hold the accumulate waste stream onto the perforated belt. The perforated belt may have openings, that make it air-permeable, that allow for particles of less than 1 millimeter to be swept through the perforated belt. This does not mean that all particles of less than 1 millimeter will be removed from the accumulate waste stream mixed with low melt material. Instead, when the first particles and fibers are laid on the perforated belt, they will form a filter-like layer that will trap subsequent particles and fibers, which includes particles and fibers of less than 1 millimeter. As such, some particles having an effective particle size of less than 1 millimeter will be held within the sheet.

[0092] Any particles and fibers that pass through the perforated belt may be accumulated and re-entered into the accumulate waste stream upstream of processing Step 150 / 250. For example, it may be preferable to add the particles that pass through the air-permeable belt to the accumulate waste stream in accumulating Step 130 / 230 or in Step 140 / 240 where the low melt material is added to the accumulate waste stream. The combination of the distributing rollers and the suction device provide an even distribution of the accumulate waste stream and low melt material where it is horizontally laid. Weighing systems may be placed before and after the forming chamber to allow control of the density of the final product.

[0093] Typical airlay devices will use the airflow from beneath the perforated belt to draw down the fibers to a perfectly horizontal stratification. While the inventions disclosed and taught herein may use a perfectly horizontal stratification, as may be provided through airlay devices such as the Lap formair h device, a preferred embodiment may have the fibers and particles laid non-horizontally.

[0094] When the fibers are drawn onto the perforated belt, the air suction will drawn them to be substantially horizonal on the perforated belt. That is, they will lay upon the belt in directions parallel to the plane of the belt. However, the inclusion of the particles and the characteristic that some of the fibers will not be entirely straight will aid in having some of the fibers deviate from laying in an orientation that is substantially parallel to the plane of the belt.

[0095] In one exemplary embodiment, if a particle falls onto the belt it may lay upon fibers that have already been drawn onto the belt. A fiber that subsequently falls may have one end that will lay against the top of the particle and another end that will lay against the previously laid fibers such that the exemplary fiber is not substantially laying in the plane of the belt. This effect may be exacerbated when the fibers come from trim waste, shearing lint, and other fibers that were previously texturized such that they retain crimps, twists, and other characteristics such that they are not straight.

[0096] This preferred embodiment is further aided by the inclusion of tufts or portions of tufts. While some tufts or portions of tufts may be drawn to lay substantially in the plane of the belt, a portion of them will be oriented at angles deviating from the plane of the belt.

[0097] Without wishing to be bound to any theory, the fibers and tufts that lay substantially horizontal to the plane of the belt may be adhered together to provide a strength and cohesivity to the sheet in the directions parallel to the belt, while fibers and tufts that lay in directions that are out of the plane of the belt provide a strength and cohesivity to the sheet such that it will not have any characteristics of stratification. If the pad or sheet were to be stratified, then the article may be pulled apart in layers and would fail tests designed to measure the lamination strength of the sheet.

[0098] In a practical example of the features of the sheet or pad made using the inventions disclosed and taught herein, if the sheet or pad were to have stratification, the act of walking across it would make the stratified layers lose their cohesion such that the pad would break apart vertically in layers above the floor or subfloor. With enough foot traffic the pad could become lumpy or flatten and allow a carpet atop it to creep or bunch. Such does not happen with the pad or sheet made using the inventions disclosed and taught herein.

[0099] As the perforated belt moves forward, the sheet of accumulated waste material and low melt material is smoothed to a desire level, such that by knowing the weight of the accumulated waste material and low melt material, a desired density of the sheet may be obtained. That is to say that the system may be controlled to provide a sheet having a configured height and configured weight as it exits the airlay device to provide a sheet having a configured density.

[0100] The sheet may be heated and cooled in Step 160 / 260 to melt the low melt material so that each particle or fiber of accumulate waste material in the sheet contacts a portion of the low melt material near it and, when cooled, binds the fibers or particles in the sheet together to produce a bonded sheet.

[0101] The amount of low melt material mixed with the accumulate waste stream is kept at a relatively low amount so that the bonded sheet may remain flexible such that it may be rolled and unrolled as a carpet pad or underlayment. Applicant has found satisfactory results with an amount of low melt contributed to the other ingredients at rates of between about 3wt% and about 18wt%, with a preferred rate of between about 5wt% and about 15wt%.

[0102] If a less flexible bonded sheet is desired, such as for a tile backing or thermal or acoustic barrier, then more low melt material may be mixed with the accumulate waste stream prior to heating and cooling, or the sheet may be compressed more during heating. Additional compression of the sheet will bring more pieces of the accumulate waste stream into contact with the low melt material. As the low melt material cools after being heated it will retain contact with those particles and not allow the particles as much separation. The effect of this will be that the sheet will have a higher density and will be much less flexible. A bonded sheet with less flexibility may be made by using low melt material added to the other components at a rate of between about 9wt% and about 18wt%, with a preferred embodiment of between about 12wt% and about 15wt%.

[0103] Those of skill in the art will need very little experimentation to determine amounts of low melt material and compression configurations to produce sheets having desired flexibilities and densities.

[0104] The temperature used to heat the sheet will need to be sufficient to allow the low melt material to ooze between nearby particles and fibers. Applicant has found that beltpress oven, which may be known as a double-belt oven, may be used to convey the sheet through a temperature-controlled oven. The temperature of the oven and the time that each linear section of the sheet will stay in the oven will depend upon the characteristics of the low melt material and the desired outcome of the bonded sheet.

[0105] Applicant has found that for typical low melt material as disclosed herein, a temperature of between about 160°C and about 200°C where the sheet is advanced at a rate such that each linear section is within the oven for between about 4 minutes and about 10 minutes is sufficient to produce a desired bonded sheet. In a more preferred embodiment, the temperature may be between about 175°C and about 185°C at that advance rate.

[0106] The linear sections of the bonded sheet may be allowed to cool by themselves once each exits the oven. Alternatively, the bonded sheet may be cooled by forced air or by running the bonded sheet against a cooled plate or roller.

[0107] Applicant has found that the cooled bonded sheet is sufficient for most applications as a pad, underlayment, tile backing, and thermal and acoustic barrier panel. In some embodiments that have a large number of particles with very small effective sizes, some particles and some fibers may not be thoroughly bonded within the product. If it is desired to further retain particles and fibers that may be loose within the bonded sheet, then a scrim may be placed on one or both sides of the bonded sheet as is illustrated in Step 170 / 270. A scrim of any sort may be used, such as a Leno woven scrim, a woven or non-woven scrim, and a spun bond scrim. Applicant has found that a spun bond scrim with a weight of 25 grams per square meter or less may be effective in providing a net that retains unbonded particles and fibers. In some embodiments, the scrim may have a weight of between about 15 grams per square meter and about 20 grams per square meter.

[0108] The scrim may be placed on the sheet before it enters the oven, or on the bonded sheet after it exits the oven. In a preferred embodiment, a scrim as described herein with a heat-activated adhesive may be applied to both sides of the sheet before or as it is entering the oven. The pressure of the belt-press and the heat of the oven will activate the adhesive such that the adhesive will adhere the scrim to fibers and particles on the surface of the sheet as well as to some of the low melt material. These actions together will secure the scrim to the sheet as it is bonded. The scrim-clad bonded sheet will have sufficient bond strength to withstand efforts to tear it apart and it will withstand the rigors of rolling and unrolling and the twists and bends imposed upon it during installation.

[0109] The final bonded sheet has consistent physical properties even with an inconsistent mixture of components and even with unsecured components.

[0110] The resulting pad may have a weight over a wide range. For example, pads frequently have thickness of about one-half inch (about 1.3 centimeters), about five-eighths inch (about 1.6 centimeters) about three-quarters inch (about 1.9 centimeters), about seven-eighths inch (about 2.2 centimeters), about fifteen-sixteenths inch (about 2.4 centimeters), about an inch (2.54 centimeters), about seventeen-sixteenths in (about 2.7 centimeters), and about one and an eighth inch (about 2.9 centimeters). These pads typically have weights of 10, 17, 32, and 40 ounces per square yard (339, 576, 1085, and 1365 grams per square meter).

[0111] Pads may be made thinner than those listed above by adjusting the height of the accumulate waste stream and low melt material as it is exiting the airlay device. Pad may also be made thicker than those listed above by adjusting the height of the accumulate waste stream and low melt material as it is exiting the airlay device. Alternatively, pads may be made thicker by positioning multiple layers of sheets atop each other and passing them through the oven such that the low melt material is melted and seeps between the layers of sheets to bond them together. During this heating, the height of the exiting pad may be adjusted as well. For example, two one- inch pads may be positioned with one atop the other and heated such that the low melt material seeps between the layers while the two pads are being compressed together. This may result in a two-inch pad, or a pad of any height less than that. For example, compressing eight sheets together where each sheet has a height of one inch and a weight of 40 ounces per square yard (1365 grams per square meter) will result in a pad of 320 ounces per square yard (10,920 grams per square meter) where the height may be up to eight inches. Compressing those layers to a height of four inches will make a very dense and inflexible pad that may have use as a ceiling tile with thermal and / or acoustic resistance properties.

[0112] Several pads have been created using the methods disclosed and taught herein that meet and / or exceed performance tests imposed upon them. That is to say that the pads made using the methods disclosed herein pass thermal tests, moisture absorbency and retention, and VOC tests and may be used as a pad or underlayment to a carpet or carpet tile.

[0113] Figure 3 illustrates an exemplary view of a bonded sheet 300 formed using the methods and composition disclosed and taught herein.

[0114] Within the bonded sheet 300 are particles of latex 310; fibers from trim waste and shearing lint 320; plastic bottle reject particles 330; a tuft 340; and concentrated low melt material 350. A scrim 360 is shown on one face of the bonded sheet.

[0115] In this, it may be seen that the fibers from trim waste and shearing lint 320 may be similar in appearance. In one aspect this may be because as a soft surface article is being made, it may first have its edges trimmed thereby contributing fibers to the trim waste and then have its pile cut thereby contributing fibers to the shearing lint. For that soft surface article, the fibers would have identical compositions. They may have different lengths and each may contribute tufts or portions of tufts. In this specification, a tuft does not have to be an entire piece of yam as it was tufted into a backing, but may be parts of a tuft. The tuft, as is used herein, may only be an end of yarn, but it will still be identifiable as having at least one twist or crimp and still retain an identifiable twist. This may be identified in Figure 3 as the tuft 340 has two ends that are twisted together.

[0116] This tuft 340 may have come from either the trim waste cutting process or the shearing process. As has been disclosed herein, the if it came from the trim waste, the fibers were not separated during the grinding process. If it came from the shearing process, it may have been a pullout or it may have resulted from a cut that removed a long segment of a loop.

[0117] It is also to be noted that the orientation of the fibers from trim waste and shearing lint 320 are not entirely aligned with a plane that it parallel to either the top or the bottom of the sheet. In this, there is no substantial stratification and the sheet has integrity and cohesiveness between the top and the bottom.

[0118] As was identified previously, broadloom carpets and / or carpet tiles may be processed in the same way as the trim waste as disclosed and taught herein. That is to say that discarded broadloom carpets and / or carpet tiles have the same or similar properties as the trim waste and may be used with or in place of the trim waste as described herein. One such way of doing this may be to use a portion of a broadloom carpet or a carpet tile that had previously been installed and would otherwise be bound for the landfill. Instead of sending it to the landfill, it may be processed as trim waste as disclosed and taught herein.

[0119] The present invention is in no way limited to the herein above-described embodiments. On the contrary, many such formulations may be devised from recycling trim waste, shearing lint, and multiplastics, and applied according to various variations of the inventions disclosed and taught herein, without leaving the scope of the present invention.

Claims

Claims1. A bonded sheet comprising: a plurality of particles of polymeric material; a first plurality of fibers having lengths of between <1 millimeter to about 25 millimeters; a second plurality of fibers having lengths of about 10 millimeters to about 25 millimeters; wherein the second plurality of fibers consists of tufts.

2. The bonded sheet of claim 1, wherein the particles of polymeric material comprise latex.

3. The bonded sheet of any prior claim 1-2, wherein each of the plurality of particles of polymeric material have effective sizes of less than about 1 millimeter to about 5 millimeters.

4. The bonded sheet of any prior claim 1-3, wherein each of the plurality of the particles of polymeric material have effective sizes of between about 2 millimeters to about 5 millimeters.

5. The bonded sheet of any prior claim 1-4, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of particles of polymeric material comprise at least one fiber that is embedded within an associated particle of polymeric material.

6. The bonded sheet of any prior claim 1-5, wherein at least a portion of the first plurality of fibers consist of fibers that have no portion of a length of the fiber that is embedded within any particle of polymeric material of the plurality of particles of polymeric material.

7. The bonded sheet of any prior claim 1-6, wherein the at least a portion of the second plurality of fibers are texturized.

8. The bonded sheet of any prior claim 1-7, wherein the first plurality of fibers is comprised of a first polymer and the second plurality of fibers is comprised of a second polymer, and wherein the first polymer is different from the second polymer.

9. The bonded sheet of any prior claim 1-8, wherein the bonded sheet further comprises a plurality of multiplastics, wherein a first portion of the plurality of multiplastics is selected from the group consisting of plastic bottle rejects, laminate sawdust, and combinations thereof.

10. The bonded sheet of any prior claim 1-9, wherein the bonded sheet comprises a plane that is substantially parallel to a top side of the bonded sheet.

11. The bonded sheet of claim 10, wherein a first portion of the second plurality of fibers are oriented substantially parallel to the plane.

12. The bonded sheet of claim 11, wherein a second portion of the second plurality of fibers are oriented at angles away from the plane.

13. A bonded sheet comprising: a first portion and a second portion of a plurality of particles of polymeric material; wherein each particle of polymeric material in the first portion of the plurality of particles of polymeric material is associated with at least one fiber of the first plurality of fibers such that at least a portion of a length of each associated fiber is embedded within and secured to the particle of polymeric material; and wherein the at least one associated fiber of each particle of polymeric material in the first portion of the plurality of particles has a length of between about 2 millimeters to about 5 millimeters.

14. The bonded sheet of claim 13, wherein the particles of polymeric material comprise latex.

15. The bonded sheet of any prior claim 13-14, wherein each of the plurality of particles of polymeric material has an effective size of between less than about 1 millimeter to about 5 millimeters.

16. The bonded sheet of any prior claim 13-15, wherein each of the plurality of the particles of polymeric material has an effective size of between about 2 millimeters to about 5 millimeters.

17. The bonded sheet of any prior claim 13-16, wherein the bonded sheet further comprises a plurality of fibers comprising tufts.

18. The bonded sheet of any prior claim 13-17, wherein the associated fibers are comprised of a first polymer and a portion of the plurality of fibers is comprised of a second polymer; and wherein the first polymer is different from the second polymer.

19. The bonded sheet of any prior claim 13-17, wherein the associated fibers are comprised of a first polymer and a portion of the plurality of fibers is comprised of a second polymer; and wherein the first polymer is the same as the second polymer.

20. The bonded sheet of any prior claim 13-19, wherein the bonded sheet further comprises a plurality of multiplastics, wherein a first portion of the plurality of multiplastics is selected from the group consisting of plastic bottle rejects, laminate sawdust, and combinations thereof.

21. The bonded sheet of any prior claim 13-20, wherein the bonded sheet comprises a plane that is substantially parallel to a top side of the bonded sheet.

22. The bonded sheet of claim 21, wherein a first portion of the second plurality of fibers are oriented substantially parallel to the plane.

23. The bonded sheet of claim 22, wherein a second portion of the second plurality of fibers are oriented at angles away from the plane.

24. A method of making the bonded sheet of any prior claim 1-17 comprising: providing a mass of trim waste comprising fibers and a polymeric backing comprising latex; grinding the mass of trim waste to break the polymeric backing into polymeric backing particles, wherein: the polymeric backing particles have effectives sizes of between about less than 1 millimeter to about 5 millimeters; and providing a mass of shearing lint having an effective size of between about 2.1 millimeters to about 6.4 millimeters; combining the mass of trim waste and the mass of shearing lint with a mass of multiplastics, wherein the multiplastics is selected from the group consisting of plastic bottle rejects, laminate sawdust, and combinations thereof; combining the mass of trim waste, the mass of shearing lint, and the mass of multiplastics with a low melt material; airlaying the combined mass of trim waste, the mass of shearing lint, the mass of multiplastics and the low melt material onto a perforated belt in an airlay device to form a sheet; moving the perforated belt forward to advance the sheet; heating the sheet to melt the low melt material; and cooling the sheet.

25. The method of making the bonded sheet of claim 24, wherein the trim waste comprises a portion of a recycled broadloom carpet and / or a portion of a recycled carpet tile.

26. The method of making the bonded sheet of any preceding claim 24 or 25, wherein the trim waste comprises tufts.

Images