Lightweight Carpet Tile Backing With Scrim for Flatness Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional carpet tiles are heavy, making them difficult to transport and install, and they often curl or dome, creating trip hazards and unsightly gaps, which is problematic especially in weight-sensitive applications like the airline industry.
Innovation Solution
A low-weight carpet tile design featuring a tufted primary backing with a pre-coat layer, an extruded polymer secondary backing, and a reinforcing scrim layer, which provides dimensional stability and prevents curling or doming, while maintaining a flat appearance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If carpet tiles are made heavy to ensure flatness and prevent curling or doming, then dimensional stability is improved, but transportation and installation become more expensive and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining a lightweight polymer foam backing with a woven reinforcing scrim layer. This composite structure provides the necessary dimensional stability and resistance to curling/doming without requiring the entire tile to be heavy. The scrim layer contributes stiffness and structural integrity while the foam provides lightweight cushioning and insulation properties.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by concentrating the reinforcing elements (scrim layer and adhesive patterns) specifically at the backing and edge regions where structural support is needed to prevent curling and doming. The face fabric and pile can remain lightweight since they don't require the same level of structural reinforcement. This localized approach to strengthening allows overall weight reduction while maintaining dimensional stability.
2Shape
If carpet tiles are made heavy to overcome internal forces causing curling or doming, then flatness is improved, but ease of installation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The composite construction of lightweight foam plus reinforcing scrim achieves the necessary flatness and shape stability without excessive weight. The scrim layer provides tensile strength and dimensional control to prevent curling and doming, while the foam matrix keeps the overall weight low, making tiles easier to handle and install compared to traditionally heavy carpet tiles.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the backing material from traditional heavy woven fabrics to lightweight polymer foams with embedded scrim reinforcement. This parameter change in material density and structural composition achieves the required flatness and shape stability with significantly reduced weight, improving ease of installation.
3Reliability
If carpet tiles are made heavy to ensure they remain flat against subfloor, then reliability is improved, but productivity in transportation and installation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The reliable flatness maintenance is achieved through the composite foam-scrim construction rather than sheer weight. The woven scrim provides consistent dimensional stability and resistance to curling/doming across temperature and humidity changes, ensuring reliable performance. Meanwhile, the reduced weight allows workers to install tiles more quickly and efficiently, improving overall productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
By changing from heavy traditional backing materials to engineered lightweight foams with scrim reinforcement, the patent achieves both reliable flatness maintenance (through the scrim's structural properties) and improved installation productivity (through reduced weight and easier handling).
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution results in a lightweight, dimensionally stable carpet tile that is resistant to curling and doming, reducing installation costs and enabling use in weight-sensitive applications without compromising aesthetics.
Implementation Method 1
The resin is extruded in a continuous sheet onto the backside of the facecloth to form an extruded polymer secondary backing layer
Implementation Method 2
A fibrous reinforcing scrim layer is embedded into the extruded polymer sheet to provide dimensional stability to the carpet tile
Data Source
AI summary
A low-weight carpet tile and process for making the same, wherein the carpet tile comprises a facecloth having a plurality of face yarns tufted through a primary backing, an extruded polymer secondary backing layer, and a reinforcing scrim layer partially embedded within the extruded polymer secondary backing layer. The top surface and bottom surface of the carpet tile are defined by the facecloth and the reinforcing scrim layer, respectively. A polymer-based resin is extruded onto the facecloth to form an at least substantially uniform secondary backing layer, and the reinforcing scrim layer is laid onto the extruded polymer secondary backing layer while the extruded polymer secondary backing layer remains above a softening temperature for the resin. The entire multi-layer web is then passed through a nip to embed the reinforcing scrim layer into the extruded polymer secondary layer, and the entire web is chilled.