Circular Mat with Thermoplastic Layers for Mechanical Recyclability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional dirt-trapping mats and carpets are not fully mechanically recyclable due to chemical incompatibility between their top and bottom layers, leading to environmental issues like incineration or landfilling, and they lose quality when cleaned with certain agents.
Innovation Solution
A mat with a tufted, woven, or needled top layer of synthetic material bonded to a bottom layer of the same polymer class, allowing for a difference in melting points to ensure chemical compatibility and mechanical recyclability, using thermoplastics like polyolefins, polyamides, or polyesters, and being cleanable with environmentally friendly agents like CO2.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional mats use different compositions for top and bottom layers (e.g., crosslinked rubbers, latex, plasticized polymers), then product cohesion and wear resistance are improved, but mechanical recyclability is lost and quality degradation occurs during cleaning
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies homogeneity by using the same polymer class for both the top layer yarns/fibres and the bottom layer, ensuring chemical compatibility throughout the mat structure. This allows the entire product to be mechanically recycled together without separation, while still achieving the required cohesion and wear resistance through proper bonding mechanisms between the homogeneous layers.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes parameter changes by selecting thermoplastic polymers with different melting points for the top and bottom layers. The bottom layer has a lower melting point than the top layer, enabling selective melting and bonding during manufacturing while maintaining chemical compatibility. This parameter differentiation allows the bottom layer to be melted and bonded to the top layer during production, achieving strong cohesion, yet both layers remain recyclable together as they share the same polymer class.
2Ease of operation
If plasticized polymers are used in the bottom layer, then pliability is improved, but plasticizers migrate or are extracted during cleaning, causing quality loss
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the extraction principle by removing harmful plasticizers from the polymer matrix entirely. Instead of using plasticized polymers, the invention uses unplasticized thermoplastic polymers that inherently provide the necessary flexibility and pliability without requiring migrant plasticizers. This eliminates the quality degradation issue during cleaning while maintaining the required ease of operation and pliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the polymer parameters by selecting thermoplastic polymers with appropriate glass transition temperatures and molecular structures that provide inherent flexibility without plasticizers. The bottom layer polymer is chosen to have suitable mechanical properties for pliability while being chemically compatible with the top layer and resistant to extraction during cleaning processes.
3Reliability
If fully cured bottom layers (vulcanized rubbers, 2K polyurethane) are used, then washability is improved, but mechanical recyclability to thermoplastic materials is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies homogeneity by using thermoplastic polymers for both layers, ensuring the entire mat can be mechanically recycled. The bottom layer is formulated as a thermoplastic polymer that can be melted and reprocessed, maintaining chemical compatibility with the top layer while enabling full mechanical recyclability to thermoplastic materials.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the chemical state of the bottom layer from fully cured (thermoset) to thermoplastic by selecting appropriate polymer chemistry and curing mechanisms. The bottom layer uses thermoplastic polymers that can be melted and reprocessed, yet still provide adequate washability and durability. The polymer is processed in a molten state during manufacturing to achieve bonding, then solidifies to provide the required performance.
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 mat is fully recyclable, free from harmful substances, and maintains quality during cleaning, enabling the use of recycled materials in new products while being durable and environmentally friendly.
Implementation Method 1
The melting point of the synthetic material of the top layer is higher than the melting point of the synthetic material of the bottom layer
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates on the one hand to a circular mat comprising a top layer with yarns or fibres of a synthetic material that are firmly bonded to a bottom layer manufactured from a synthetic material, wherein the melting point of the synthetic material of the top layer is higher than the melting point of the synthetic material of the bottom layer. On the other hand the present invention relates to a method for forming a circular mat, wherein a top layer with yarns or fibres of a synthetic material is firmly bonded to a bottom layer manufactured from a synthetic material.