Dry Sheet Manufacturing Without Resin Binders
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sheet manufacturing methods require the use of resin as a binder to achieve sufficient strength, which is environmentally undesirable, and there is a need for a method to produce sheets with strength without using resin.
Innovation Solution
A sheet manufacturing method involving a web forming step, a moisture imparting step, a pressurizing step, and a heating step, where a web is formed by accumulating a defibrated product in a dry manner, moisture is added to the web, and then the web is pressurized and heated to bond fibers through hydrogen bonds, eliminating the need for resin.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If resin is used as a binder to manufacture a sheet, then the sheet has sufficient strength, but environmental compatibility deteriorates and moisture usage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the resin binder from the sheet manufacturing process. By using a dry sheet manufacturing method where defibrated products are mixed and formed without liquid water or resin binders, the harmful environmental factor (resin) is completely removed while maintaining sheet strength through direct fiber bonding achieved by pressurization and heating.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the chemical bonding mechanism (resin-based adhesion) with a physical/thermal bonding mechanism. Through pressurization and heating the defibrated product mixture, fibers are directly bonded to each other through hydrogen bonds and thermal compression, substituting the need for chemical resin binders with a purely physical-chemical bonding process.
2Strength
If resin is used as a binder to manufacture a sheet, then the sheet has sufficient strength, but moisture usage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates liquid water and resin-based moisture from the manufacturing process. By using a dry sheet manufacturing method where defibrated products are mixed in a dry state and formed without liquid additives, moisture usage is reduced to near-zero levels while sheet strength is achieved through thermal and mechanical bonding of dry fibers.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the moisture-dependent chemical bonding process (traditional papermaking using liquid water and resin) with a dry thermal-mechanical bonding process. Defibrated products are pressed and heated in a dry state, allowing fibers to bond directly through compression and thermal activation without requiring liquid moisture as a medium.
3Ease of manufacture
If traditional papermaking methods are used, then sheets can be manufactured, but resin and moisture are required which reduces environmental compatibility
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the environmentally harmful components (resin binders and liquid water) from the traditional papermaking process. By implementing a dry sheet manufacturing method using defibrated products that are mixed and formed without liquid additives, the process maintains manufacturing feasibility while eliminating harmful substances, achieving both ease of manufacture and environmental compatibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention fundamentally changes the physical state parameters of the manufacturing process from wet to dry. By processing defibrated products in a dry state rather than suspending them in liquid water, the method eliminates the need for resin binders and excessive moisture while maintaining sheet formation capability through alternative dry bonding mechanisms involving pressurization and heating.
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
This method enables the production of sheets with sufficient mechanical strength without using resin, improving environmental compatibility and reducing moisture usage compared to traditional papermaking methods.
Implementation Method 1
a heating step of heating the web to which the moisture is imparted
Implementation Method 2
bond fibers through hydrogen bonds
Data Source
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AI summary
A sheet manufacturing method includes a web forming step of forming a web by accumulating a defibrated product in a dry manner, a moisture imparting step of imparting the web with moisture, a pressurizing step of pressurizing the web to which the moisture is imparted, and a heating step of heating the web to which the moisture is imparted, in which a water content of the web to which the moisture is imparted in the moisture imparting step is 12% by mass or more, a pressure applied to the web in the pressurizing step is 0.2 MPa or more, and a temperature of the web in the heating step is 100°C or lower.