Low weight modular carpet components and methods of making the same
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional carpet tile installation techniques face challenges with curling and doming, leading to trip hazards and unsightly gaps, and the weight of carpet tiles makes them cumbersome and costly to transport and install, limiting their use in weight-sensitive applications like the airline industry.
Innovation Solution
A low-weight carpet tile design featuring a facecloth with tufted fibers, an extruded polymer secondary backing layer, and a reinforcing scrim layer embedded within the secondary backing, which provides dimensional stability and resistance to curling and doming, while maintaining a lightweight profile.
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 costs increase and weight becomes problematic for certain applications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining a polymer secondary backing layer with a reinforcing scrim layer containing glass fibers or other reinforcing materials. This composite structure provides dimensional stability and resistance to curling and doming while maintaining lower weight compared to traditional heavy carpet tiles. The scrim layer acts as a reinforcement skeleton that prevents deformation without requiring excessive weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by strategically placing the reinforcing scrim layer within the secondary backing structure. The scrim is embedded in the polymer layer at specific locations to provide targeted reinforcement where needed for dimensional stability, rather than uniformly distributing weight throughout the entire carpet tile. This allows weight reduction in non-critical areas while maintaining stability where required.
2Shape
If traditional heavy carpet tiles are used to overcome internal forces causing curling or doming, then flatness is maintained, but transportation and installation become more expensive and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The composite construction with polymer secondary backing and embedded scrim layer provides inherent dimensional stability that maintains flatness without requiring excessive weight. This allows for lighter, more manageable carpet tiles that can be installed more efficiently, reducing labor time and transportation costs while preventing the curling and doming defects that plague traditional heavy tiles.
3Weight of moving object
If carpet tiles are made lightweight to reduce transportation and installation costs, then ease of handling is improved, but resistance to curling and doming may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves this contradiction by using composite materials - specifically a polymer secondary backing layer reinforced with an embedded scrim layer containing glass fibers or other reinforcing materials. This composite structure provides the necessary rigidity and resistance to deformation (curling and doming) while keeping the overall weight low. The scrim acts as a lightweight reinforcement skeleton that would not be achievable with solid polymer alone.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies parameter changes by modifying the physical and chemical properties of the secondary backing system. The polymer layer is formulated with specific molecular weight, crystallinity, and additives to provide baseline dimensional stability. The embedded scrim layer further modifies these parameters by providing tensile strength and rigidity. Together, these parameter changes enable lightweight construction with adequate deformation resistance.
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 carpet tile that is resistant to deformation, maintains flatness, and reduces transportation and installation costs, making it suitable for applications where weight is a concern.
Implementation Method 1
The reinforcing scrim layer may be laid onto the extruded polymer secondary backing layer while the extruded polymer secondary backing layer remains above a softening temperature for the resin
Implementation Method 2
The entire multi-layer web may then be passed through a nip to embed the reinforcing scrim layer into the extruded polymer secondary layer
Implementation Method 3
the entire web may then be passed through a nip to embed the reinforcing scrim layer into the extruded polymer secondary layer, and the entire web may be chilled
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.