Method for the manufacture of products made from fibrous material
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing injection moulding technologies face challenges in incorporating high amounts of natural fibers, such as cellulose fibers, into disposable cutlery due to reduced flowability and high manufacturing costs, particularly for thin structures, and there is a global push to reduce plastic use in disposable products.
Innovation Solution
A roll forming method that binds natural fibers together at high compression pressure, using a small amount of natural binding agents like starch or lignin, allowing for the production of products with over 95% natural fibers by weight, and involves roll forming, profiling, and cutting to create desired shapes efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If injection moulding technology is used to manufacture disposable cutlery with high fiber content, then plastic-free products can be produced, but the material flowability deteriorates and manufacturing becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the fundamental manufacturing parameter from injection molding to roll forming, enabling high fiber content (up to 100%) by eliminating the flowability requirement. This parameter change allows natural fibers to be formed into disposable cutlery without the manufacturing difficulties that plague injection molding approaches.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the plastic binder component from the material composition, achieving 100% natural fiber content by relying solely on mechanical interlocking and compression of fibers during roll forming, without requiring synthetic plastic binders that would compromise the plastic-free goal.
2Quantity of substance
If injection moulding technology is used with high fiber content, then natural fiber portion can be increased, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
By changing from injection molding to roll forming, the patent eliminates the need for expensive mold tools while maintaining high fiber content. The roll forming process uses simpler, less expensive equipment that can handle high fiber concentrations without the flowability constraints that make injection molding costly.
3Shape
If injection moulding is used for thin structure products like disposable cutlery, then products can be manufactured, but the maximum fiber content is limited to 60 percent by weight
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the manufacturing process parameter from injection molding to roll forming, which removes the 60% fiber content limitation. Roll forming can successfully manufacture thin-walled disposable cutlery with 100% natural fiber content by compressing and shaping fibers directly without requiring material flow through molds.
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
Enables the production of plastic-free disposable products with high natural fiber content through roll forming, reducing manufacturing constraints and costs while meeting environmental demands.
Implementation Method 1
the fibres are bound as a coherent profile at a roll forming step, at a high compression pressure
Implementation Method 2
As a binding agent for the fibres, a small amount of various types of binding agents may also be used, typically natural materials such as starch or lignin
Data Source
AI summary
A method for manufacturing a product, such a disposable cutlery, manufactured of a fibre material, includes feeding fibrous material as a material flow, binding the fibres into a coherent profile, and molding the cross-sectional profile of the profile into a blank with a desired cross-sectional profile using at least one roller pair or drum pair. The method further includes cutting products of the desired shape from the molded blank by aligning a cutting geometry of the products at the desired place on the blank.