Abstract: This invention relates to tufted floorcovering articles, including carpet tiles and broadloom carpet. In particular, this invention relates to tufted floorcovering articles made from the family of polymers known as polyester. Specifically, this invention relates to tufted carpet tile products made from polyester. The polyester carpet tiles meet commercial performance specifications and are fully end-of-life recyclable.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a method for recycling synthetic turf that includes agglomerating a plurality of synthetic turf fragments and extruding the agglomerated material. The method produces a recycled material suitable for use as infill in a synthetic turf. Accordingly, an infill for synthetic turf and a synthetic turf including that infill are also disclosed herein.

Abstract: Recycling of laminate flooring based on a separation of the panels (1) into particles which are connected with a binder and formed to a new sheet shaped material. A building panel includes a surface layer and a wood fiber based core, and the wood fiber based core includes aluminum oxide particles.

Abstract: Recycling of laminate flooring based on a separation of the panels into particles which are connected with a binder and formed to a new sheet shaped material. A building panel includes a surface layer and a wood fiber based core, and the wood fiber based core includes aluminum oxide particles.

Abstract: A method to produce building panels is disclosed which method includes the step of applying a layer (5) comprising a mix of fibers (14), binder (12), and wear resistant particles (12) on a carrier (6), pressing the layer (5) with an embossed matrix (2a, 2b) and providing embossed portions (4) and filling the embossed portions with decorative a substance (3).

Abstract: A method an apparatus for reclaiming face fibers and polypropylene and/or polyvinyl chloride backing material from rolls and pieces of post-consumer carpet. The system includes a separator for separating the face fibers from the backing and for separating latex and carbon calcium powder from polypropylene backing. An extruder is provided for extruding the face fibers separated from the backing into extrusions, and a pelletizer pelletizes the extrusions. A roller opener opens the polypropylene backing into fibrous portions and also cleans such fibrous portions. Alternately, a granulator can be provided that chops and grinds the polypropylene or PVC backing into fragments after the separation of the face fibers from the backing. A heat source heats the PVC fragments, and also the polypropylene fragments (thereby separating the latex therefrom), and ultimately melts such fragments. Reclaimed fibers can be pelletized, made into extrusions, used in non-woven products and in other manners.

Abstract: A molded article such as a floor tile is made from recycled carpet waste which includes a polyvinyl chloride component in the backing material and fiber component having a melting point above the melting point of polyvinyl chloride. A mixture of the recycled carpet material is shredded and additional polyvinyl chloride is fed to an extruder where the polyvinyl chloride is melted without melting the carpet fibers. The resulting mixture is discharged and molded, such as by injection molding, to form a molded product. The molded product includes a continuous matrix of polyvinyl chloride having recycled carpet fibers uniformly dispersed therein. The molded article contains about 45% to about 85% of polyvinyl chloride, about 5% to about 20% of recycled carpet fibers, up to about 5% of a plasticizer and up to about 5% of an ethylene copolymer by weight based on the total weight of the product.

Abstract: A method of recycling spent filter media is disclosed. The method can include providing a cloth, the cloth being spent polymer-base filter media, removing foreign solid particles from the cloth, washing the cloth, drying the cloth and processing the dried cloth to produce polymer-base particles that can be used to produce a component. The processing of the dried cloth can include densifying and/or granulating the dried cloth. In addition, the spent cloth can have been used as metal working filtration media and the foreign solid particles removed from the cloth using a brush. In some instances, the cloth is washed using a dry cleaning process and the granulating or densifying of the cloth produces particles that can be used in an injection molding machine.

Abstract: Recycling of laminate flooring based on a separation of the panels into particles which are connected with a binder and formed to a new sheet shaped material. A building panel includes a surface layer and a wood fiber based core, and the wood fiber based core includes aluminium oxide particles.

Abstract: A method of forming a reinforced building product from garbage, comprising the steps of sorting garbage, shredding plastics within the garbage, shredding fibers within the garbage, heating the shredded plastics, forming a slurry from the plastics and fibers, disposing the slurry within an extrusion cavity, extruding the fluid through a venturi, and allowing the extruded materials to cool. Garbage is separated into plastics, fibers, and other materials. Plastics are shredded to facilitate melting. Fibers are shredded to macroscopic lengths no greater than a maximum internal diameter of a venturi. The plastics are melted. The melted plastics are mixed with fibers and other material to form a slurry that is extruded from a cavity through a venturi, thereby causing significant alignment of the shredded fibers within the slurry in an outer region of the extruded slurry. Cooled, there is reinforced building material.

Abstract: Methods are provided for mechanically chopping nanotubes and other nanoscale fibrous materials. The method includes forming a macroscale article which include the nanoscale fibers, and then mechanically cutting the macroscale article into a finely divided form. In one embodiment, these steps are repeated. The nanoscale fibers may be carbon nanotubes, which optionally are aligned in the macroscale article. The macroscale article may be in the form of or include one or more buckypapers. In one embodiment, the macroscale article further includes a solid matrix material in which the nanoscale fibers are contained or dispersed. The forming step can include making a suspension of nanoscale fibers dispersed in a liquid medium and then solidifying the liquid medium to form the macroscale article. After the mechanical cutting step, the medium can be dissolved or melted to enable separation of the chopped nanoscale fibers from the medium.

Abstract: The present invention concerns a method for recycling used floor covering. Post-consumer or post-industrial fibrous floor coverings are shredded to form a fibrous dispersion. The dispersion is maintained at a content of about 20-65% low-melt thermoplastic. The shredded fibrous dispersion is conveyed into a chute feeder which converts it into a batt that is heated, compressed, and cooled to form a durable backing particularly suitable for flooring applications. The batt comprises vertical layers or strata of fibers to provide additional cushion for the backing. Additionally, a portion of the shredded fibrous dispersion can also be diverted and used to form a face layer and/or adhesive layer for a reconstituted floor covering.

Abstract: A process for transforming pre-used asphaltic roofing shingles into products such as paving bricks, by removing foreign matter, using a comminutor that pulls shingles downwardly through a plurality of pairs of high-speed, counter-rotating, inter-meshing blades stacked within a housing; classifying the particles, applying a release agent to the inside of the mold, charging the mold with a predetermined weight and size distribution of particles, compressing the material in the mold at high pressure, and ejecting the formed material from the mold for delivery to customers. The brick and other products are included in the scope of the application.

Abstract: A method of recycling bonded fibrous materials, the method includes the steps of: providing pieces of bonded fibrous materials, the pieces having sizes that are adapted for suspension in a liquid; suspending the discrete pieces of bonded fibrous materials in a liquid; applying mechanical work to the liquid suspension of discrete pieces to generate hydraulic pressure and mechanical shear stress conditions sufficient to hydraulically fragment the bonded fibrous materials into fibers and fiber-like components; and separating substantially individual fibers and fiber-like components from the liquid. The method is used to produce recycled synthetic fibers and fiber-like materials that have at least one thread element composed of synthetic material having at least one irregular distortion generated by hydraulic fracture of the thread element to separate it from a bonded fibrous material while the bonded fibrous material is suspended in a liquid.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a molded article laminated with fabric wherein a thermoplastic resin (A) has a fabric, made up of fibers of a highly heat resisting thermoplastic resin (B), adhered to the surface thereof, wherein the thermoplastic resin (A) of the molding contains the highly heat resisting thermoplastic resin (B) constituting the fibers and wherein the highly heat resisting thermoplastic resin (B) is present as a microdispersion of melt-blended minute particles in the thermoplastic resin (A), and a method not only for reprocessing the mold flashes at the time of the preparation of molded articles laminated with fabric but also for reprocessing the defective molded articles laminated with fabric which come from the production line and are destined to be discarded.

Abstract: A durable erosion control blanket featuring a novel synthetic fiber filler is disclosed. The erosion control blanket of the present invention addresses the need for a particularly resilient erosion control blanket through the use of a post-consumer, crimped, polyester fiber filler material. In one embodiment, the post-consumer fiber material is of polyethyleneterephthalate (PET) readily available in post-consumer form from the recycling of soda bottles. In short, a preferred filler material for the blanket of the present invention would utilize recycled soda bottle material which has been converted into a crimped, highly-resilient fibrous filler. It is, thus, possible to achieve the desired physical and mechanical properties in the erosion control blanket of the present invention while conserving natural resources to some extent by using a readily available post-consumer polymer material.

Abstract: This invention relates to an environmentally friendly insulating material, or more specifically an insulating mat for insulating buildings, houses etc. and a method for the manufacture thereof. The mat is non-allergenic and almost 100% recyclable, and is characterized in that it consists of fabric remnants which are shredded into shoddy, mixed with a fibrous polyester with a low melting point and flax fibres to form a homogeneous mass, which is then moulded into the desired shape and then heat-treated until the polyester fibres melt, bonding the fabric and flax fibres together.

Abstract: An initial process for preparing material to use in manufacturing fiber-reinforced structures. One embodiment envisions a method of manufacturing a cement board. The initial process includes providing an open mat of recycled carpet fibers in a container, placing a mortar mixture directly over the fiber mat, distributing the mortar through the fiber mat by moving a comb having bent tines through the mortar-fiber mixture, and vibrating the mortar-fiber mixture substantially simultaneously with the distribution of mortar through the fiber. Also provided is a method for making the final product.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are methods for recycling carpet, for making articles with the recycled carpet, and articles made therefrom. In one embodiment, the method for recycling carpet comprises: melting recycle carpet; reducing a water content of the recycle carpet to less than or equal to about 0.5 wt %, based upon the total weight of the recycle carpet and the water, to form a melt ribbon; and forming pellets from the extruded melt ribbon of recycle material.

Abstract: Fibers obtained by opening waste plastics of different kinds and fibers obtained by opening wastepaper are mutually woven, and molded under heat and pressure. As a result, different kinds of waste plastics can be recycled without requiring separation or classification.

Abstract: Plastic lumber having sufficient stiffness and strength to allow its use in structural and load-bearing applications. The plastic lumber is composed of a thermoplastic polymer, a thermosetting polymer cured with reinforcing fibers and, preferably, a coupling agent and foaming or blowing agent. As a preferred embodiment, the thermosetting polymer and reinforcing fibers are sourced from recycled materials, specifically, sheet molding compounds and bulk molding compounds.

Abstract: In melting thermoplastic material, particularly in the form of strip-like or fibrous refuse, where the material is melted through contact with a liquid heat-transfer medium and is then separated from the heat-transfer medium, and to assure a high degree of effectiveness and to maintain a high level of quality in the molten material, it is provided that steam at a temperature distinctly higher than the melting temperature of the material is used as a heat-transfer medium and is conducted over the introduced material, the molten or at least semi-molten material is entrained by the flowing steam and is then separated from the steam at a temperature lying above the melting temperature of the material, and the steam is returned to the circuit.

Abstract: A method of producing a carbon-carbon part having a filamentized composite fiber substrate is provided. A substrate having a plurality of discontinuous filamentized fibers and a binder that binds said filaments together to form a composite substrate is provided, and carbon atoms are deposited onto the filaments at a predetermined temperature so that the binder is removed completely from the filaments and replaced with carbon atoms to from a dense carbon-carbon part.

Abstract: A molded article such as a floor tile is made from recycled carpet waste which includes a polyvinyl chloride component in the backing material and fiber component having a melting point above the melting point of polyvinyl chloride. A mixture of the recycled carpet material is shredded and additional polyvinyl chloride is fed to an extruder where the polyvinyl chloride is melted without melting the carpet fibers. The resulting mixture is discharged and molded, such as by injection molding, to form a molded product. The molded product includes a continuous matrix of polyvinyl chloride having recycled carpet fibers uniformly dispersed therein. The molded article contains about 45% to about 85% of polyvinyl chloride, about 5% to about 20% of recycled carpet fibers, up to about 5% of a plasticizer and up to about 5% of an ethylene copolymer by weight based on the total weight of the product.

Abstract: A molded article such as a floor tile is made from recycled carpet waste which includes a polyvinyl chloride component in the backing material and fiber component having a melting point above the melting point of polyvinyl chloride. A mixture of the recycled carpet material is shredded and additional polyvinyl chloride is fed to an extruder where the polyvinyl chloride is melted without melting the carpet fibers. The resulting mixture is discharged and molded, such as by injection molding, to form a molded product. The molded product includes a continuous matrix of polyvinyl chloride having recycled carpet fibers uniformly dispersed therein. The molded article contains about 45% to about 85% of polyvinyl chloride, about 5% to about 20% of recycled carpet fibers, up to about 5% of a plasticizer and up to about 5% of an ethylene copolymer by weight based on the total weight of the product.

Abstract: A reconstituted leather product and process for making. The reconstituted leather product can be finished to have the look and feel of real leather and physical properties equivalent thereto. The process is essentially dry and involves reducing leather materials to fibers, preferably not longer than one inch. The process further involves blending these fibers with synthetic fibers, a resin and optionally other additives, forming the mixture into a mat, curing the mat and pressing the mat into a reconstituted leather product.

Abstract: An extruded composite structural artificial lumber product is manufactured from wood fiber and polyethylene, including recycled polyethylene, by reducing the wood fiber and polyethylene each to a finely divided particles, mechanically mixing the wood fiber and polyethylene particles together with a measured amount of a powdered endothermic foaming agent, mechanically mixing the mixture, without pre-pelletization, in a twin-screw extruder where it is compressed and heated until it becomes plastic and homogenous, and then extruding the plastic mixture, using vacuum to remove vaporized moisture and other excess volatiles, through a molding die which forms structural profile of the desired product.

Abstract: An apparatus, system, and batch or continuous flow method of thermodynamically reducing and converting household garbage into useful by-products capable of being recycled and reused or otherwise transformed into useful articles. The method of transforming household garbage into useful material comprises the steps of: providing a quantity of household garbage having a first volume and a liquid content; reducing the garbage having a first volume to an aggregate shard having a second volume smaller then the first volume; optionally expelling liquid from the aggregate shard; and heating the aggregate shard under pressure greater than ambient pressure to create an aggregate shard pulp.

Abstract: A process for the manufacture of porous structures comprises forming a dry mixture comprising a component providing primary separation capability, a component providing green strength reinforcement capability and, a component providing binding capability and selected from the group consisting of thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers; delivering the mixture to a suitable surface and building a desired thickness thereof; densifying the mixture into tile form desired for the porous structure; removing the densified porous structure from the surface; binding the component providing the primary separation capability by melting the mixture to a temperature of up to about 20.degree. C. higher than the melting point of any thermoplastic component providing binding capability.

Abstract: A method of making a recycled fibre reinforced resin containing product comprising a quantity of fibre reinforced resin pieces mixed together with a quantity of granular aggregate material, and a binder, in which the fibre reinforced resin pieces and the granular aggregate are intermixed with and embedded in the binder, the binder being selected from materials having an initially plastic state, fibre reinforced resin pieces and the granular aggregate being intermixed, with the binder material being thereafter added and the binder materials being thereafter hardened at room temperature into a hard mass without the application of heat, and apparatus for carrying out the method.