U.S. patent number 3,616,135 [Application Number 04/809,294] was granted by the patent office on 1971-10-26 for carpetlike material.
Invention is credited to Silvano Tesainer, Micahel C. Wilkinson.
United States Patent |
3,616,135 |
Tesainer , et al. |
October 26, 1971 |
CARPETLIKE MATERIAL
Abstract
The present invention relates to an inexpensive carpetlike
material and the preferred embodiments described in the disclosure
are in the form of a corrugated paperboard base member to which a
flock coating of fibrous material is adhesively secured to form a
pilelike coating. The flock coating is applied by an electrostatic
flocking process. The various types of base members described
include: single-faced corrugated paperboard, double-faced
corrugated paperboard having an embossed upper liner member and
corrugated paperboard wherein the flutes of the corrugated medium
are angularly inclined relative to the liner to provide increased
resilience. The flock coating may be applied directly to the
exposed corrugated surfaces or it may be applied directly to the
exposed corrugated surfaces or it may be applied to an upper linear
which may be in the form of a porous net.
Inventors: |
Tesainer; Silvano (Grand'mere,
Quebec, CA), Wilkinson; Micahel C. (St. Louis,
MO) |
Family
ID: |
25200982 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/809,294 |
Filed: |
March 21, 1969 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
428/88; 156/209;
156/279; 428/95; 156/72; 156/210; 156/219; 428/90; 428/97 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B32B
3/28 (20130101); B32B 3/30 (20130101); B32B
29/005 (20130101); B31F 1/2822 (20130101); Y10T
428/23943 (20150401); B32B 2255/12 (20130101); Y10T
156/1023 (20150115); Y10T 156/1025 (20150115); Y10T
428/23979 (20150401); Y10T 428/23993 (20150401); B32B
2471/02 (20130101); Y10T 428/23929 (20150401); Y10T
156/1039 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
B31F
1/20 (20060101); B31F 1/28 (20060101); B32b
003/28 () |
Field of
Search: |
;161/41,62-64,67,88,89,97,113,119,121,122,123,124,127,128-133,135-138,159-161
;156/72,78,79,279,280,209,210,219 ;264/24,131 ;117/9,17,25,33,93.4
;52/618,625 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
112,501 |
|
Jan 1918 |
|
GB |
|
158,290 |
|
Mar 1953 |
|
AU |
|
894,227 |
|
Oct 1953 |
|
DT |
|
1,084,106 |
|
Sep 1967 |
|
GB |
|
1,166,002 |
|
Jun 1958 |
|
FR |
|
1,407,785 |
|
Jun 1965 |
|
FR |
|
Primary Examiner: Powell; William A.
Parent Case Text
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No.
716,584, now abandoned.
1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to carpetlike material and a method of
making same. In particular, this invention relates to an
inexpensive carpetlike material which employs a corrugated base
structure.
2. Prior Art
Carpets and the like are normally made from wool or synthetic
fibers and the majority of carpets which are in every day use are
manufactured by the well-known tufting process. The extensive use
of the tufting process and the use of synthetic fibers has
contributed considerably to the reduction in cost of carpet
material and the resulting increased general use of carpet
material. However, even the most inexpensive of the tufted carpets
must have the ability to withstand a substantial amount of wear
while maintaining a reasonable appearance. None of the conventional
carpets presently available are sufficiently inexpensive to permit
them to be widely used for only short periods of time and
discarded. Carpets are commonly recognized as symbols of elegance
and they make a very substantial contribution to the general
appearance of any room in which they are used. From a purely
practical point of view they have been shown to have substantial
acoustical, safety, thermal and psychological benefits. The tufting
process is carried out on a tufting machine which may have 1,800
needles and the capital cost involved in establishing a carpet
manufacturing operation is very substantial. Even the most
inexpensive tufted carpet is too expensive to be used for only a
short period of time and then discarded. There are numerous
occasions where a very inexpensive carpetlike material which has a
relatively short life would be very acceptable, for example, where
carpets are used as floor coverings for temporary displays in
exhibition areas or for outdoor receptions and other similar
occasions. The conventional tufted carpet becomes very expensive
when used in such temporary installations. The carpet derives much
of its popularity from the pleasurable sensation which is
experienced from walking on a relatively resilient pile surface as
opposed to a nonresilient surface. Unfortunately, a substantial
proportion of the cost of manufacturing a carpet is derived from
the process of forming the pile.
Claims
What we claim is:
1. A floor covering material comprising a lower facing sheet of
paperboard, an upper corrugated sheet of paperboard secured to said
lower facing sheet and forming a plurality of flutes therebetween,
said corrugated sheet having an exposed upper surface forming a
plurality of alternately disposed crests and valleys, said
corrugations having an axis extending in a plane passing through
the crest of each corrugation and the midpoint of said facing sheet
between adjacent valleys, said axis of each adjacent corrugations
being inclined at an acute angle relative to said facing sheet and
extending substantially parallel to one another, a flock coating of
resilient fibrous material adhesively secured to at least the area
of the valleys formed in said upper surface such that upon
compression of said inclined flutes, said flocked coating is
resiliently compressed and upon release of the compressing force,
said resilient fibers recover their original configuration thereby
assisting said corrugated sheet to recover its original
configuration.
2. A floor covering material comprising: a lower liner, a
corrugated medium secured to said lower liner, an upper liner
secured to said medium, a flock coating of fibrous material
adhesively secured to at least a substantial portion of the surface
of said upper liner.
3. A floor covering material as claimed in claim 2 wherein said
flock coating is in the form of synthetic fibers measuring in the
range 1 to 60 denier and 0.010 to 0.200 inch in length.
4. A floor covering material as claimed in claim 2 including a
second corrugated medium secured to the lower surface of said lower
liner and a third liner secured to said second corrugated medium to
form a double flute base for said coating.
5. A floor covering material as claimed in claim 2 wherein said
upper liner is a polyolefin net.
6. A floor covering material as claimed in claim 2 wherein said
upper liner is in the form of a woven net of textile material.
7. A floor covering material as claimed in claim 2 wherein said
upper liner comprises a polyethylene net.
8. A floor covering material as claimed in claim 2 wherein said
upper liner is embossed to form a pattern of protuberances on the
surface of the upper liner to which the flock coating is applied,
thereby causing said flock coating to adopt the form of the pattern
of the embossed upper liner to form floor covering material having
a predetermined surface pattern.
9. A floor covering material as claimed in claim 8 wherein the
corrugations of said corrugated medium are uniformly angularly
crushed to be permanently disposed at an incline to said liner to
form a resilient base for said material.
10. A floor covering material as claimed in claim 2 wherein said
upper liner is porous to permit liquid to pass into the flute
formed in the medium.
11. A floor covering material as claimed in claim 10 wherein said
flock coating is in the form of synthetic fibers measuring in the
range 1 to 60 denier and 0.010 to 0.200 inches in length.
Description
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
The present invention overcomes the difficulties of the prior art
described above and provides a carpetlike material which is
inexpensive to manufacture and which has many of the desirable
characteristics of conventional carpet material. The very low cost
of the carpetlike material is such that it may be employed for a
short period of time and then discarded. It is useful for such
application as a floor covering for temporary exhibition areas,
outdoor reception areas and other similar installations where a
very long wear life is not essential. The wear properties of the
carpetlike material of the present invention may be altered by
minor modifications to the structure of the material without
departing from the basic principles of this invention.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, we provide a
carpetlike material which comprises a base member which has an
upper surface formed to provide a plurality of protuberances, at
least a substantial portion of the upper surface being coated with
a flock coating of fibrous material to form a pilelike coating.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, we
provide carpetlike material comprising a lower facing sheet of
paperboard, an upper corrugated sheet of paperboard secured to said
lower facing sheet at spaced intervals and forming a plurality of
flutes therebetween and reinforcing filling material in said flutes
to increase the compressive strength of said corrugations.
A further embodiment of the present invention provides a carpetlike
material which comprises a lower facing sheet of paperboard, an
upper corrugated sheet of paperboard having an exposed upper
surface forming a plurality of alternately disposed crests and
valleys, said corrugated sheet being secured to said lower facing
sheet at spaced intervals and forming a plurality of flutes
therebetween, a flock coating of fibrous material adhesively
secured to at least the surface of the valleys of said upper
surface to form a pilelike coating thereon.
Another embodiment of the present invention provides a carpetlike
material which comprises a lower facing sheet of paperboard, an
upper corrugated sheet of paperboard rigidly secured to said lower
facing sheet and having an exposed upper surface formed to provide
a plurality of crests and valleys, at least said upper corrugated
sheet of paperboard being impregnated with a reinforcing substance
and a flock coating of fibrous material adhesively secured to at
least the surface of said valleys of said corrugated upper surface
to form a pilelike coating thereon.
In a further embodiment of this invention a carpetlike material
comprises, a lower liner, a corrugated medium and an upper liner
secured to one another and a flock coating of fibrous material
adhesively secured to said upper liner.
In a still further embodiment of this invention the carpetlike
material includes a corrugated medium which has been uniformly
crushed to permanently dispose the corrugations at an incline to
the liners to form a resilient base for said material.
PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The present invention will be more clearly understood after
reference to the following detailed specification read in
conjunction with the drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 is a partially sectioned pictorial view of a carpetlike
material according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a partially sectioned view of a carpetlike material
according to a further embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a partially sectioned pictorial view of yet another
embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a further embodiment of the
present invention;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a still further embodiment of
the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view of a continuous apparatus for
preparing the carpetlike material according to an embodiment of the
present invention;
FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic view of a continuous apparatus for
preparing carpetlike material according to a further embodiment of
this invention;
FIG. 8 is a partially sectioned pictorial view of a further
embodiment of this invention showing an embossed upper liner in
position prior to the application of a flock coating;
FIG. 9 is a pictorial view of a portion of flock coated embossed
material diagrammatically illustrating the pattern created in the
flock coating by the embossed liner;
FIG. 10 is an enlarged pictorial view of a portion of an extruded
plastic upper liner coated with a flock coating; and
FIG. 11 is a pictorial view of a carpetlike material having a woven
fabric upper liner which supports a flock coating.
In FIG. 1 of the drawings, the reference numeral 10 refers
generally to a carpetlike material which comprises a paperboard
facing sheet or liner 12 and a paperboard upper corrugated sheet or
medium 14. The upper corrugated sheet or medium is formed in the
usual manner to provide alternately disposed crests 16 and valleys
18. The corrugated medium is rigidly secured to the liner 12 on the
underside of the valleys and forms a plurality of regularly spaced
flutes 20. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the flutes are
filled with a reinforcing material 22 which strengthens the
corrugated paperboard. The material with which the flutes are
filled may vary from a material which will provide a rigid
structure to one which will provide a certain amount of resiliency.
Where a rigid filler is introduced into the flutes, the carpetlike
material which is produced would be particularly suitable for
scraping dirt from shoes and would, therefore, be very suitable for
doormats and the like. Where the filling material is very
resilient, it would increase the ability of the carpet to recover
its original configuration after being compressed underfoot.
Suitable examples of filling material are polystyrene,
polyurethanes, sawdust in combination with an adhesive or plastic
materials such as latex.
Referring now to FIG. 2 of the drawings, it will be seen that a
further embodiment of the present invention is generally indicated
by the reference numeral 30. The structure illustrated in FIG. 2 is
closely related to that illustrated in FIG. 1 and like numerals are
employed to identify like parts. In FIG. 2 it will be noted that
the valleys 18 are filled with a flocked coating of short fibrous
material which is adhesively secured to the top sheet 14. In the
embodiment illustrated, the crests 16 are not coated with the flock
coating; however, it will be understood that in a still further
embodiment of the invention, the entire surface of the top sheet
may be coated. It will also be noted that the flutes 20 do not
contain any reinforcing material. The question of whether to
introduce reinforcing material into the flutes or whether to omit
it in this embodiment is dependent upon the manner in which the
material is to be used. The corrugated upper sheet 14 and the lower
facing sheet 12 may be reinforced by being impregnated with a
reinforcing substance such as modified phenol and/or urea
formaldehyde resins. The carpetlike material illustrated in FIG. 2
is particularly suitable for use where water is present due to the
fact that the water which falls on the corrugated surface will
gravitate to the valleys 18 and will be retained therein by the
flock coating while the crests 16 will dry off rapidly. This type
of material is particularly suitable for inexpensive doormats or
bathroom mats or the like. In the embodiment where the flutes are
filled as in FIG. 1, the material illustrated in FIG. 2 will
provide a rugged doormat which will withstand considerable scraping
and will serve to clean shoes very effectively.
Referring now to FIG. 3 of the drawings, the reference numeral 40
refers generally to a carpetlike material according to a further
embodiment of the present invention. In the embodiment illustrated,
like parts have again been identified by like reference numerals.
In this embodiment, a flock coating of fibrous material is
adhesively secured to the entire upper surface of the corrugated
sheet 14 and the flutes 20 are filled with a reinforcing
material.
A still further embodiment of the present invention is generally
identified by the reference numeral 50 in FIG. 4 and again like
reference numerals have been applied to like parts. In this
embodiment, at least the valleys 18 of the upper surface of the
corrugated sheet 14 are filled with a flock coating of fibrous
material which is adhesively secured thereto. It will be noted that
in FIG. 4 the corrugations are biased or inclined at angles
.theta..sub.1 and .theta..sub.2 to the plane of the facing sheet or
base 12. The corrugations which are shown disposed at an angle
.theta..sub.1 are shown in their directionally precrushed location
while the corrugations shown at an angle .theta..sub.2 are at the
angle which they will assume when compressed underfoot. By setting
the corrugations at an angle during the manufacture of the
carpetlike material, they tend to compress relatively easily
underfoot and create the sensation of walking upon a deep pile
carpet. In addition, by providing a flock coating extending within
the valleys, the resilient sensation experienced by walking upon
this carpet is increased due to the natural resiliency of the
fibers. Furthermore, the fibers which are within the valleys tend
to force the corrugations to return from their compressed angle
.theta..sub.2 to their relaxed angle .theta..sub.1 after the
compressive force has been removed. Once again, while the
embodiment illustrated does not show any filler in the flutes, it
will be understood that it is possible to achieve a very similar
result to that described above by employing a resilient filling
material within the angularly disposed flutes.
A still further embodiment of the present invention is generally
identified by the reference numeral 60 in FIG. 5 and again in this
embodiment like numerals are employed to identify like parts to
those previously described. The corrugated sheet 14 of the
embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5 is formed with a substantially
flat top 16 and sidewalls 34. Again, at least the valleys 18 are
coated with a coating of flocked fibrous material. The relaxed
corrugations which are identified by the reference numeral 26 have
a relaxed height h1 and the compressed corrugations which are
identified by the reference numeral 28 have a compressed height h2.
When the crests are compressed, the flock coating which lies
between the compressed sidewall 24 and the base 19 is compressed in
the valley 18 and assists the natural recovery of the corrugated
material after the compression force has been removed and
consequently increases the effective life of the carpetlike
material.
Various modifications of the embodiments of the present invention
illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 5 inclusive will be readily apparent by
selectively combining the various features of each of the
embodiments illustrated without departing from the scope of the
present invention. For example, the flutes of the embodiments
illustrated in FIG. 2 may be filled with a reinforcing material.
The reinforcement may be introduced into each flute or it may be
arranged such that every second flute is filled with a reinforcing
material while the remaining flutes are not filled. Also, the flock
coating may extend over the entire upper surface of the corrugated
sheet 14. In determining which of the features of the invention are
to be employed in any one product, factors such as production cost,
the useful life required and the quality of surface appearance
required should be taken into consideration. All of these features
can be related to the final use of the product. For example, the
product illustrated in FIG. 1 would be useful as an exterior
doormat where the appearance of the product was not of major
importance. The product illustrated in FIG. 2 would be useful for
doormats and bathroom mats where moisture is likely to be present
and the product illustrated in FIG. 3 would be suitable for use
where the surface appearance of the product is important.
The material illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 would be less expensive
than that illustrated in FIG. 3 in that it does not include the
reinforcing filling material. In the example illustrated in FIG. 4,
the laying down feature of the flutes serves to transfer the load
to the supporting base; and when the load is removed, the flutes
tend to regain their inclined position.
The general overall appearance of any of the materials will depend
to a large extent upon the length of the flocked fibers. For
example, a 3.0 denier fiber 0.030 inches in length would provide a
velvetlike appearance while a 10 denier fiber 0.100 inches in
length would create the visual impression of a deep pile. While the
dimensional specifications of the flock coating may vary
considerably, it has been noted that the best results have been
achieved using fiber in the range 1 to 60 denier and measuring
0.010 to 0.200 inches in length. In certain cases, it would be
desirable to lay down a combination of short and long fiber flock,
for example, a layer of long fibers to cover only the valleys could
be laid down first and followed by an overcoat of short fibers to
cover the whole surface of the valleys and peaks. The coating may
also consist of a random selection of fibers of different lengths.
It will be understood that it is not intended to limit the scope of
this invention to the use of fibers in the dimensional ranges
indicated above.
FIG. 6 of the drawings diagrammatically illustrates a method and
apparatus for manufacturing a carpetlike material of the type
wherein the flutes are filled with a reinforcing filler and FIG. 7
diagrammatically illustrates a further apparatus for the
manufacture of carpetlike materials wherein the flutes are not
reinforced with a filling material. A number of other alternative
production methods are illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 and, as will be
readily apparent, some of these features may be applied to either
the reinforced flute carpetlike material or the material without
the reinforced flutes.
In FIGS. 6 and 7 like reference numerals apply to like parts.
Firstly referring to FIG. 6 of the drawings, it will be seen that
the facing sheet or liner 12 is continuously unwound from a winding
drum 32 while the sheet 14 which forms the corrugated sheet is
continuously unwound from a drum 34. Tension is maintained in the
unwinding sheet 12 by means of a plurality of rollers 36 while
tension is maintained in the unwinding sheet 14 by means of a
plurality of rollers 38. The sheet 14 passes between complementary
corrugator rollers 40, 42 and is formed therebetween to follow the
contour of the roller 42. Adhesive is then applied to the
corrugated sheet by means of a further corrugated roller 44. The
adhesive is applied to the roller 44 by an applicator generally
indicated by the reference numeral 46. The corrugated sheet with
the adhesive coating then passes to a reservoir 48 containing the
material to be used for filling the flutes. In the embodiment
illustrated, the reinforcing material is in the form of polystyrene
heads which are thrust into contact with the adhesive coated
surface by means of a rotatable impeller 50. The beads which do not
adhere to the coated surface of the corrugated paperboard fall back
into the reservoir and are again picked up by the impeller and
thrown against a further portion of the adhesively coated
corrugated sheet 14. The corrugated sheet then passes to a further
adhesive applicator generally indicated by the reference numeral
52. It will be noted that in this instance the top roller 54 of the
applicator applies adhesive to the portions of the corrugated board
14 which are subsequently adhesively secured to the facing sheet 12
as the corrugated sheet leaves the roller 42. The adhesively
connected sheets 12 and 14 pass over a guide roller 56 and into a
heating and drying chamber generally indicated by the reference
numeral 58. In the chamber 58, the adhesive which secures the
sheets 12 and 14 together is dried and the polystyrene beads are
heated to the point where they expand to fill the flutes of the
corrugated sheet 14.
The reinforced corrugated structure then passes to a flock adhesive
applicator 60. It will be noted that in the embodiment illustrated
the adhesive is only applied to the crown portions 62 of the
corrugated roller 64 such that when the adhesive is transferred to
the surface of the corrugated sheet 14, it will only be applied in
the valleys and not to the crests of the corrugated upper surface.
The adhesive which is applied may be any one of the well-known
adhesive commonly used for securing flock coatings such as, for
example, the adhesive manufactured by C. L. Hauthaway & Sons
Corporation of Lynn, Massachusetts, and commonly known in the trade
as Spray Flocking Adhesive No. 1417/G. Further examples are the
adhesive commonly known in the trade as L121 and manufactured by
Swift Canadian Co. Ltd. of Montreal and the adhesive known as
Adhesive No. Y3470 and Y3466 manufactured by H. B. Fuller Company
Canada Limited.
The adhesively coated laminate then passes to the electrostatic
flocking apparatus generally indicated by the reference numeral 66.
A supply of fibrous flock material which is to be used for the
flock coating is contained in a hopper 68 and is continuously
agitated by an impeller 70 which is rotatably mounted in the lower
end of the hopper. The type of fibrous material used may vary
depending upon the eventual use of the carpetlike material and
examples of suitable flocking material are cotton, rayon,
cellulose, nylon and other similar materials. Cellulose pulp fibers
are a relatively inexpensive material and are particularly suitable
for use in the production of the inexpensive forms of the
carpetlike material. Also, as previously indicated, the length of
the fibers may vary depending upon the final use of the carpetlike
material. The flocking is carried out in the usual manner by
electrostatically charging the fibers and the surface of the
corrugated sheet with opposite charges. One important feature of
the electrostatically flocking process which is particularly
beneficial in the manufacture of a carpetlike material is the
tendency of the fibers to adopt an erect position with the result
that only one end of the fiber is in contact with the adhesive
coating. As a result of this characteristic, the flock coating
forms an upstanding pilelike coating on the surface of the
corrugated sheet. The coated carpetlike material then passes to a
drying chamber 72 wherein the flock coating adhesive is dried to
firmly anchor the fibers which are in contact with the
adhesive.
After drying, the carpetlike material passes under a vacuum device
74 and all of the loose particles of the flock coating which are
not firmly secured by the adhesive are lifted by the vacuum and
recirculated to the flock hopper 66. When the finished product
leaves the vacuum chamber it may be cut to any required length.
Referring now to FIG. 7 of the drawings, it will be seen that the
facing sheet 12 is again unwound from a storage drum 32 and guided
by a plurality of guide rollers 36. Similarly, the corrugated sheet
14 is unwound from a roller 34 and is guided by a plurality of
tension rollers 38. The sheet 14 passes between the corrugator
rollers 40 and 42 and is deformed to the corrugated contour of the
bottom roller 42. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7, the
flutes are not filled with a reinforcing material and consequently
the adhesive applicator roller 44 and reservoir 46 which are shown
in FIG. 6 are not required in this embodiment. Again, the adhesive
applicator 52 and roller 54 only apply adhesive to the portion of
the corrugated sheet 14 which will be adhesively connected to the
bottom sheet or facing sheet 12. The sheets 12 and 14 are brought
together and pass over the guide roller 56 and into a drying
chamber 58 wherein the adhesive is set. The corrugated sheet then
passes to a flocking adhesive applicator which, in the embodiment
illustrated in FIG. 7, is in the form of a spray applicator which
applies a coating of adhesive to the entire upper surface of the
corrugated board. It will be understood that the type of flocking
adhesive applicator used is optional and will depend upon the type
of final product required. For example, the applicators illustrated
in FIGS. 6 and 7 may be interchanged if required. The adhesively
coated single faced corrugated structure then passes to an
electrostatically flocking device 66, a drying chamber 72 and a
vacuum chamber 74 which are the same as those previously described
with reference to FIG. 6.
After leaving the vacuum section the single faced corrugated
structure passes through a press generally indicated by the
reference numeral 76. The press consists of a plurality of opposed
rollers 78 and 80 which rotatably support continuous belts 82 and
84 respectively. As the corrugated structure passes through the
press, the corrugations are angularly flattened to provide products
such as those illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5.
In FIG. 8 of the drawings the liner 12 and medium 14 are similar to
those illustrated in FIG. 4 in that they provide a structure which
will compress readily underfoot and provide a pleasantly yieldable
surface. The embodiment of the present invention illustrated in
FIG. 8 differs from those previously described in that it includes
a second or upper liner 13 secured to the crests 16 of the medium
14. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8 the liner 13 is made
from paperboard which is embossed to provide a pattern of recesses
and protuberances generally identified by the reference numeral 15.
A surprising effect of the embossing of the liner 13 is that when
this embossed surface is coated with a flock coating the embossed
pattern of the liner is very clearly and distinctly reflected in
the surface finish of the flock coating which is subsequently
applied to the surface of the liner 13. This is particularly true
where the flock coating is formed from relatively short fibers
which tend to stand erect on the liner 13. In FIG. 9 of the
drawings an example of the dramatic effect on the surface
appearance of the flock coating is diagrammatically illustrated.
The significance of this very eye pleasing surface finish cannot be
underestimated as it is readily apparent that for certain uses an
inexpensive carpet having a very pleasing pattern is most
desirable. The fact that this very simple step of embossing the
upper liner 13 has a dramatic effect on the surface appearance of
the finished carpet greatly increases the acceptability of this
carpetlike material without substantially increasing its cost.
A further embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 9 wherein an additional
medium 14a is adhesively secured to the liner 12 and a further
liner 12a is adhesively secured to the medium 14a. This combined
structure provides a double thickness of backing. Both of the
mediums 14a are preferably formed with the axes of the corrugations
angularly inclined in the manner similar to that shown in FIG. 4
such that increased compression is permitted. By using crushed
double A flute corrugated board rather than a single corrugated
medium to provide increased carpet depth the ability of the
carpetlike material to recover its original thickness after the
compressive force has been removed is considerably improved.
In FIG. 10 of the drawings an alternative upper liner 13a is shown
in enlarged detail. This liner is preferably made from an extruded
sheet of polyolefin such as polyethylene, polystyrene,
polyvinylchloride and polyvinylacetate and cellulose esters and is
formed with a plurality of small discs 17 which are connected to
one another by arms 23. In actual production the discs 17 may
measure less than 0.010 inches and are sufficiently closely
connected to one another to form a liner suitable for adhesively
supporting a flock coating 21. The advantages of liner 13a are that
it provides increased strength to the surface of the carpetlike
material and the passages formed between the disc 17 form pores
through which water may pass into the channels formed between the
corrugations of the medium. The drainage of water from the flock
surface of the carpetlike material permits the flocking to dry
quickly and increases the effective life of the carpetlike
material.
A further form of upper liner is illustrated at 13b in FIG. 11. In
this embodiment the liner 13b is in the form of a woven textile
such as cheesecloth and the flocking 21 is adhesively secured to
the woven fabric 13b. The pores formed in the cheesecloth fabric
13b again permit water or the like to pass into the channels formed
in the medium 14 to facilitate drying of the flock coating. The
woven textile 13b is adhesively secured to the crests 16 of the
corrugations.
When the upper liners 13, 13a and 13b are used the flock coating
may be applied before or after these liners are secured to the
medium 14.
It will be apparent from the aforegoing that the present invention
is capable of providing a large variety of inexpensive carpetlike
materials and the choice of the various steps to be carried out in
the method of manufacture is dependent to a large extent upon the
final use of the carpetlike material.
It will be evident that the double thickness backing used in the
embodiment illustrated in FIG. 9 may also be used in combination
with any of the structures illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 5 and 8, 10 or
11.
While in the aforegoing description of the various embodiments of
the present invention illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 5 of the drawings,
reference has been made to the use of the carpetlike material as a
carpet to be used underfoot. It will be understood that this
material is equally suitable for other purposes for which
carpetlike material is employed. Examples of such other use are for
packaging purposes and wall decorating purposes. In the packaging
and shipping applications, the flock coating provides a surface
which will not mark the highly polished finish of articles of
furniture and the like.
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