Carpet Laminating

The needles, which number up to 2000 for very fine gauge machines, insert the yarn into a primary backing supplied from a roll of material located in front of the machine. Spiked roUs on the front of the tufting machines feed the backing through the machine. 

Below the needle plate are loopers, devices shaped like inverted hockey sticks, timed with the needles to catch the yam and hold it to form loops. If a cut pile is called for, a looper and knife combination is used to cut the loops. For cut-loop combinations, a special looper and conventional cutting knife are used. 

After completion of tufting, the unfinished tufted carpet will be dyed, if precolored yams are not used, followed by a finishing step to add a compound and usually a secondary backing material. 

Carpet laminating or backcoating is an essential step in the carpet manufacturing process. Since the backcoating is hidden from view, the attributes it imparts to the finished carpet are rarely appreciated. Both the long term performance and the aes- 

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New carpets, laminate, parquet, vinyl, and so on are not suitable for MCS patients, because the varnishes, glues, synthetic substances, formaldehyde and other chemical substances can cause severe problems. Gassing out these chemicals can take months if not years. It s therefore best to play it safe and go with materials that are less harmful, such as organically produced cotton. An untreated hardwood floor or other hard floor coverings, like stone, ceramic or porcelain tile, are also good options. Make sure you do not react to the specific wood by first testing a sample thoroughly ... 

Before proceeding further with carpet laminating, a review of carpet terminology would be useful, since physical properties imparted by the SB latex backcoating relate directly to its construction. Figure 9-1 illustrates a typical cut pile carpet and the physicals associated with it A level loop carpet would appear the same but the tops of the tufts would not be cut Physicals and terminology for a level loop carpet would be the same as for cut pile. 

The largest market for elastomer-based adhesives is that of lamination (see Laminates). Modem office furniture having Formica as a surfacing material is made with an elastomer-based adhesive. Tile adhesives for ceramic or carpet tile are also elastomer-based and usually solvent appHed. Paper adhesives and shoe manufacture also use substantial quantities of mbber-based materials. Solvent-weld adhesives are used to join plastic plumbing and to repair vinyl sheeting. 

Textile uses are a relatively stable area and consist of the lamination of polyester foams to textile products, usually by flame lamination or electronic heat sealing techniques. Flexible or semirigid foams are used in engineered packaging in the form of special slab material. Flexible foams are also used to make filters (reticulated foam), sponges, scmbbers, fabric softener carriers, squeegees, paint appHcators, and directly appHed foam carpet backing. 

Vinylidene Chloride Copolymer Latex. Vinyhdene chloride polymers are often made in emulsion, but usuaUy are isolated, dried, and used as conventional resins. Stable latices have been prepared and can be used direcdy for coatings (171—176). The principal apphcations for these materials are as barrier coatings on paper products and, more recently, on plastic films. The heat-seal characteristics of VDC copolymer coatings are equaUy valuable in many apphcations. They are also used as binders for paints and nonwoven fabrics (177). The use of special VDC copolymer latices for barrier laminating adhesives is growing, and the use of vinyhdene chloride copolymers in flame-resistant carpet backing is weU known (178—181). VDC latices can also be used to coat poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) bottles to retain carbon dioxide (182). 

Polychloroprene latices are mainly used for high-pressure lamination, for foam bonding and for vinyl adhesion [82]. Also they are used for foil lamination, carpet installation, and PVC floor tile bonding. 

Major markets for polyurethanes are furniture, transportation, and building and construction. Other uses include carpet underlay, textural laminates and coatings, footwear, packaging, toys, and fibers. 

Unicellular foams are used for insulation, buoyancy, and flotation applications, while multicellular foams are used for upholstery, carpet backing, and laminated textiles. Expanded PS (Styrofoam), which is produced by the extrusion of PS beads containing a volatile liquid, is used to produce low-density moldings such as foamed drinking cups and insulation boards. Foamed products are also produced from PVC, LDPE, urea resins, ABS, and PU. PU foams are versatile materials, which range from hard (rigid) to soft (flexible). These are produced by the reaction of a polyol and a diisocyanate. 

Elastomers Solutions of NR have been used for laminating textiles for over a century. The Macintosh raincoat, invented in 1825, consisted of two sheets of cotton adhered by an inner layer of natural rubber. SBR is used as an adhesive in carpet backing and packaging. Neoprene (polychloroprene) may be blended with a terpene or phenolic resin and used as a contact adhesive for shoes and furniture. 

Copolymers of ethylene with up to 15-20% acrylic or methacrylic acid offer improved adhesion, abrasion resistance, toughness, and low-temperature flexibility compared to EVA. Applications include extrusion coatings on aluminum foil for pouches, wire and cable, packaging film, laminations with metal and glass fibers (building and automotive products) and polyurethane (carpet backing). 

Hot-melt spray adhesives will bond successfully carpets, fabrics, laminating panels, metals (both painted and unpainted), and both polyethylene and polypropylene film and sheet. Two important commercial uses at the time of writing are bonding sleeves of low-density polyethylene to ductile iron pipes and bonding sound-deadening materials and carpets to the floors of motor cars. 

Bostik, Inc., formerly Bostik Findley, Inc., is a leading global producer of adhesives and sealants. The firm operates in five segments construction and distribution performance adhesives nonwovens/tape and label global transportation and flexible laminating. The construction and distribution division manufactures flooring installation adhesives for tile, stone, hardwood, carpet and vinyl caulks, elastic adhesives, aerosol adhesives, fire-retardant adhesives, epoxies,... 

Upholstery/Carpet Coatings High Pile Coating Textile Finishing Textile Adhesive/Laminating... 

The second widely used method for preparing polyurethane foam laminates is the liquid adhesive, or wet process. Here special adhesives, either in the form of water solutions, or as solutions in organic solvents, are applied to either the fabric or the foam. The equipment is conventional. The water or solvent is evaporated, and the bond may be set by drying or curing at elevated temperature (20). One of the adhesives used for this application is based on acrylic interpolymer latices. This adhesive is used in the manufacture of thermal garments and insulated bags. Carpet underlay can also be made by adhesive laminating (7). 

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