CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Utility Application No. 15/827, 140, filed on November 30, 2017, and also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/512,378, filed on May 30, 2017. The entire disclosures of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure relates to a method and equipment for manufacturing floor underlayment, and more particularly to equipment for producing floor underlayment having a consistent density and thickness.

BACKGROUND

[0003] This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.

[0004] Textile pads are widely used in flooring applications. A pad is desirable when wood flooring is applied over a sub flooring. These pads used in flooring applications serve multiple purposes. They may absorb impact, such as from persons walking on the flooring. They may provide sound deadening, and may provide insulating properties against heat transfer. Pads also may accommodate roughness, unevenness, or other flaws in the sub flooring, and may provide a barrier against moisture and dirt. Finally, pads may lessen impact stresses on the flooring to lengthen the life of the flooring and make the flooring appear to be more durable and of a higher quality.

[0005] In the related art, textile pads are not used under ceramic flooring. This is because a pad would have to be relatively thin so as to not cause any unevenness in transition areas (i.e. , areas of flooring type transition, such as in doorways, etc.). Furthermore, ceramic tiles traditionally must be placed on a solid floor substructure to prevent cracking of the tile or the adhesive or tile grout.

[0006] What is needed, therefore, are improvements in methods and apparatus for forming textile pads for a laminate floor underlayment as well as a textile pad which can be used under a ceramic tile floor. SUMMARY

[0007] This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.

[0008] A method and equipment for manufacturing floor underlayment is provided. The equipment is configured to produce floor underlayment having a consistent density and thickness. The equipment has a series of rollers configured to pull a formed batt into a moving transverse blade and to cut the underlayment into two portions having random fiber distribution and even thicknesses and densities.

[0009] According to one teaching, a machine for slicing a non-woven batt of material into two pieces is provided. The machine has a first table portion which slidably accepts a batt of non-woven underlayment material. A pair of pulling rollers are disposed on top and bottom surfaces of the batt material. The pulling rollers pull the batt material off of the table and push it against a moving saw blade which cuts the batt underlayment material into two separate non-woven underlayment pads having a thickness about half the thickness of the first underlayment pad. A series of guides are provided to ensure the underlayment pads do not engage the moving rollers or the moving blade after the non-woven material is sliced.

[0010] According to another teaching, the pulling rollers are driven by at least one roller, rotating in a direction opposite to the direction of the pulling rollers.

[0011] According to another teaching, the band saw blade is supported in a channel defined in a blade jaw.

[0012] According to another teaching, the band saw blade is supported by a carbide element.

[0013] According to another teaching, the pads are treated after being formed by splitting the non-woven batt.

[0014] According to another teaching, the first table portion has a tapered nose portion disposed between the first and second pulling rollers.

[0015] Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. DRAWINGS

[0016] The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 1 represents a slicing machine used to form the flooring underlayment according to the present teachings.

[0018] Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings. DETAILED DESCRI PTION

[0019] Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0020] Figure 1 shows a side or cross-sectional view of an apparatus 7 for forming an insulative floor batt 8", 8', according to the teachings of the present invention. The insulative floor batt 8' is manufactured from any of a wide variety of textile compositions comprising, for example, polyester, nylon, acrylic, cotton, polypropylene, denim etc., or combinations thereof, including both natural and man- made fibers. Randomly distributed textile and binder fibers having lengths between 1/16 inch to 1 .5 inches and a denier of between 5 and 12 are used to form a textile batt 8', which is processed to form the insulative floor pad.

[0021] The two textile pads 8' and 8 can be treated before or after slicing. For example, anti molding agents can be sprayed onto the material. Additionally, the sliced underlayment can be bonded to vapor barrier layers after they are formed to form the two textile underlayment pads. The resulting pads may be used as a laminate flooring underlayment or as a pad for other types of flooring or for other purposes. The textile batt 8 is first heated in an oven and compressed to form an insulative floor pad 8. The insulative floor pad 8 can be split into two partial pads 8' and 8", and each pad post treated.

[0022] Each partial thickness pad 8' and 8" may be of equal thickness (i.e., the textile insulative floor pad is split in half), or may be of unequal thickness'. The present invention is capable of forming a partial thickness batt of about 1/16 of an inch or greater. The starting insulative floor pad 8 may be split longitudinally to provide two, three or more partial thickness batts. [0023] The thermoplastic binder fibers and reinforcement fibers are laid randomly yet consistently in x-y-z axes. The reinforcement fibers are generally bound together by heating the binder fibers above their glass transition temperature. Typically, less than about 20% by weight binder fiber is used, and preferably about 15% binder fiber is used to form the insulative floor pad 8.

[0024] Thermoplastic binder fibers are provided having a weight of less than 0.2 pounds per square foot and, more particularly, preferably about 0.1875 pounds per square foot. The remaining reinforcement fiber is greater than .8 pounds per square foot, and preferably 1 .0625 pounds per square foot. The binder fibers are preferably a mixture of thermoplastic polymers which consist of polyethylene/polyester or polypropylene/polyester or combinations thereof.

[0025] The insulative underlayment nonwoven porous material, after slicing can have a compression resistance at a compression of 25% of the original thickness of greater than about 20 psi. This same material can have a compression resistance at 50% of the original thickness of greater than about 180 psi.

[0026] The slicing machine can further be used to slice underlayment material having a low density. In this regard, the material after slicing can have a compression resistance at a compression of 25% of the original thickness of between .5 and 1 .3 psi and a 25% CPF of .3 to 5.5 psi. The material after slicing can have a compression resistance at a compression of 50% of the original thickness of between .7 and 1 .8 psi and a 50% CPF of .6 to 1 .1 1 psi.

[0027] As further shown in Figure 1 , the mechanism 7 used to produce the floor underlayment consists of a roller or pair of rollers 9 which are used to compress the underlayment under heat and pressure. The underlayment has a consistent thickness and density is then fed into a slicer. To drive the underlayment into the moving band saw blade 10, the slicer has a set of driver rollers which both pull the underlayment 8 into the slicer, but also force the underlayment 8 into the moving band saw blade 10. The driver rollers include, a counter roller 1 1 , a top grip roller 12, a bottom grip roller 13, and a rubber roller 14. The pulling rollers are driven by at least one roller, rotating in a direction opposite to the direction of the pulling rollers. To ensure the underlayment 8 and subsequent underlayment sections 8'and 8" are located in the correct orientation with respect to the blade 10 and the drive rollers, the slider has a plurality of guides or scrapers which direct the underlayment 8, 8', 8" through the appropriate slots defined between the rollers the blade and supports. These guides include the Front Scraper 15 and back scraper 16 for Top Grip Roller 12.

[0028] The top and bottom gripping rollers 12 and 13 can have an outer diameter between 45 and 55 mm. The spacing between the rollers 12 and 13 can be between 340 and 50 mm with a maximum allowable opening being 50 mm. The speed of the band saw blade as 1 15 RPM.

[0029] The table guide 17 has a pointed section which is opposite the saw blade and is partially disposed between the top and bottom grip rollers 12 and 13. It has a nose portion that is sloped away from the top surface to direct the flow of the underlayment 8 into the moving band saw blade 10. The moving band saw blade 10 is moved in a direction perpendicular to an edge surface of the underlayment 8. The moving band saw blade 10 moved in a channel formed in a jaw plate insert or inserts 18, 20. The jaw plate insert supports a spring loaded carbide pusher 19 which applies pressure onto the moving saw blade 10. Further, the jaw plate insert or guide has a tapered nose portion disposed between the first and second pulling rollers located opposite the tapered surfaces of the table.

[0030] The jaw plate insert has opposed top and bottom surfaces 21 , 22 which meet at the channel 23 defined within the jaw plate. The top and bottom surfaces are tapered at an angle between 10 and 35 degrees to facilitate the movement of the flooring underlayment 8' and 8" away from the moving saw blade 10. Opposed to the bottom surface 22 is a bottom roller scraper 23 which guides the underlayment 8" so that it does not get engaged with the bottom gripper roller. The upper underlayment 8' is transferred onto a horizontal surface which prevents engagement with the rollers.

[0031] Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes, well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are not described in detail.

[0032] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms "comprises," "comprising," "including," and "having," are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed.

[0033] When an element or layer is referred to as being "on," "engaged to," "connected to," or "coupled to" another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly on," "directly engaged to," "directly connected to," or "directly coupled to" another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., "between" versus "directly between," "adjacent" versus "directly adjacent," etc.). As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0034] Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as "first," "second," and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments.

[0035] Spatially relative terms, such as "inner," "outer," "beneath," "below," "lower," "above," "upper," and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as "below" or "beneath" other elements or features would then be oriented "above" the other elements or features. Thus, the example term "below" can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.

[0036] The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.