A FIBROID BOARD AND MANUFACTURING METHOD

THEREOF

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a fibroid board. More particularly, the present invention relates to a fibroid board and a manufacturing method thereof, in which the fibroid board is obtained by mixing waste chemical fiber and natural fiber with resin without performing a felt fabrication process requiring use of polypropylene (PP).

[2]

Background Art

[3] Recently, an amount of waste fiber or cloth debris created in the process of manu¬ facturing fiber products and an amount of waste textile discarded from textile factories are gradually increased, so the disposal of the waste fiber or waste textile has become a serious problem.

[4] Since the waste fiber buried in the ground may exist in the ground for several decades without being rotten, oxygen is prevented from penetrating into the ground due to the waste fiber, so that the soil may be ruined. In addition, when the waste fiber is incinerated, toxic gas including sulfur, formaldehyde or dioxin may be generated from the waste fiber, thereby causing air pollution and ozone depletion. Such ozone depletion leads to increased UV radiation, thereby causing a skin cancer.

[5] For this reason, the disposal of the waste fiber or waste textile has become a serious global problem. In this regard, WTO (world trade organization) prohibits exportation of the pollution industry and oil-producing countries, such as OPEC, strongly assert their rights in the international market. In addition, since only limited countries posses a limited amount of wood and iron, which are used as raw materials for boards, wood and iron must be depleted in the future. Accordingly, it is necessary to develop sub¬ stitution products for wood and iron.

[6] Korean Patent Registration No. 161818 discloses a method for fabricating a fibroid board by using waste fiber. The method disclosed in the above Korean Patent includes the steps of cutting waste chemical fiber into slices having a size less than 5cm, inputting the slices into a scutching machine such that the slices are scutched in the form of cotton, winding the scutched slices in the form of a roll, thereby forming a felt, uniformly coating thermosetting resin onto both surfaces of the felt with an amount of 30g/m , drying the felt such that the water content of the felt becomes less than 13%, cutting the felt with a predetermined size according to applications thereof, inputting

the felt into a thermal press having an operational temperature of about 21O ⁰ C, discharging air in order to reduce the fault rate of the product, press-molding the product for five to ten minutes such that the product has unit pressure of 70kg/cm , and fast cooling the product in a cooling press.

[7] However, the above-mentioned conventional method has problems as follows:

[8] First, the felt used in the conventional method is fabricated in the form of a roll by using polypropylene (PP) and waste chemical fiber. However, the manufacturing cost for the felt is more than 60% of the total manufacturing cost for the fibroid board, so the manufacturing cost for the fibroid board may increase.

[9] In addition, since PP is added to the fibroid board, harmful materials may be generated from the fibroid board when processing the fibroid board.

[10] Furthermore, the felt may be laminated from the waste chemical fiber along a line of PP.

[H]

Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[12] Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a fibroid board and a manufacturing method thereof, in which the fibroid board is obtained by mixing waste chemical fiber and natural fiber with resin without performing a felt fabrication process requiring use of polypropylene (PP).

[13]

Technical Solution

[14] To achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a method for manu¬ facturing a fibroid board, the method comprising the steps of: mixing waste chemical fiber and natural fiber with resin; drying a mixture obtained through the mixing step; hot-pressing the mixture by using a thermal press, thereby forming a board; rapidly cooling the board by using a cooling press; and cutting the board in a predetermined size.

[15] According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the resin includes melamine resin mixed with urea resin and a mixing ratio of the resin to the waste chemical fiber and natural fiber is 5:95.

[16] The drying step is performed for approximately 2 to 3 minutes by applying microwaves to the mixture in such a manner that the mixture has a water content in a range of 5 ± 3%.

[17] The hot pressing step is performed for approximately 3 minutes under conditions of a temperature 180+5 ⁰ C and pressure 40kg/cm .

[18] The cooling step is performed for approximately 3 minutes under predetermine pressure corresponding to 10 to 20% of pressure used in the hot pressing step.

[19] The manufacturing cost and manufacturing time for the fibroid board can be remarkably reduced.

[20]

Advantageous Effects

[21] As can be seen from the foregoing, according to the present invention, the fibroid board is fabricated by mixing waste chemical fiber and natural fiber with resin without performing a felt fabrication process requiring use of polypropylene (PP).

[22] Since the felt fabrication process can be omitted, the manufacturing cost for the fibroid board as well as the manufacturing time thereof may be significantly reduced.

[23] In addition, the present invention does not use polypropylene (PP) required for the felt fabrication process, so it is possible to reduce an amount of harmful materials generated from the fibroid board when processing the fibroid board.

[24]

Brief Description of the Drawings

[25] The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

[26] FIG. 1 is a block view illustrating the procedure for manufacturing a fibroid board according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[27]

[28]

Mode for the Invention

[29] Hereinafter, a fibroid board and a manufacturing method thereof according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawing.

[30] FIG. 1 is a block view illustrating the procedure for manufacturing the fibroid board according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the method for manufacturing the fibroid board according to the present invention includes a step of mixing waste chemical fiber and natural fiber with resin (SlO).

[31] In mixing step (SlO), the natural fiber and waste chemical fiber generated in the process of manufacturing fiber products in textile or cloth factories are scutched in the form of cotton and the scutched fiber is mixed with resin, such as melamine resin and urea resin. At this time, a mixing ratio of the natural fiber and waste fiber to resin (melamine resin and urea resin) is preferably 95: 5. In addition, 7.5% of water is added to the mixture.

[32] Herein, the melamine resin is mixed with the urea resin. The melamine resin is more expensive than the urea resin. Thus, the manufacturing cost for the fibroid board can be reduced when using the resin including the melamine resin mixed with the urea resin.

[33] In addition, the melamine resin and the urea resin must include volatile component within 3% in order to reduce the time required for discharging air in hot pressing step (S30), which will be described later.

[34] After mixing step (SlO), drying step (S20) is performed in order to dry the mixture produced through mixing step (SlO). In drying step (S20), the mixture is dried for 2 to 3 minutes by radiating microwave onto the mixture in such a manner that the mixture has the water content in the range of 5 ± 3%.

[35] The reason for maintaining the water content in the range of 5 ± 3% is to reduce the working time for hot pressing step (S30). That is, if the content of the volatile component or water in the mixture increases, relatively long time is necessary to discharge air in hot pressing step (S30). Thus, the content of the volatile component or water must be maintained in the above range so as to reduce the air discharge time.

[36] After drying step (S20), the mixture is subject to hot pressing step (S30), in which the mixture is pressed in the form of a board by means of a thermal press. Hot pressing step (S30) may continue for approximately 3 minutes under the conditions of the temperature 180+5 ⁰ C and pressure 40kg/cm .

[37] The temperature range, the pressure condition and the process time of the present invention are lower than or shorter than those of the prior art because the present invention does not use the felt fabricated in the form of a roll by using polypropylene and waste chemical fiber and the present invention completely dries water through drying step (S20).

[38] After hot pressing step (S30), cooling step (S40) is performed in order to rapidly cool the board in a cooling press. Cooling step (S40) may continue for approximately 3 minutes under predetermine pressure corresponding to 10 to 20% of pressure used in hot pressing step (S30).

[39] After cooling step (S40), the board is cut into a predetermined size through cutting step (S50), thereby fabricating the fibroid board using waste chemical fiber.

[40] While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment and the drawings, but, on the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and variations within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

[41] For instance, a predetermined amount of pigments or coloring agent can be applied to the fibroid board or various types of patterns can be formed on the fibroid board.

[42] [43]