AU673911B2 - Carpet - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALJIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Applicants: AUSTRALAN CARPETS PTY LTD A.C.N. 006 939 162 Invention Title:

CARPET

The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: 0* 2

CARPET

This invention relates to carpet, and a carpet product and a method making same.

In its broadest aspect the invention envisages a carpet product to overlie a floor area, which comprises carpet pieces cut to predetermined shapes and attached to a backing layer by a bonding agent which is substantially impervious to liquids, such as water, to produce a predetermined pattern.

One principal advantage of such a bonding agent is that when the carpet is wet due to spillage or flooding, water cannot seep through the whole carpet structure, and thus restoration of the carpet by drying and/or water extraction processes can be facilitated more easily.

In addition the use of a relatively strong bonding agent eliminates, or at least reduces, shrinkage of the carpet if becomes wet as a result of spillage or flooding.

Preferably the bonding agent is a water based 20 adhesive rather than a solvent based adhesive thus meeting safety requirements in case of fire where solvent based e adhesives would add to the fire hazard.

Preferably the adhesive is a cross-linked aqueous latex compound.

25 The invention, can be applied to a carpet product of a distinctive pattern as may be required to meet the needs of displaying a corporate image by way of a carpet square in office premises, elevators and the like and in addition the bonding agent is used to bond a backing layer to the carpet layer.

It is known to produce predetermined designs in carpet products involving individually tufting the required carpet design in the conventional manner which is both time consuming and costly.

It is therefore an object of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention to provide a method of stafaikeop'63289.94.AUSTRALAN_1 11.9.96 h jl ~iA

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2a producing a carpet product, and a carpet produced according to the method, which involves less time in production and, in statf/alkoep'3289.94.AUSTRALML1 11.9.96 yjvp addition or as a result, is less costly.

In accordance with this first preferred embodiment of the invention there is envisaged a method of making a carpet product, including the steps of cutting carpet pieces to predetermined shapes and mounting the carpet pieces on a backing layer by bonding the pieces to the layer.

It is also known to produce carpet products such as the type referred to above using woven carpet pieces or woven carpet pieces in combination with tufted carpet pieces.

However when pieces are cut from woven carpet and because of their woven nature the weave unravels or feathers at the cut edges. It is known to apply a latex compound to the cut edges to prevent such unravelling or feathering, but this is time consuming and as a result labour intensive and costly.

It is therefore an object of a second preferred embodiment of the invention to provide a method of producing a carpet product incorporating woven carpet pieces, and a carpet product produced according to the method, which also involves less production time and thus is also less costly.

In accordance with this second preferred embodiment of the invention there is envisaged a method of making a carpet product incorporating woven carpet pieces or woven carpet pieces in combination with other types of carpet pieces, such as tufted carpet, including the step of applying 25 a bonding agent to the back of woven carpet from which the piece or pieces are to be cut and thereafter cutting the piece or pieces from the carpet.

With this second embodiment of the invention the time consuming task of applying a latex compound to the edge of a piece of woven carpet after it is cut is avoided, as the **previously applied bonding agent prevents the cut edges from unravelling or feathering.

Preferably in this second preferred embodif 3nt of the invention, the cut carpet pieces are monnted on a backing layer in accordance with the first prefe:red embodiment of the invention.

Preferably in both preferred embodiments the bonding agent is substantially impervious to liquids, such as water, such as a cross-linked aqueous compound.

In the preferred embodiments of the invention the carpet pieces may be cut from carpet lengths or pieces of different colours and/or textures and of predetermined shapes such that when arranged together with other such carpet pieces results in a carpet product, such as a carpet square, of a predetermined pattern, and the method also lends itself to the production of carpet products for use in offices and elevators where corporate logos may need to be displayed on the carpet product.

The method also lends itself to the use of carpet off-cuts resulting from traditional carpet laying processes, which off-cuts would otherwise be discarded.

The invention also envisages a carpet product made in accordance with the method defined above.

Two preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described.

In the first preferred embodiment of the invention carpet lengths, pieces or off-cuts, are supported on a planar S. cutting sheet the surface of which supports cutter members arranged to cut out the desired shape of a carpet piece, whereafter the cutting sheet is moved on a conveyor, such as a roller conveyor, beneath a shifting head press cutter. The ao 25 pressing head of the press cutter is laterally moveable with respect to the direction of conveyance of the carpet length, piece or off-cut, whereby upon application of pressure to the carpet length, piece or off-cut, the cutter members beneath penetrate or cut the length, piece or off-cut, into the recquired shape, or series of shapes. The shifting head press cutter may be of a type used in the shoe manufacturing industry for cutting the required shapes from sheets of leather or other materials during the manufacture of shoes and which typically produce a cutting force equivalent to the application of 30 tonne.

The individually cut carpet pieces are subsequently arranged on a laminated backing layer comprising firstly a layer of hessian to which the carpet pieces are adhered in the pattern required and which in turn is adhered to a layer of felt to complete the carpet product. The adhesive used is preferably a cross-linked adhesive such as an aqueous latex compound of the type commercially provided by RLA polymers.

The above embodiment of the invention involving making a carpet product using carpet lengths, pieces or offcuts is only a preferment as the invention in its broadest aspect resides in providing a carpet utilising a substantially liquid imperious bonding agent bonding the carpet layer to a backing layer, including a laminated backing layer of the type described above or any other suitable backing layer.

In the second preferred embodiment of the invention carpet products are produced incorporating one or more woven carpet pieces or one or more woven carpet pieces in combination with other types of carpet pieces, such as pieces of tuftead carpet, and in the production of which the back of the woven carpet from which the piece or pieces are to be cut has firstly applied thereto a bonding agent, whereafter the piece or pieces are cut from the carpet. The production of the carpet product may then proceed in the manner described above for the first preferred embodiment.

Claims (9)

1. A carpet product to overlie a floor area which comprises carpet pieces cut to predetermined shapes and a backing layer to which-the carpet pieces are attached by a bonding agent to produce a predetermined pattern, wherein the bonding agent is substantially impervious to liquids.

2. A carpet product as claimed in claim 1 wherein the bonding agent is a waterbased adhesive.

3. A carpet product as claimed in claim 2, wherein the waterbased adhesive is a cross-linked aqueous latex compound.

4. A method of producing a carpet product to overlie a floor area, including the steps of cutting carpet pieces 0 to predetermined shapes, and mounting the carpet pieces on a backing layer by bonding the pieces to the layer with a bonding agent substantially impervious to liquids to produce a predetermined pattern.

A method of producing a carpet product to overlie a loor area utilising woven carpet pieces, including the step of applying a bonding agent substantially impervious to liquids to the back of the woven carpet from which a piece or pieces are to be cut, and thereafter cutting a piece or pieces from the carpet to predetermined shapes, and thereafter attaching a plurality of such pieces to a backing layer to form a carpet product with a predetermined pattern.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the piece or pieces are mounted on a backing layer. 1' M staffa/keepfAustralanCarpe 1 11.9,96 *^c c 7

7. A method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the cut piece or pieces of woven carpet are mounted on the backing layer in combination with pieces of other types of carpet.

8. A method of producing a carpet product substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the first or second preferred embodiment of the invention.

9. A carpet product produced in accordance with the method of any one of claims 4 to 8. e e Se e statUalkeeAustraIanCapot. I 1.9.96 ABSTRACT A carpet product and a method of producing the product, which product comprises a carpet layer to the back of which a backing layer is bonded using a bonding agent. in the form of a cross-linked aqueous latex compound which is substantially impervious to liquids. A method of producing a carpet product utilising woven carpet pieces is also disclosed and in which the bonding agent is applied to the back of woven carpet before pieces are cut from the carpet. S.