JPH0148064B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for flocking short fibers onto a substrate using a hot-melt adhesive.

Prior Art Conventionally, emulsion-type or solution-type adhesives are generally used to flock short fibers onto a base material, and therefore, as production equipment, coaters,
It is necessary to arrange the flocking machine and the dryer in succession, which not only increases the equipment cost but also has poor workability. Furthermore, the utility costs for evaporating and drying the water or solvent contained in the adhesive are enormous, and controlling changes in the physical properties of the adhesive often becomes a problem.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for efficiently manufacturing flocked products of good quality using a hot-melt adhesive as an adhesive.

Structure of the Invention The method of the present invention involves forming a hot-melt adhesive layer on a base material, solidifying the adhesive layer, temporarily adhering short fibers to the adhesive layer electrostatically, and then heating and melting the adhesive layer. It is characterized by adhesively flocking the short fibers that have been temporarily attached to the base material.

That is, in the present invention, even if the adhesive layer is solid,
They discovered that when high voltage is applied to electrostatic flocking, the hot-melt adhesive layer is charged with static electricity, so the short fibers are adsorbed and temporarily attached to the adhesive layer, similar to when celluloid is rubbed to bring it closer to the short fibers. , this is effectively used.

The short fibers temporarily attached to the adhesive layer are then heated and melted to firmly adhere to the adhesive layer.
Short fibers can be bonded at a location separate from the flocking device.

As described above, in the method of the present invention, short fibers are not directly planted on a liquid adhesive layer as in normal flocking, but the short fibers are electrostatically arranged in advance on a solid adhesive layer, and then Since the adhesive layer is melted and the short fibers are fixed with adhesive, the adhesive layer forming device and the flocking device can be separated and used in combination for multiple purposes. Without staining excess short fibers with adhesive, flocking can be carried out economically, with good workability, and with good quality and adhesive strength.

In addition, in the present invention, when heating and melting the adhesive layer,
By applying static electricity and/or vibration to the base material, it is possible to further increase the flocking density. In this case, the arrangement of the short fibers electrostatically attached to the adhesive layer is arranged on the adhesive layer by applying new static electricity and/or vibration, and the short fibers are densely arranged and bonded by heating and melting. It will be adhered to the agent layer.

Various coating methods, laminating methods, etc. can be used to form the hot-melt adhesive layer on the base material, and the thickness of the adhesive layer is not particularly limited, but usually about 10 to 300 microns is sufficient.

As the adhesive, any so-called hot melt resin that is solid and nonvolatile at room temperature can be used. For example, waxes, polyethylene,
Polypropylene, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, polyamides, polyesters, ethylene-
Examples include propylene rubber, polyurethane rubber, acrylic rubber, and butyl rubber. Note that the adhesive may further contain additives such as a plasticizer, a tackifier, and a filler.

In the present invention, the formation of the adhesive layer on the base material and the flocking process may be carried out on the same line, but it is not necessary to do so. It is also possible to perform the hair transplanting process as desired.

An example of an apparatus for carrying out the present invention is shown in the drawings, and the apparatus generally includes a heating means 3 behind the electrostatic flocking machine 1 for melting the adhesive layer of the flocking base material 2 coming out of the flocking machine 1. It is preferable to provide a vibration device 4 and/or an electrostatic device that applies vibration or static electricity to the base material at approximately the same position as the heating means 3. This increases the adhesive strength of the short fibers and also increases the adhesive density.

The flocking method in the flocking machine 1 may be either the up method or the down method, but the up method as shown in the drawing is preferable from the point of view of appropriate removal of excess fluff. However, from the viewpoint of adhesive strength, it is desirable that the short fiber layer 5 be positioned above the base material during heating by the heating means 3.

Example A base material 2 provided with a heat-melting adhesive layer made of polyamide was supplied at a speed of 2 to 4 m/min at room temperature to an electrostatic flocking machine 1 equipped with electrodes having a voltage of 35 KV and a distance between electrodes of about 8 cm. Rayon short fibers 8 of 1.5 d and 0.5 mm are supplied to the flocking machine from a short fiber supply device 6 on an endless belt 7 .

The short fibers 8 are temporarily adhered electrostatically and tightly to the solid adhesive layer 9 of the base material 2, and are sent as they are to the heating means 3. Therefore, while vibrating the base material 2 with the vibration device 4, the adhesive layer 9 is heated and melted, and the short fibers 8 are
are regularly and closely bonded to the adhesive layer 9 in an upright manner. When separated from the heating means 3, the adhesive layer 5 cools and solidifies, immediately becoming a flocked product with strong adhesive strength, and is stably wound onto the winding roll 10.

The flocking method of the present invention can be effectively applied to various base materials such as paper, plastic sheets, woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, non-woven fabrics, wood boards, gold laminates, or three-dimensional molded products thereof, and can be applied to By selecting an adhesive having the desired melting and softening temperature, melt index, adhesive strength, flexibility, etc., it is possible to obtain a wide variety of flocked products with excellent workability. Also,
The method of the present invention can be applied not only to full-surface printing but also to flock printing.

Effects of the Invention In the present invention, since a hot-melt adhesive that can function as an adhesive by heating and melting is used, an adhesive layer forming device such as a coating device and a flocking device are separated and combined for multipurpose purposes. It is easy to use, has good work efficiency, and reduces equipment costs.
Furthermore, the greatest effect of the present invention is that the short fibers are temporarily attached to the solid adhesive layer electrostatically, and then the adhesive layer is heated and melted to firmly adhere the short fibers.
This makes it possible to transplant hair very uniformly without the flocking machine becoming contaminated with adhesive, and also increases the density of flocking and strengthens the adhesive strength.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawing is a schematic diagram showing an example of the device of the present invention. 1... Flocking machine, 2... Base material, 3... Heating means,
4... Vibration device, 5... Short fiber layer, 6... Short fiber supply device, 7... Endless belt, 8... Short fiber, 9... Adhesive layer, 10... Winding roll.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A hot-melt adhesive layer is formed on a base material, and after the adhesive layer is solidified, short fibers are electrostatically temporarily attached to the adhesive layer, and then the adhesive layer is heated and melted to temporarily attach the adhesive layer. A method for producing a flocked product, which comprises adhesively flocking attached short fibers onto a base material. 2 Claims characterized in that when the adhesive layer is heated and melted to bond and flock the temporarily attached short fibers, static electricity and/or vibration is applied to the base material to increase the adhesion density of the short fibers. The method described in paragraph 1. 3. A heating means is provided at the rear of the electrostatic flocking machine for heating the adhesive layer of the flocking base material that comes out of the flocking machine, and a vibration is applied to the flocking base material at approximately the same position as the heating means. Alternatively, an apparatus for manufacturing a flocked product using a hot-melt adhesive, characterized in that it is provided with a vibration device and/or an electrostatic device for applying static electricity. 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the flocked base material is supplied to the heating means with the short fiber layer facing upward. 5. Claim 3, characterized in that the base material is supplied to a flocking machine so as to be flocked by the up method.
The device according to paragraph 4 or paragraph 4. 6. The device according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the short fibers are supplied to the flocking machine using an endless belt.