MXPA97001509A - Penachos chain carpet stable to the hume - Google Patents

Abstract

A carpet structure made by attaching elongated hair articles to a support fabric wherein either the hair article or the support fabric or both may be stable to moisture and combined to make a carpet stable to moisture. Preferably, the hair article and the support fabric are made of nylon (6, 6) reinforced with glass fiber and bonded using ultrasonic energy.

Description

PENACHE CHAIN CARPET STABLE TO HUMIDITY CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED REQUESTS This application is a continuation of part of the copending application Serial No. 08 / 298,642 filed on August 31, 1994, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventional tufted carpets are made by passing a flexible fabric primary support through a tufting machine having a large array of needles that force the multi-strand yarn of the carpet through the support where the strands are restrained by an arrangement Large hooks before the needles retract. There may be approximately 1400 needles across a width of 12 feet. The support must accommodate the penetration of the needle without damage. The support is then advanced a short distance (approximately 1-10"for a popular high quality plume density) and the needles are reinserted through the support to form the next series of thread tufts REF: 23805 Can be used a large arrangement of blades in conjunction with the hooks to cut the tuft curls inserted through the support to produce a carpet f < - cut hair.For the ripple pile carpets, the tuft curls are not cut. The tufts are held in the holder after the needle has been removed to the next position.Without this friction is insufficient to keep the tufts in place during the use of a carpet, so an adhesive is applied in amounts free to submerge all the filaments at the base of the plume on the underside of the primary support (needle entry side). This prevents the destruction of the individual plumes or filaments during use. To help the stabilization, stiffening, reinforcement and protection of the tuft base against abrasion, a second support or reinforcement is placed on the underside of the primary tufted support. The secondary support can be joined by the same adhesive layer or by the application of more adhesive. To save on costs, a cheap latex adhesive is very often used. Secondary support must resist damage during shipping, handling and installation. A problem with the conventional carpets described above is their heavy structure. As a result, these carpets can be difficult to install and, after a useful life, are difficult to recycle since very different polymers were used in their construction. Commonly used nylon tufts, latex adhesive, polypropylene primary support and polypropylene secondary support. These materials are difficult to separate to recover the polymers; Polymers of 1 itex and nylon are not compatible for recycling. This has resulted in thousands of pounds of scrap carpets being thrown into the dumps every year. In the past, predominantly nylon ("all nylon") rugs have been suggested. However, the nylon polymer useful for the supports in such carpets has a sensitivity to moisture that causes changes ranging from 4% to 10% in the dimensions of the carpet in response to changes in humidity, from very wet to very dry, depending a bit on the temperature. These problems of moisture and thermal stability have not been adequately addressed in the past, so that a carpet with a support structure that could remain constantly flat was not possible. The common humidity changes in residential use can result in large irregularities in the carpets where the carpet is restricted against movement by contact with walls (in wall-to-wall installations), or are maintained by friction by heavy furniture or joints. to the spaced floors. In particular, humidity variations from 0% RH to close to 100% RH at high domestic temperatures are a concern for the stability of carpets in residential use. Lightweight carpet constructions have been suggested, but they have depended on the abundant application of adhesives that are difficult to handle in the manufacturing process and are difficult to recycle with the nylon polymer commonly used for thread tufts. Suggested machines for such lightweight constructions were difficult to install and operate since they handled a total folder width of materials in a continuous coupled process. They also usually required a discrete yarn supply to feed the process and thus required an extensive yarn replenishment at frequent intervals or shutdowns to replace the individual spools since they ran randomly. There is a need for a carpet construction that is lightweight, dimensionally stable in use, and can be easily recycled to produce useful polymers. There is a need for a "all nylon" carpet that is stable to moisture and changes in temperature in use. There is a need for a cheap and simple method to produce such carpets.

The present invention provides such carpets and methods for producing them.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The hair surface process and structure (i.e., "tuft chain carpet" or "carpet" assembly) of this invention are improvements over the process and carpet constructions suggested in the co-assigned, co-assigned, North American Patent Application. of Series 017,162 filed on February 22, 1993, the description of which is incorporated herein by reference. This application describes a single elongated hair article and a hair surface structure (carpet) made using such elongated hair articles and processes for producing them. The present invention is a lightweight moisture-stable plume chain carpet assembly, made by attaching a plurality of vertical tufts of thread to an elongated strand, preferably reinforced to make an elongated hair article; and joining a plurality of hair articles side by side to a lightweight support substrate, preferably a reinforced moisture stable backing. A variety of material combinations can be used for the tufts, strands and support to achieve the light weight structure and moisture stability desired in the carpet. The entire carpet can be made of a moisture sensitive polymer, preferably of nylon; the reinforced strand is preferably a bundle of multi-filaments of glass fiber coated with a nylon liner; and the support substrate is preferably a sheet of thin glass fiber cloth and thin nonwoven nylon layers in a sandwich structure. Fiberglass resists the expansion of nylon due to moisture, provides some rigidity to the deformation to resist shrinkage, and does not contaminate the nylon polymer for the use of recycling. The reinforced strand and support have particular structures that optimize strength, weight and cost in a carpet structure. The moisture stability of the carpet can be achieved by a synergism between the reinforced strand and the support after assembly, or the individual strand and the support can each be inherently stable to moisture and mounted in such a way as to retain their stability to moisture after assembly and provide a structure stable to moisture. The invention is also a method for producing a moisture-stable plume chain mat assembly by the use of ultrasonic energy to join the yarn to the reinforced strand, and the elongated hair article of the supporting substrate. elongate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES Figure 1 is a schematic view of a process for producing an elongated hair article. Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of a support strand. Figure 3 is a schematic view of a process for producing a hair surface structure (tuft chain carpet assembly) using elongated hair articles. Figure 4 is an exploded view of a support fabric. Figure 5 is a schematic view of the end of a portion of a hair surface structure. Figure 6 is an elongated schematic view of the guiding and joining devices of Figure 3. Figure 7 is a partial end view of the guiding and joining devices of Figure 6. Figure 8 is an exploded view of articles of elongated hair and the ultrasonic horn.

Figure 9 is a schematic view of a plurality of plume chains: -, showing variations in plumes and threads. Figure 10 is a schematic view of an alternative system for mounting the tuft chains to a support.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a "string carpet assembly, of tufts stable to moisture". By the term "moisture-stable tuft chain carpet assembly" or "moisture-stable carpet" is meant a tufted chain carpet assembly (hair surface structure), which can be manufactured by the methods described later, where the longitudinal dimension of the assembly both in the direction of the string of tufts (T / SD), ie the direction of the machine (MD), and the direction of the transverse plume chain (XD) changes 2% or less in response to a change in humidity from 100% to 3% or less at a temperature of 40 ° C. Preferably, the change in length in both the T / SD and the XD is 1% or less, especially when the carpet assembly is intended for use in a large area and will be secured to the floor only in spaced locations or only around of the edges. The moisture stability of the tuft chain mat assembly and its individual components, i.e., the support strand and the support substrate as described hereinafter, was measured by the test described in the test methods below. . By the term "moisture-sensitive tuft chain carpet assembly" is meant a tufted chain carpet assembly, wherein the longitudinal dimension of the assembly in the direction of the string of tufts (T / SD) and / or the direction of the transverse plume chain (XD) changes more than 2% in response to a change in humidity of 100% to 3% or less at a temperature of 40 ° C. Figure 1 shows an apparatus and method for producing a single elongated hair article, or "tuft chain" by joining the plush carpet yarn 20 to a reinforced support thread 32. The yarn 32 is guided along the edge 40 of the yarn. a mandrel 30 and the fleece yarn 20 is wound around the mandrel and the yarn by means of the rotating eccentric guide 26. One or multiple yarns can be wound together; two are shown in 20a and 20b. The wire 20 is ultrasonically joined to the strand 32 when it is pulled under the ultrasonic horn 42 by the movement of the strand 32 and other carriers 134 and 136. The wound thread 20 is cut by the rotating blade 44 intersecting the mandrel groove. 47 so that the strand with the bonded thread attached can be removed from the mandrel 30 and guided to the additional process steps as in 200. The process described above and the product of tuft chains produced is discussed in the application reference. Patent No. Serial No. 017,162. Figure 3 shows an apparatus for carrying out the additional processing steps on the string of tufts. The apparatus of Figure 1 is shown on the left in Figure 3 and further processing steps are shown starting at position 200. The tuft chain alone 45 passes over a driven slotted roller 202, where the string of tufts can to be cut can have the hair height cut to the desired height by means of electric cutters 204 and then proceeds towards a feed and tension assembly 206. The tuft chain 45 proceeds towards a fuller-type device or loom frame 208 on which is mounted a large cylinder 210 for winding the string of tufts on a support fabric in a spiral arrangement. Mounted to move along the guides of the fulcrum device or loom frame 208 is a carriage 212 that includes the tension and guide devices 214 and the ultrasonic attachment devices 216 for attaching the string of tufts to a support 218 maintained on the cylinder 210. The flexible lines shown at 220 are for directing electrical power, control signals, and compressed air to and from the mobile carriage 212. In Figure 3, after the chain of tufts 45 has been displaced along of the cylinder 210 (from left to right in Figure 3 in the direction of the arrow 221) and joined along the length of the tuft chain to the support 218, a hair surface structure is produced (assembly of chain mat of tufts), 222 on the cylinder. By dividing the structure along the axis of the cylinder, the structure can be removed from the cylinder and placed flat like a conventional carpet. The carpet can be subjected to additional treatments, such as staining and volume increase, after the removal of the cylinder, or some treatments can be carried out before removing it from the cylinder. For example, it is possible to place a housing around a portion of the cylinder that surrounds a section of the joined carpet and provide a hot fluid to the housing to increase the volume of the carpet in line. Reinforced support strand 32 is preferably a multi-filament fiberglass bundle coated with nylon, which provides a structural, moisture-stable adhesive strand as described in US Patent Application Serial No. 08 / 270,861 , co-pending, co-assigned, filed on June 5, 1994, the description of which is incorporated herein by reference. By the term, "strand of moisture stable support" is understood as a strand wherein the longitudinal dimension of the strand changes 2% or less in response to a change in moisture of 100% to 3% or less at a temperature of 40 ° C. Preferably, the change in length is 1% or less, especially when the strand is going to be used for large area carpets, which are secured to the floor. Referring to Figure 2, the strand 32 preferably comprises a core 201 of continuous glass reinforcing filaments and a nylon liner 203 surrounding the core. The nylon liner preferably adheres to the periphery of the core and the strand preferably has a cross-sectional area ratio of glass to nylon of 0.10 to 0.30. The reinforcing filaments (e.g., glass) of the strand are substantially insensitive to moisture (i.e., that the filament length does not change substantially due to changes in moisture) and the filaments have less than 0.20% uptake of the filament. Water. The reinforcing filaments should have a modulus per unit density of at least five times that of the thermoplastic resin (eg, nylon) used for the liner. Preferably, the reinforcing filaments are multiple filaments of glass, ceramic fiber or carbon fiber. The carbon fibers may be coal fibers derived by separation obtained from petroleum or from the separation of coal tar, or coal fibers of the PAN type obtained from acrylic fibers. The glass can be of the continuous-thread type or the fiber type. Glass of continuous type is preferred. The ceramic fibers can be SiC fibers, SiN fibers, BN fibers or alumina fibers. Organic polymeric filaments having the moisture stability and modulus / density required may also be used. It is also recognized that monofilaments can be used. The thermoplastic resin that can be used as a liner for the fiber can be a polymeric resin that is considered substantially insensitive to moisture such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), preferably "Dacron" PET, polypropylene, or the like. Alternatively, the polymer resin for the strand can be considered substantially moisture sensitive such as the polyimide or a polyamide. Preferably, the resin is nylon 6,6 or nylon 6. Nylon 6,6 is especially preferred. The versions of industrial waste or recycled consumption of these resins also work, and can make the product easier to process and less expensive.

In another embodiment, it is not necessary for the strand to have a shell / core structure. For example, a strand comprising an onofilament or multiple filaments of nylon, polypropylene, or polyester could be used as illustrated below in Table I. Alternatively, the strand can be a moisture sensitive structure. By the term, "strand of moisture-sensitive support" means a strand, wherein the longitudinal dimension of the strand changes more than 2% in response to a change in moisture from 100% to 3% or less at a temperature of 40 ° C. The multi-filament yarns that were used as plume yarns can be manufactured by various methods known in the art. These yarns contain filaments (fibers) made of synthetic thermoplastic polymers such as polyamides, polyesters, polyolefins and acrylonitriles, and copolymers or mixtures thereof. Natural fibers such as wool can also be used. Preferably the polyamide (nylon) is selected from the group consisting of nylon 6, 6 or nylon 6 homopolymer or copolymers thereof, sulfonated nylon 6,6 or nylon 6 polymer containing units derived from an aromatic sulfonate or a salt thereof. alkali metal thereof, nylon 6,6 or nylon 6 copolymer containing units derived from 2-methyl-pentamethylenediamine (MPMD) and isophthalic acid, nylon 6,6 copolymer containing units derived from isophthalic acid and terephthalic acid, and nylon 6,6 copolymer containing units derived from N, N'-dibutylhexamethylenediamine and dodecandioic acid. A preferred nylon 6,6 copolymer contains from about 1.0 to about 4.0 weight percent of units derived from the sodium salt of 5-sulfoisophthalic acid. Preferably, the polyolefin is homopolymer of polypropylene or copolymers or mixtures thereof such as the propylene / ethylene copolymer described in co-assigned co-assigned US Patent Application Serial No. 08 / 419,569, filed on April 10, 1995, the description of which is incorporated here as a reference. Preferably the polyester is selected from the group consisting of poly (ethylene terephthalate), poly (trimethylene terephthalate) and poly (butylene terephthalate) and copolymers and mixtures thereof. Poly (trimethylene terephthalate) is especially preferred because it can be used to produce fibers having a unique carpet texture retention and wear resistance properties described in co-pending US Patent No. 08 / 268,585. , co-assigned, filed on June 30, 1994, the description of which is incorporated herein by reference. These polymers are used to prepare melts or polymer solutions, which are extruded through nozzles for spinning to form filaments by techniques known in the art, such as those described in the applications referenced above. The melt or polymer solution may contain additives such as UV stabilizers, deodorants, flame retardants, desagregating agents, antimicrobial agents and the like. In some cases, the multi-filament yarns containing these filaments are subsequently dyed to form colored tufted yarns. These yarns can be referred to as pre-dyed yarns since they are colored prior to the manufacture of the carpet. In other cases, a method known as solution staining can be used to produce the colored filaments, which are subsequently used to make the colored multi-filament tuft yarns. Generally, a solution staining method involves incorporating pigments or dyes into the melt or polymer solution before extruding the mixture through the spinneret. In a carpet context, these can also be referred to as pre-dyed yarns since the color is placed on the "O" before the carpet is tufted or otherwise formed.The pigment can be added in the form of pure foam, as a mixture with the above additives, or as a concentrate in which the pigment is dispersed in a polymeric matrix. For color concentrates, one or more pigments are dispersed in a polymer matrix, which also contains additives such as lubricants and opacifying agents (Ti02). The color concentrate is then mixed with the polymer that forms the filament and the mixture is spun into colored filaments. For example, U.S. Patent No. 5,108,684, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, involves a process wherein the pigments are dispersed in a nylon terpolymer 6/6, 6/6, 10 and pigmented bucks are formed from terpolymer These pellets are then melted again or "left" in an equal or greater quantity of nylon 6, mixed perfectly to form a uniform dispersion, resolidified and in the form of pellets. The resulting color concentrate is then mixed with a nylon copolymer containing an aromatic sulfonate or an alkali metal salt thereof. The nylon melt mixture is then spun to form colored, stain-resistant nylon filaments. Typically in a nylon filament manufacturing process, the molten polymer is extruded through the nozzle to spin in a quench chimney where cold air is blown against the newly formed hot filaments. The shape of the cross section of the filament depends on the design of the nozzle for spinning. Preferably, the filament has a trilobal cross-section with a modification ratio (MR) of about 1.0 to about 4.0. The cross section of the filament influences the brightness (brightness of the filaments of the reflected light), concealment of the dirt, bulging and handling properties of the tuft threads. The filament may contain voids extending through its axial core as described in U.S. Patent No. 3,745,061 or U.S. Patent No. 5,230,957. The presence of voids in the filament influences the shine and hiding properties of the dirt of the tuft threads. The filaments are pulled through the cooling zone by means of feed rollers and treated with a yarn pulling finish from a finishing applicator. The filaments are then passed over hot drawing rolls. Subsequently, the filaments may be crimped to make the continuous filament filaments bulked (BCF). These threads have three-dimensional curvilinear curls randomly spaced. Alternatively, the filaments can be crimped and cut into short lengths to make staple fibers. The methods of air jet bulging may be employed, as described in US Patent No. 3,186,155 or US Patent No. 3,525, ">; 4, to curl and bulge the thread. Generally, for the purposes of this invention, each yarn has an elongation of bulky curl (BCE) of about 20% to 50%, and denier per filament (dpf) of about 16 to 25. For chain carpets of tufts of curly hair, of intricate filament, with good volume, the ECB% can move towards the upper end of the BCE% range mentioned above. For carpets of tufted pile chains, of braided thread, with good handling, the ECB% should be in the range of 27% to 49%, preferably from 31% to 43%. For velor-cut carpets, velor with good resistance to beat, the ECB% should move towards the lower end of the BCE% range mentioned above. If the yarns are intended to be used in a pile carpet structure of cut pile tufts, then those "single" component strands can then be braided to form a strand of multiple filaments of braided yarn. This multi-stranded strand of twisted yarn is constructed by wiring two or more component strands by techniques such as, for example, the two-step twisted / wiring process or a direct wiring process, as described in US Pat. No. 5,263,308 . The braided yarn may be unidirectional or the braid may have alternating directions as described in US Patent No. 4,873,821. For the purposes of this invention it is preferred that the total yarn of the braided yarn be at least 2000 and more preferably in the range of about 2400 to about 3100. The braided yarn is preferably a double-stranded yarn with a braiding level in the range of about 3 to about 5 turns per inch (tpi). Alternatively, the threads may be of false or intricate braiding in air depending on the desired carpet construction. If a yarn of multiple filaments of braided yarn is constructed, it can then be "textured" by passing the yarn through a tow press, where the yarn is compressed and the individual filaments are bent and flexed. The yarn can also be heat treated to fix the braid in the yarn. This braiding heat-setting is carried out if the yarn is intended to be used in a cut-pile carpet structure. Those techniques are also well known in the art. For example, the yarn can be passed through a continuous heat-sealing machine "Superba", which treats the yarn with saturated, pressurized steam or a "Suessen" machine, which treats the yarn with dry heat. These threads can then be used to construct the tuft chain carpet assembly according to the methods described herein. In the final carpet assembly, the tufts may have various shapes such as, for example, curl hair or cut hair. The tufts of curly hair are characterized by having the e-? -ma-thread of an uncut loo as described in the Application for Boating ß North American Serial No. 08 / 331,074, filed on October 28, l " ", i, the description of which is incorporated here as an example. The plumes of cut pile can be obtained by cutting the tufts of the tuft threads or preferable by the process shown in Figure 1. The final pile tuft carpet assembly can also be treated with stain resistant agents. which provide resistance to hair thread stains by acidic dyes. Such stain-resistant agents include, for example, sulfonated phenol, or naphthol, condensed formaldehyde and aromatic vinyl aromatic hydrolyzed maleic anhydride products as described in US Patent No. 4,925,707. The tuft chain carpet assembly can also be treated with dirt resistant agents, which provide dirt resistance to the hair strands.

Such grime-resistant agents include, for example, fluorochemical compositions such as those described in U.S. Patent No. 5,153,046. Preferably, the tuft yarn contains filaments made of a polymer which can be melt-bonded to the polymer selected from the strand by thermal fusion or fusion in solvent or the like, whereby the original polymer used for the strand and plume provide the means to join the strand and the tuft, and the addition of an adhesive material by sepa-Ho is not required. However, the addition of a small amount of adhesive material to increase fusion bonding may be desirable. Preferably, the polymer of the plume and the polymer of the strand are the same polymer or of the same polymer family. The support substrate 218 must be "moisture stable" in a direction perpendicular to the tuft chain, i.e., the transverse direction to the machine (XD), and may or may not be stable to moisture in the direction of the chain. plumes (T / SD), that is, the address of the machine (MD). By the term "moisture stable" it is meant that the longitudinal dimension of the respective direction, (XD) or (MD) changes 2% or less in response to a change in humidity of 100% to 3% or less than one temperature of 40 ° C.

The "support substrate" may be any material similar to a suitable sheet including, for example, fabrics such as felts, woven fabrics, non-woven fabrics, knitted fabrics and wool or scratches, and film as woven fabrics. of cut film. By the term "moisture-stable support substrate" is meant a support substrate, wherein the longitudinal dimension of the substrate in both machine direction (MD) and machine direction (XD) changes 2% or less in response to a change in humidity of 100% to 3% or less at a temperature of 40 ° C. Of preferable hand, the change in length in both the MD and the XD is 1% or less especially when the substrate is going to be used for large area carpets, which are secured to the floor. The thermoplastic polymer suitable for making a substrate stable to moisture may be a polymer, which is substantially insensitive to moisture such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), preferably "Dacron" PET, polypropylene, or the like. Alternatively, the support polymer may be substantially moisture sensitive and be stabilized in at least the XD with reinforcing filaments that are substantially insensitive to moisture. This could result in what is known as a "moisture-sensitive support substrate", which means that this is a support substrate, where the longitudinal dimension of the support in the direction of the machine (MD) changes more of.% in response to a change in humidity of 100% to 3% or less at a temperature of 40 ° C. Some moisture-sensitive polymers useful for producing such a support substrate include polyimides or polyamides. , the polymer is nylon 6, 6 or nylon 6. The nylo '6.6 is especially preferred.The waste versions of recycled or industrial consumption of these resins also work, and can make the product more easily pro __ar and less expensive To achieve the moisture stability and structural stability required in the finished carpet structure, the supporting substrate must be reinforced with reinforcing filaments or a reinforcing fabric. They are essentially insensitive to moisture (ie the length of the filament does not change substantially due to changes in humidity) and the filaments have a water catchment of less than 0.20%. The reinforcing filaments should have a modulus per unit density of at least five times that of the thermoplastic polymer used to make the support. Preferably, the reinforcing filaments are multiple glass filaments, ceramic fiber or carbon fiber. The carbon fibers may be coal derived by separation obtained from the separation of petroleum tar or coal, or carbon fibers of the PAN type obtained from acrylic fibers. The glass can be of the continuous strand type or the cut fiber type. Glass of continuous type is preferred. The ceramic fibers can be SiC fibers, SiN fibers, BN fibers or alumina fibers. Organic limber filaments having the required modulus / density moisture stability can also be used. The support substrate 218 is preferably a non-woven nylon composite fabric and a glass fiber cloth as described in co-assigned, co-assigned application No. 8 / 258,120, filed on 10 June 1994, the description of which is incorporated here as a reference. Preferably, the composite fabric is a moisture-stable support substrate. Referring to the exploded view in Figure 4, the moisture-stable support substrate 218 preferably comprises a first layer 213 of a non-woven fabric of intricate, non-bonded nylon filaments, a second layer 215 of fiberglass cloth. , and a third layer 217 of a non-woven fabric of intricate, unbonded nylon filaments. Each layer of non-woven nylon fabric is adhesively bonded to the layer of the glass fiber fabric predominantly at the contact surface between the fabrics and the fabric so that the majority of non-bonded nylon filaments permeate the fabric. unattached Preferably the adhesive is an acrylic adhesive. When the above preferred support is a thin stand of "Sontara" non-woven nylon fabric of 1 oz / square yard attached to the top and bottom of an 8 x 8 multi-filament fiberglass fabric of the denier 1000, the Cylinder 210 of Figure 3 is preferably covered with a thermal insulating coating that decreases the flow of heat from the carpet elements heated ultrasonically to the cylinder. It is believed that this makes ultrasonic heating more efficient. One such coating that has been found to work is a fiberglass coated with TFE made by the company CHEMFAB in Merrimack, NH, designated Premium Series 350-6A. An acrylic adhesive can be used to bond the coating to the metal cylinder. The TFE surface prevents the supporting substrate from adhering to the coating. The thickness of the coating can provide some elasticity to the surface of the cylinder to reduce strength concentrations due to dimensional variations in the elements that can produce "hot spots" when the string of plumes is attached to the support. If a thicker support structure is used that provides some load distribution during bonding, or if the speed of the string of tufts under the horn is greater than about 10 yards / minute so that significant heat transfer can not occur to the cylinder in the available time, then the coating may not be necessary. Figure 5 'is a typical, partial end view of a moisture-stable carpet (made above 1 device of Figure 3) seen in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder and parallel to the elongated axis of the chain of plumes. Each of the tuft segments .a of plumes cut 45 ah comprises a plurality of bundles of filaments or tufts, secured to the strand of the holder 32. For example, the strand bundle 46 is bent into a "U" shape. defined by a pair of vertical tufts 52 and 54 extending upwardly from a base 224 and spaced apart from each other adjacent to the base at 226. Each of the bundles has a dense portion of filaments 62 joined together and secured to the surface peripheral of the supporting strand 32 in the base. Each of the beams forms an acute angle with the dense portion at the base. The support strand has a width 74 that is equal to or less than the distance between the vertical tufts. The tuft chains are separated by a selected distance, as in 226, based on the desired density of tufts in the carpet, and are attached along their length to the surface 228 of the support 218. In the embodiment shown, the reinforced support strand 32 is attached on the inside of the beams in the form of "U", and the underside of the chain of plumes, that is to say, that the lower part of the beams in the form of "U" joined, is attached to the surface of the support. In another modality, the strand p _of being ui.to the outer side of the "U" shaped beam and then the strand should be attached to the surface of the support when the string of plumes is attached to the support. Preferably, the string of tufts, or pile articles, comprises a support strand having a thermoplastic polymer surface, and a plurality of thermoplastic polymer strand bundles, each bundle defining a pair of tufts, tufts in such pair bend at an angle at a base and extend upwards thereof, the tufts define a distance separated therebetween adjacent to the base, each of the bundles having a dense portion of filaments attached and secured to the surface of the base. base support strand by melting the thermoplastic polymer of the support strand and the strands, the support strand has a width that is equal to or less than the distance between the tufts in such a pair. It is important that the string of tufts be carefully guided over the cylinder 210 and under the ultrasonic attachment device 216. Figure 6 is a close-up view of a portion of Figure 3 showing the string of tufts 45 as it is guided over the cylinder 210, covered with support 218, by tension and guide device 214. The device d < - ultrasonic junction 216 consists of at least one ultrasonic horn 230 and ultrasonic actuator 232 attached to a flexible voltage 234 which allows the horn and actuator to move freely in a radial direction relative to the cylinder. An arm 236 on the assembly 234 allows weight, such as weight 238, to be added to control the effect of the horn on the tuft chain. The tension and guide device consists of tension wheels with V-shaped grooves 240 and 242, the guide wheel 244, the guide groove 245, and the other guides are best seen in Figures 7 and 8. The groove in shape V on wheels 240 and 242 hold the vertical tuft chain and hold it so that the magnetic torque of the tension wheels can withstand the pulling of the tuft chain by the rotating cylinder, and therefore apply tension. The magnetic tension wheels can be obtained from TEXTROL, INC. of Monroe, NC. The plume chain is braided at 90 degrees between the tension wheel 242 and the guide wheel 244, which also has a V-groove. The guide tension device 214 and the attachment device 216 are attached to a frame member. 246 that is attached to a displacement car 212.

Figure 7 is a view 7-7 of Figure 6 showing additional details of how the string of tufts can be guided. It is important that the straight or vertical tufts of the chain of adjacent plumes that are on the cylinder are not trapped under the chain of incoming plumes that is being attached to the support on the cylinder. It is also important that the fall? 3 incoming tufts are placed with the tufts up and the strand directly below the ultrasonic horn. To give rise to these ends, in Figure 7 a guide rod 250 is attached to the frame member 246 and follows the contour of the cylinder near the support and presses them sideways against the vertical tufts of the string of tufts 45j to keep them away from the incoming tuft chain 45k and the ultrasonic horn 230. A guide plate 248 is attached to the guide rod 250 and is located near the support 218 and at an angle to the string of plumes attached to 45j. Another guide rod 252 is attached to the frame member 246 and is positioned near the incoming tuft chain to hold the vertical plumes upward and help guide the incoming tuft chain 45k under the horn 230. Figure 8 shows another 6-6 view, ie Figure 7 of the guide rods 250 and 252 just opposite the horn 230. Guiding the tuft chains 45j and 45k prevents them from being bent over and trapped under the horn 230 or between the string of tufts 45k and the support 218 during joining. To assist in aligning the string of tufts under the horn, the leading edge 254 of the horn 230 (Figure 7) is tilted and this edge and the lower edge are contoured to receive the strand that comes into direct contact with the surface of the horn. In the case of an elliptical strand surface (after bonding with the thread), those edges of the horn could be a concave radiated surface, which can be seen in Figure 8 on the bottom surface 256. During the duration of high Horn power This contoured surface helps prevent the strand from slipping off under the horn. Figure 7 also shows another ultrasonic horn 258 which is useful when mounted in the tuft chain to the support at high speeds, such as approximately a speed between 10-25 YPM of tuft chains, and when a high bonding reliability is required . The horn 258 is located near the horn 230 so that the plume string 45k is still hot from the horn 230 when it is joined by the horn 258. In this way, the heating is partially cumulative and the total energy needed for the Union can be shared by the two speakers. This allows to operate at high speeds that require high bonding power. At low speeds, the second speaker 258 is useful for "reattaching" the string of plumes and improving the reliability of the joint by joining the areas that could have been lost by the speaker 230. It may also be useful to use the speaker 230 just to adhere Exactly the string of tufts in place with low vibration and force, and use the 258 speaker to firmly join the string of tufts with high energy and strength without the problem of the string of tufts moving around under the horn before the joint . This two-speaker technique can also be useful for joining hair strands to the support strand, particularly at high speeds. Other joining means than the ultrasonic joint can be used to join the bundle of threads to the strand and to join the string of tufts to the support. Such means may be solvent bonding or thermal bonding with, for example, a hot rod; or some combination of bonding with solvent, conductive and ultrasonic. It is preferred that the joint occurs without the separate addition of adhesive material to the string of tufts or support when the string of tufts is attached to the support, however, it is within the scope of the invention to include the addition of the adhesive in the bonding area to achieve bonding between different thermoplastic polymers or to increase the ultrasonic bonding. Bonding using an adhesive can also be achieved using the methods described in copending US Patent Application Serial No. 07 / 017,162, to which reference was made above. When an additional adhesive component is used, care must be taken that the type and amount of adhesive used does not compromise the moisture stability of the resulting assembly. In the operation of the device of Figures 1 and 3, the yarn of the source 22 and the strand of the roll 33 are fed to the mandrel 30 where the strand moves along the rim 40 and to drive the roll 201 in the assembly of scope and tension 206. The thread 20 is wrapped around the mandrel and the strand and is attached to the strand by the ultrasonic horn 42 to make the tuft chain 45. The tuft chain is braided through the apparatus to the cylinder 210. The support 218 is attached to the cylinder 210 by the belt 211 and is wound around the cylinder and cut to form a butt seam and taped to itself by the belt 213 as shown in Figure 7. The end of the tuft chain braid is under horn 230, and horn 258 if used, and is entangled to the support at the far left of cylinder 210 where carriage 212 is positioned for starting. The rotation of the cylinder 210 can now begin and the energized ultrasonic horn join the string of tufts to the support; the cylinder 210 acts as an ultrasonic anvil. The carriage 212 is engaged to rotate the cylinder so that it moves to the desired point, say approximately 0.2", by one revolution to advance the string of tufts along the cylinder and build a spiral array of tuft chains On the support on the cylinder When the car has crossed all the way to the right of the cylinder, the process is known to have and the rolled carpet on the cylinder is cut along the tape seam for the support and removed from the The process can then be repeated.To control the speed and tension in the process, the speed of the cylinder 210 can be constant and the roll that drives the string of tufts 210 can vary its speed slightly to maintain the tension verified by the tensiometer 211 The speed of the assembly of the advance roll of the strand 207 can also vary slightly in speed to maintain the tension verified by the tension. 209 meters constant. Although the system shown in Figure 3 for making the carpet only rolls a single string of tufts, it is within the scope of the invention to wind multiple tuft chains and provide an ultrasonic horn that has multiple narrowly spaced mouths to join multiple tuft chains simultaneously using a single ultrasonic energizer. A plurality of those multi-mouth loudspeakers could be arranged along a cylinder so that numerous tuft chains could all be joined together and make a complete carpet quickly, with only one complete revolving belt of the cylinder. Although the system for automated assembly of the string of tufts to a support in Figure 3 shows the mounting of the hair surface being done with the support on the inner side and the plumes on the outer side with the ultrasonic energy being applied from the The upper side of the support, the opposite construction with the hair on the inner side and the support on the outer side is possible on the ultrasonic energy being applied from the back side of the support. Figure 10 shows a schematic view of an alternative embodiment wherein the cylinder 280 has a continuous helical edge 282 on the surface to support the string of tufts 284. There are spaces, such as the spaces 286 and 288, on both sides of the edge 282 to receive the plumes. The edge could have a slot 290 to receive the strand and prevent the strand from slipping off the edge and into the space between the edges. The string of tufts 284 could be wound under tension along the cylinder on the helical edge without any attachment to a support. The support 292 could then be fed to the cylinder and wound around the string of tufts and secured as with a belt. A wide ultrasonic horn 294 spanning several edges could be used to progressively attach the support to the tuft chain from one end of the cylinder to the other end when the cylinder makes several revolutions. The mounted support and the string of tufts could then be cut axially along the length of the cylinder and the hair surface structure, or carpet removed or rolled flat. Yet. _ the systems shown in Figures 3 and 10 show a batch process for producing carpet assemblies, it is within the scope of the invention to make a continuous length of carpet by means of a winding process where there are sufficient chains of tufts fed to the carpet. cylinder for a full carpet width, and the cylinder serves as an anvil and a transport roller in the process. The support could only make a partial winding around the cylinder sufficient to join the plurality of tuft chains using multiple ultrasonic horns. In the embodiment of Figure 3 where the tufts are oriented out of the cylinder, a horn can have a plurality of mouths to join a plurality of plumes chain at a time. In the embodiment of Figure 10 where the tufts are oriented towards the cylinder, the cylinder could have a plurality of parallel edges or discs (instead of a continuous helical edge) to support all the tuft chains when they are partially wrapped around the cylinder and they are joined by a plurality of horns, with each one encompassing several edges. In both cases, the tuft chains can be supplied online from a plurality of chucks, or tuft chains can be made offline and supplied from rolls or cartridges. The hair surface article shown in Figure 5 provides a carpet structure of very light weight. A conventional short pile pile carpet with the necessary latex adhesive and secondary support typically has approximately 50% of its weight in the plume thread and approximately 50% in the supports and the latex for a 30-ounce / yard carpet. square (weight of the thread). The light weight carpet of the invention has approximately 75% of its weight in the yarn and only 25% in the support. For a typical 30-ounce / square-yard carpet roll containing approximately 120 square yards of carpet, the weight of a conventional carpet roll could be approximately 200 pounds more than a roll of carpet made according to the invention. For conventional carpet, this results in higher shipping costs, more intense installation, and more waste in the dump when the carpet is worn. The latex in the conventional carpet, which contributes to a greater weight, is also very difficult to mechanically separate from the nylon coated with yarn and is very difficult to separate only from the nylon polymer, thus making the recycling of the nylon economically unattractive . The nylon coated yarn and the nylon support in the carpet of the invention can be easily recycled together without chemical contamination by the glass fiber reinforcing filaments. The string carpet of tufts of this invention can be bulked after it has been assembled. This bulky provides the carpet greater coverage power. The thread of the hair is bulked over by heating the hair of the chain mat of tufts. In a bulky operation, such as the one described in the co-pending, Co-assignee North American Application entitled "Plume Chain Carpet Sweeping Method", the description of which is incorporated herein by reference, the string rug of tufts is placed over a tension frame and is passed through an oven, where the hair thread is heated with a stream of hot air that flows quickly and then cooled. In the case of nylon multi-strand hair yarn 6, 6, the air temperature is in the range of about 90 to 150 ° C, which raises the temperature of the tuft filaments through the hair strand to minus 90 ° C The invention is also useful for producing carpet structures that are stable to moisture, which do not incorporate nylon in some or none of the elements. For example, the moisture stable support can be a conventional polypropylene backing, which is a moisture stable polymer, and a nylon chain could be joined using a hot melt adhesive. The adhesive could have a melting point that is higher than the melting point of the nylon tuft chain and higher than that of the polypropylene support to produce some fusion of the carpet elements and achieve a good bond. Since the melting point of nylon is greater than that of polypropylene, the hot adhesive could first be applied to the nylon and then allowed to cool momentarily before being placed in contact with the polypropylene. Such adhesives that could work are the adhesives of PEEK (polyether ether ketone) or polyimide. It may also be possible to achieve a proper bond using a low melting point adhesive that flows around and mechanically engages the filaments in the tuft chain and the support. Such adhesives can be hot melt in a conventional manner made from nylon copolymers. In Figure 6, the adhesive can be applied to the bottom of the tuft chain at the position of the guide 245. It may also be possible to use a curable adhesive, such as an epoxy adhesive, instead of a hot melt, as long as the Epoxy will adhere enough to keep the tuft chain in place on the support on the cylinder until the adhesive heals. Heat could be applied to the carpet on the cylinder to accelerate curing, which can also help the bulging tufts. To recycle the elements of the carpet, it should be possible to detach the chain of tufts from the support with the help of heat or chemicals to soften the adhesive. The different separated polymeric elements could then be easily recycled. The following 1 shows a matrix of some combinations that are illustrative of the moisture stable carpet assembly of the invention. Following the guidelines taught here, other combinations using other polymers are also possible.

TABLE I ELEMENTS OF CARPET STABLE TO HUMIDITY COMBINATIONS OF ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL PENACHE CHAIN - plume N N N PET PP N N N - thread N / G N / G N PET PP N N N / G SUPPORT - XD N / G N / G N / G PET PP PP / G PET / G PP - MD N / G N N / G PET PP PP / G PET / G PP UNION ADHESIVE SEPARATELY no no no no no yes yes yes (TS to the support) (NOTE: N = nylon, G = glass, PET = polyethylene terephthalate, PP = polypropylene, N / G = nylon lining surrounding a core of glass filaments, PP / G = polypropylene lining surrounding a glass filament core; PET / G = polyethylene terephthalate lining surrounding a core of glass filaments). When it ceases; binan moisture-stable and moisture sensitive materials to achieve a moisture-stable hair structure (assembly of tufted chain mat), there are three important considerations for structural elements such as the strand and the support. Those are: 1) the response to the moisture of the individual element; 2) the longitudinal or plane stiffness of the individual element; and 3) the response to the desired humidity of the composite structure. When a moisture sensitive element is combined with a moisture stable element, the moisture response of the composite element can be determined using the composite design theory. Basically, the stiffness ratio of the stable element to moisture to the moisture sensitive element, for example the support compared to the strand, must be greater than a value that can be estimated and then adjusted based on the experimentation. The stiffness ratio can be expressed as follows: Sb / Ss = (Es - Ec) / (Ec - Eb), where Sb is the stiffness by increment in the width of the stable element _ the humidity (such as the support), Ss is the stiffness by increase in the width of the moisture sensitive element (such as the strand), That is the elongation in response to the maximum moisture of a strand, Ec is the elongation in response to the maximum moisture of a unit width of the composite carpet structure associated with a single strand, and Eb is the elongation in response to the maximum moisture of one unit width of the support associated with a single strand. Note that Ec must always fall somewhere between It and Eb. In the case of a nylon thread not reinforced with It is = .03 and a glass reinforced nylon support with Eb = .005, and an elongation in response to the desired humidity in the composite structure of Ec * .01, the stiffness ratio could be 4. That is, the support needs to be about 4 times stiffer than the strand.

By specifying the denier of the strand and the polymer used to make the support, the denier of the desired reinforcing filament can be calculated and used as a starting point for experimentation. Other variables, such as the degree of adhesion between the elements, the tensile stress in the polymers of the elements, the polymeric additives and the like will affect the operation of the final composition, and some adjustment in the stiffness of the elements may have to be made. to achieve the desired performance of the composition. There are also other possible variations with the carpet assembly of the invention using plumes attached to the strand to form tuft chains that are attached to a support. By providing multiple yarns in the supply of yarn 20, such as 20a and 20b, and by winding them on the mandrel 30 as shown in Figure 1, it is possible to distribute yarn variation in a controlled manner across the face of the yarn. carpet. Although variations in the transverse direction (XD) are possible both in conventional carpets and string tufts making variations in the threads from one thread to the next or from one chain of tufts to the next in the XD, variations in the MO they are not possible in the case of a conventional tufted carpet that introduces only a single continuous strand repeatedly in a straight line or in a zigzag direction in the machine direction (MD) of the carpet. You can wish, for example, scarcely introduce a particular effect through the face of the carpet. Such effect can be a colored thread, an antistatic yarn, an antimicrobial yarn, or one with other chemical characteristics, a cheap yarn, a yarn with different texture, braiding level, finished, denier, etc. For example, the supplied yarn 20 for a tuft chain may comprise three yarns with only one yarn having the yarn of the desired effect, and the next one adjacent to the two tuft chains mounted to the bracket may not have the yarn of effect entirely. . The effect is then distributed sparingly in both the MD and the XD of the carpet. Referring to Figure 9, the string of tufts 260 has 1/3 of hair yarns, such as shaded yarns 262a and 262b containing antistatic filaments. The tuft chains 264 and 266 do not contain any strands with antistatic filaments. The string of tufts 268 also contains antistatic filaments in the hair strands, such as the shaded strands 270a and 270b. This provides a controlled distribution of an effect yarn across the face of the carpet of the invention in both the XD and the MD. The use of a continuous strand in the carpet assembly offers the possibility of further variations in the carpet of the invention, which would not be possible with conventional tufted carpets without expensive additional steps after the carpet has been formed. For example, the antistatic filaments can be incorporated into some or all of the support strands of the tuft chain by bending them with the fiberglass strand of filament in the core of the strand during the formation of the strand. These could be combined with antistatic filaments in some or all of the plume wires to provide improved antistatic performance for computer rooms and the like where the creation of a low static voltage is important. The antistatic elements in all the strands can be connected to f. rra Referring to Figure 9, the string of tufts 260 with antistatic tuft yarns has antistatic filaments 272 and tuft chain 268 with antistatic tuft yarn has antistatic filaments 274. Those filaments can extend continuously across the width of the carpet as can to be observed with the filaments 274 at the opposite end 276 of the tuft chain 268. Both ends of the strands 274 could be connected to ground to increase the static removal of the carpet. It may also be possible to transmit signals from one end of the carpet to the other through the strands by incorporating a continuous strand of wire or an optical fiber into the fiberglass bundle in some or all tuft chains. In the case of a wire, this could also function as an antenna, an electromagnetic shield, or a tracking wire to guide a robotic vehicle along the surface of the carpet from one edge of the carpet to the other on a carpet. default path. Such a robotic vehicle can be a vacuum cleaner that could automatically travel back and forth through the carpet to clean it. The signal could also be used in conjunction with an electronic eye control collar to restrict eye access to the entire carpet or certain parts of the room. If you use a small wire isolated on. the strand, with a polymer covering different polymers of the strand, this could also serve to transmit electrical energy safely from one end of the carpet to the other. Other variations in the effects and functionalities that are inherently possible with the tuft chain carpet assembly will be apparent to those skilled in the art using the teachings herein. The present invention is best illustrated by the following Examples which use the following Test Methods, although those Examples should not be considered as limiting the scope of the invention.

TEST METHODS Stability to Moisture The following procedures, Test A or Test B, were used to measure the moisture stability of the tuft chain carpet assembly (hair surface structure).

Test A: 1. Make a finished piece of the tufted carpet. 2. Cut at least 5 samples of the piece of carpet. These samples should measure 40 cm long in the direction of the tuft chain (T / SD) and 40 cm long in the transverse direction (XD), that is, 90 degrees in the direction of the string of tufts. 3. About the support of each sample, draw a line through the center of the sample from end to end in the T / SD and XD and place a fiber through each line 2.5 cm from one end and 37.5 cm from the same end. The fills provide the end points for the narrow reverence lines that run between them and will not be affected by heat, humidity, and handling. As described below, measurements are made along those reference lines. 4. Place the sample in the middle of a piece of stainless steel mesh with a grid spacing of 1/4"with the yarn face against the mesh and the support with the reference lines facing upwards 5. Immerse the sample on the mesh in a boiling water bath heated at 40 ° C for at least 48 hours. define the condition "humidity" of the sample which is considered to be 100% RH 6. Remove the sample from the bath by lifting the mesh without disturbing the sample and let the sample drain for approximately 20-30 minutes until the water stop dripping from the sample 7. Measure the distance between the fibers in the T / SD and XD with a millimeter scale and record the values to the nearest 0.05 millimeters 8. Place the sample on a mesh in a heated oven at 40 ° C and placed to allow air to circulate around the top, sides, and bottom of the sample, close the oven door and purge the oven with a continuous stream of low pressure nitrogen and vent the oven . 9. Check the humidity of the oven with a hydrometer placed in the lower part of the oven and record when the humidity of the oven is 3% of RH or less. This defines the "dry" condition of the sample, which is considered to be 3% RH or less. 10. Keep the sample in the oven for at least 24 hours with the humidity maintained at 3% RH or less. 11. Remove the sample from the furnace by lifting the mesh without disturbing the sample and quickly measure the distance between the fibers in the T / SD and XD with a millimeter scale and record the values to the nearest 0.05 millimeters. 12. Calculate the percentage of change in the dimensions in both the T / SD and the XD by subtracting the wet dimension from the dry dimension and dividing by the wet dimension. 13. Collect the remains of at least 5 samples and average the percentage of changes to obtain an average% change in the T / SD and an average% change in the XD. The 5 samples should be placed in the water bath and in the oven at the same time and the data collected on all the samples at the same time if the bath and the furnace kept the samples separate without disturbing each other. A support can be used to support the meshes to support 6 samples at the same time both in the water bath and in the oven. When samples are removed from the oven, only one sample can be removed and measured at a time. A variety of ovens and hydrometers can be used. The oven used for the 6 samples marked as single-cycle data was a VWR Scientific model 1450 DS oven, ca_ -ogo # 52201-650. The hydrometer used to check the humidity in the oven was an Airguide hydrometer obtained from VWR Scientific, catalog # 35521-087 which has an established accuracy of +/- 1-3% RH.

Test B In Test B, steps 1-13 as described above in Test A were used with the following modifications. In step # 8, the furnace was initially not purged with nitrogen and the moisture was reduced only to about an RH of 14%. The samples were then placed in plastic bags and transferred to a second oven. The samples were removed from the plastic bags and placed in the second oven. This furnace was purged with nitrogen and the kiln humidity was reduced to an RH of 3% or less. The samples were kept in this oven for at least 24 hours with the humidity maintained at an RH of 3% or less.

Measuring the Thread Volume Powered The volume of the yarn was measured using the method described in the North American Patent No. 4,295,252 of Robinson and Thompson, the description of which is incorporated herein by reference. Yarn volume levels were reported here as% elongation of bulky curl (% BCE) as described in Robinson and Thompson. The Volume editions were made at 11 m / min for 1.5 minutes using a sample length of 16.5 meters. The weight of tension used was 0.1 grams / denier (0.11 g / dtex). The air pressure in the thermosetting chamber was 0.05 inches of water, and the heating air temperature was 170 +/- 3 ° C.

EXAMPLES Construction of Nylon Plume Chain Carpet In Table II below, the tuft string samples were cut from a tufted chain mat having a thread coated with nylon 6.6 dried in solution, which is melt bonded using an energy Ultrasonic 48 watts / strand of a support thread of nylon 6.6 reinforced with glass fibers The thread covered with nylon 6.6 was made from two strands of yarn commercial grade (DSDN), drying in solution, green moss with a denier of 1235, available from DuPont, which were pressed and thermoset with a braiding level of approximately 4 tpi and a total denier of approximately 3100. The single strand components of the braided thread had a BCE% of approximately 31 and one dpf of about 19. The support strand had a denier of 3900 and a glass to nylon ratio of .13 The nylon-coated thread 6.6 was placed on the strand at a density of 12 pairs of tufts per inch and was cut to form a height of pe about .5 inches. The tuft chains were melt bonded using ultrasonic energy to a 6, 6 Sontara nylon * and a fiberglass sheet comprising a top layer of 1 ounce / yarda2 of nylon 6, 6 Sontara *, an intermediate layer of curls of 6-strand fiberglass in the MD that has a strength / strand of 8 pounds and 10 strands per inch in the XD that has a 16-pound strength / strand coated with an acrylic adhesive and a 1-ounce undercoat / nylon 6 yard, 6 from Sontara *.

The tuft chains were attached at a density of 5 strands per inch to provide a carpet with a yarn frontal weight of approximately 25 ounces / yard2 using an ultrasonic energy of 93 watts / tuft chain. The tuft chains and the carpet were formed on a tuft chain forming module and a band module at a rate of about 10 ypm as described in the Co-pending, co-assigned US Patent Application entitled "Method and Apparatus for Manufacturing a Carpet of Chain of Plumes ", the description d_ which is incorporated here as a reference. In the tuft chain forming module, the coated wire was wound on four strands on a square mandrel and passed over two ultrasonic speakers; two strands were joined at the same time to the thread by means of an ultrasonic horn by coupling two corners of the mandrel. The yarn was cut between the strands while it was still on the mandrel and thus four strings of tufts were formed directed towards a band forming module which contains a support substrate loop driven by a plurality of rollers. The four chains of tufts guided under an ultrasonic horn placed on one of the rollers, with the horn having four forks coupling each one of the chains of tufts for the union by fusion of the four chains of plumes to the support at the same time. A second horn after the first provides additional bonding energy. The four tuft chains travel through the joint roll to spirally spiral the tuft chains onto the support to form a carpet sample three feet wide, twelve feet in length. The carpet sample loop or loop is cut from the rolls and the test samples are cut from this carpet sample. Since the nylon 6,6 coated wire was dried in solution, and latex was not used in the assembly, the carpet was not subjected to heat during assembly and therefore did not bulge. In order to bulk carpet, a separate bulking process was used as described in the co-assigned, co-assigned, Provisional North American Patent Application, entitled "Method for Bulking Plume Chain Carpets", to which reference was made. In this process, the coated wire was heated in a tension frame with a hot air stream that flows rapidly and cooled before being released from the bolts or pins of the tensioner. 1-6 samples of perista chain mat were purged. nylon hos to determine the stability to humidity, using the procedures described in Test A above, and the results are reported later in Table II. The% change in length was 2% or less, which indicates that this carpet structure is a string mat assembly that is stable to moisture.

Construction of Polypropylene Plume Chain Carpet In Table III below, string tufted carpet samples were cut from a tufted chain mat having polypropylene coated yarn, the cucil was dried in solution and melt bonded using ultrasonic energy to a polypropylene support strand. comprising a polypropylene monofilament. The yarn coated with polypropylene was made from two strands of continuous filament yarn, bulky, with a denier of 1200 that were braided and thermoset with a braiding level of 3.75 tpi and a total denier of 2400. The support thread was a polypropylene monofilament having an oval cross section with dimensions of 0.035 x 0.050 inches and a denier of 6765. The polypropylene coated wire was placed on the strand at a density of 11 pairs of tufts per inch and cut to form a 0.5 inch hair height. The joining energy of the ultrasonic horn to produce the polypropylene plumes was approximately 28 watts. The tuft chains were melt-bonded, using a 36-watt ultrasonic energy, to a two-layer non-woven polypropylene grooved film backing, each layer having a weight of 10.4 g / ft2. The tuft chains were attached to a density of 7 strands per inch to provide a carpet with a total yarn weight of approximately 25 ounces / yard2. The tuft chains and carpet were formed on the device as illustrated in Figure 3 at a rate of about 2 ypm. Since the polypropylene coated yarn was dried in solution and latex was not used in the assembly, the carpet was not subjected to heat during assembly therefore it did not bulge. The bulking was achieved by blowing hot air at a temperature of about 95 ° C on the tufted chain mat immediately after the elongated hair article was attached to the support substrate on the drum. 1-5 samples of polypropylene tuft chain carpet were tested for moisture stability, using the procedures described in test B above, and the results are reported later in Table III. The% change in length was 2% or less, which indicates that this carpet structure is a string mat assembly that is stable to moisture.

Construction of Poliéstßr Plume Chain Carpet In Table IV below, string tufted carpet samples were cut from a tufted chain mat having polyester coated yarn (polyethylene terephthalate) was melt bonded using ultrasonic energy to a polyester support strand having i polyester lining and a core of glass filaments. The polyester coated yarn was made from strands of cut, bulked yarn which were braided and thermoset with a braiding level of approximately 4 tpi and a total denier of approximately 4357. The strand of .. support had a glass filament core with a 900 denier covered with a polyester lining for a 4.536 denier. The polyester coated yarn was placed on the x.ebra at a density of 12 pairs of tufts per inch and cut to form a hair height of 0.5 inches. The joining energy of the ultrasonic horn for melting the yarn coated to the strand to form the polyester tuft chain was approximately 25 watts. The tuft chains were melt bonded, using an ultrasonic energy of approximately 50 watts, to a two-layer support substrate made from a bottom layer of centrifuged-bound polyester sheet having a basis weight of 9.35 grams / ft2 and a top layer of polyester / glass nonwoven fabric sheet having a basis weight of 23.54 grams / ft2. The upper layer, which is in contact with the tuft chains, consists of 25% of staple glass fibers having lengths of 0.5 inches and diameters of 13 microns, which are uniformly dispersed in the plane of the sheet or] " ^ ina; and 75% of the globules of the phentermine adhered to the fibers. This upper sheet is described in U.S. Patent No. 5,134,016, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. The two layers in the support are fused to the tuft chains in one step. Using only this particular bottom layer, there are pL olLs with the ultrasl junction. AC. The tuft chains were attached to a density of 5 strands per inch to provide a carpet with a coated wire weight of approximately 34 ounces / yard2. The tuft chains and carpet were formed on the device illustrated in Figure 3 at a speed of about 2 ypm. The carpet did not bulge before the test. 1-6 polyester tuft chain carpet samples were tested for moisture stability, using the procedures described in Test A above, and the results are reported later in Table IV. The% change in length was 2% or less, which indicates that this carpet structure is a string mat assembly that is stable to moisture.

Nylon Tufted Strip Carpet with Separate Union Adhesive In Table V below, a sample was made of "single tufted chain turtle having thread coated with nylon 6,6 which was dried in solution and melted by using ultrasonic energy to a support strand that has a nylon liner 6,6 and a fiberglass filament core as described in the examples in Table 2. The tuft chains were attached to a support substrate using a separate adhesive placed between the "5 tuft chains". and the support The SCI rte substrate was the same as that used in the examples in Table 2. The separate adhesive was a single layer of Cytex FM 73M epoxy film having a basis weight of .03 pounds / ft2. The tuft chains were attached to the support substrate at a density of 5 strands per inch in a special device to provide a carpet sample of approximately 13 square inches with a hired weight of approximately 25 ounces per square foot. or consisted of a paint frame structure and such "" maintained the strips or strips in an equally separated arrangement of 5 strips / inch. The strips were approximately 14 inches long, .12 cm wide and 1.25 inches high. Chains of tufts of thirteen inches in length were cut and placed on the strips of the device so that their pairs of tufts were made to fit between the straps and the strand was placed directly on the edge of a strip. In this way, the base of the tuft chains was presented upwards to place the adhesive layer and the d > . support. "Kapton" tape was used at the ends of the frame to hold the tuft chains in place. The adhesive layer was cut to cover the bases of all tuft chains and the support substrate was cut to fit over the adhesive layer. The frame was then inverted to place the support substrate down and this was placed between two 1/4 inch aluminum plates that were slightly larger than the device. This assembly was then placed in a standard convection oven with a weight of 50 pounds placed on the top plate. The temperature in the furnace increased from room temperature to 120 ° C in 30 minutes, and was then maintained at 120 ° C for 1 hour. The oven was turned off and the sample was allowed to cool in the oven for about 2 hours under the weight pressure of 50 pounds, then the sample was removed from the device. Those irons of string turtle nylon carpet were tested to determine the stability of the moisture according to the procedure of Test A above with the exception that the marks i? Read them on the a, -ubub were separated 30 cm. The results are reported later in Table V and show that the% change in average length was 2% or less, which indicates that this carpet structure is a string mat assembly of moisture-stable plumes.

TABLE II STABILITY TO MOISTURE (TEST A) NYLON PENACHY CHAIN CARPETS # of Sample Length Length Length Length% Change% Change (cm) in (c) in (can) in (cm) in the in the in the T / SD then XD after T / SD then XD after Length Length XD * of 163 Hours of 168 Hours of 72 Hours of 72 Hours T / SD * in in in in Conditions Conditions Conditions Wet Humid Wet Conditions (= 3 % Dry (= 3% RH) RH) 1 35.10 35.10 34.90 34.90 0.75% 0.28% 4 35.10 35.10 34.95 35.00 0.43% 0.28% 5 35.10 35.05 34.80 34.90 0.85% 0.43% 6 35.10 35.10 34.90 35.00 0.57% 0.28%% Change 0.62% 0.40% Average *% change = (wet-dry) / wet TABLE III STABILITY TO HUMIDITY (TEST B) POLYPROPYLENE PENCHAS CHAIN CARPETS Sample Length Length Length Length Length Length% of (ero) in (a) in (ero) in (ero) in (ero) in (ero) in Change C -_tbd.o T / SD XD then T / SD XD then T / SD XD then in the after 72 hours after 72 Hours after 24 Hours Length Length 72 Hours in in 72 Hours in 24 Hours in T / SD * XD * Conditions Conditions Conditions Conditions Conditions Humadas H? jnarfa «Dry (14% Dry (14% Dry (<3% Dry (= 3% RH) RH) RH) RH) C? ) 35 35 35 35 35 35 0% 0% 2 35 35 35 35 35 35 0% 0% 3 35 35 35 35 35 35 0% 0% 4 35 35 35 35 35 35 0% 0% 5 35 35 35 35 35 35 0% 0%% 0% 0% Average Change *% Change = (Wet - Dry) / Wet TABLE IV STABILITY TO MOISTURE (TEST A) POLYESTER PENCHAS CHAIN CARPETS -fuest: ra Length Length Length Length% Change% Change (cm) in (cm) in (cm) in (cm) in the in the in the T / SD then XD after T / SD then XD after Length Length XD * of 48 Hours of 48 Hours of 24 Hours of 24 Hours T / SD * in in in Conditions Conditions Conditions Wet Humid Wet Conditions (<3% Dry (= 3% 1 34.9 35.0 34.9 35.0 0% 0% 2 35.1 35.1 35.1 35.1 0% 0% 3 35.0 35.0 35.0 35.0 0% 0% 4 35.0 35.0 35.0 35.0 0% 0% 5 35.0 30.0 * 35.0 30.0 0% 0%% Change 0 % 0% Average * E1 width of this sample was marked for 30 cm *% change = (wet-dry) / wet TABLE V STABILITY TO MOISTURE (TEST A) NYLON PENACHY CHAIN CARPETS WITH SEPARATE UNION ADHESIVE # of Sample Length Length Length Length% Change% da Change (cm) in (cm) in (cm) in the (cm) in the in the in the T / SD then XD after T / SD then XD after Length Length XD * of 48 Hours of 48 Hours of 24 Hours of 24 Hours T / SD * in in in Conditions Conditions Conditions Wet Moist Dry (= 3% Dry (< 3% 1 30.3 30.2 30.0 30.0 0.30% 0.66% 2 30.0 30.1 29.9 29.9 0.33% 0.66% 3 29.0 30.0 28.9 30.0 0.35% 0% 4 29.0 30.0 28.9 29.8 0.35% 0.66% 5 30.0 30.0 29.9 29.9 0.33% 0.33% Change% 0.47% 0.46% Average *% change = (wet-dry) / wet It is noted that in relation to this date, the best method known to the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention, is that which is clear from the present description of the invention. Having described the invention as above, property is claimed as contained in the following:

Claims (39)

1. A hair surface structure, characterized in that it comprises: a) a moisture-stable support substrate, which is stable to moisture in the machine direction (MD) and in the cross machine direction (XD); ) a plurality of articles of elongated hair, each of which comprises a strand of support stable to moisture, elongated, which has attached thereto a plurality of beams in a "U" shape of multi-strand yarn, each beam defining a pair of vertical tufts extending from the strand, the elongated hair articles placed one after the other and attached to the support substrate with the plumes extending away from the support, whereby the structure from the hair surface is an assembly of Chain mat of tufts stable to moisture.

2. A hair surface structure, characterized in that it comprises: a) a support substrate sensitive to moisture, which is sensitive to moisture in the direction transverse to the machine (XD) and sensitive to moisture in the machine direction ( MD), and b) a plurality of articles of elongated hair, each of which comprises an elongated moisture-stable support strand, having attached thereto a plurality of WU-shaped bundles of multi-strand yarn. , each beam defines a pair of vertical tufts that extend from the strand, elongated hair items placed one 10 after another and attached to the support substrate with the tufts extending away from the support, whereby the support strand compensates for the moisture sensitivity of the support substrate so that the hair surface structure is a carpet assembly. chain of plumes stable to the 1 '5 humidity.

3. A hair surface structure, characterized in that it comprises: a) a support substrate stable to moisture, which is stable to moisture in the direction transverse to the machine (XD) and stable to moisture in the direction of the machine (MD), and b) a plurality of articles of elongated hair, each of which comprises a strand of -.5 elongated humidity sensitive support, which has attached to it a plurality of "U" beams of multi-filament yarn, each beam defines a pair of vertical tufts extending from the strand, the articles of elongated hair placed one after another and attached to the support substrate with the tufts extending away from the support, whereby the support substrate compensates for the moisture sensitivity of the support strand so that the hair surface structure is a string mat assembly of tufts stable to moisture.

4. The hair surface structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the moisture-stable support strand comprises a core of continuous glass filaments and a nylon liner surrounding the core.

5. The hair surface structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the moisture-stable support strand comprises at least one continuous filament selected from the group consisting of polypropylene and polyester filaments.

6. The hair surface structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the moisture-stable support strand comprises a core of continuous glass filaments and a polypropylene or polyester liner surrounding the core.

7. The hair surface structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the moisture-stable support substrate consists essentially of a polymer selected from the group consisting of polyester and polypropylene.

8. The hair surface structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the support substrate comprises a first layer of a non-woven fabric of non-bonded, intricate nylons, a second layer of glass fiber curls, and a third layer of a non-woven fabric. non-woven fabric layer of unbonded, intricate nylon filaments, wherein each layer of non-woven fabric is adhesively bonded to the layer of glass fiber loops on a contact surface along the fabrics and curls .

9. The hair surface structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the multi-filament yarn is selected from the group consisting of nylon, polypropylene, polyester and acrylic yarns.

10. The hair surface structure according to claim 9, characterized in that the yarn is a nylon yarn selected from the group consisting of nylon 6,6, nylon 6, and copolymers or mixture thereof.

11. The hair surface structure according to claim 9, characterized in that the multi-filament yarn is a polypropylene yarn.

12. The hair surface structure according to claim 9, characterized in that the multi-filament yarn is a polyester yarn selected from the group consisting of poly (ethylene terephthalate), poly (trimethylene terephthalate), and poly (terephthalate). butylene).

13. The hair surface structure according to claim 9, characterized in that the multi-filament yarn is an acrylic yarn.

14. The hair surface structure according to claim 9, characterized in that the multi-filament yarn is a dried yarn in solution.

15. The hair surface structure according to claim 14, characterized in that the multi-filament yarn is a nylon 6,6 copolymer yarn, the copolymer contains from about 1.0 to about .4.0 weight percent of units derived from the saline solution of 5-sulfoisophthalic acid.

16. The hair surface according to claim 9, characterized in that the multi-filament yarn is a nylon yarn used comprising threads comprising continuous filament filament yarns or staple fiber yarns.

17. The hair surface structure according to claim 16, characterized in that the bulging continuous filament yarns have three-dimensional curvilinear curls randomly separated.

18. The hair surface structure according to claim 16, characterized in that the nylon braided multi-strand yarn has a total yarn denier of at least 2000.

19. The hair surface structure according to claim 16, characterized in that the component strands of the strand of multiple strands have a percentage of elongation of the bulging curl (ECB%) in the range of about 20 to about 50. i O

20. The hair surface structure according to claim 16, characterized in that the filaments of the multi-filament yarns have a triglobal or four-sided cross section.

21. The hair surface structure according to claim 16, characterized in that the hair has been further bulked by heating the hair after the structure of the hair surface has been 20 mounted.

22. A hair surface structure, characterized in that it comprises: a) a support substrate comprising a first layer of a non-woven nylon fabric, a second layer of glass fiber curls, and a third layer of a nylon fabric nonwoven; and b) a plurality of articles of elongated hair, each of which comprises an elongated support strand having attached thereto a plurality of "U" -shaped bundles of nylon multi-strand yarn, each beam defining a pair of vertical plumes extending from the strand, wherein the support strand comprises a core of continuous glass filaments and a nylon lining surrounding the core; the elongated hair articles placed one after the other and attached to the support substrate with the tufts extending away from the support; So the hair surface structure is a string mat assembly of tufts stable to moisture.

23. A hair surface structure, characterized in that it comprises: a) a polypropylene support substrate; and b) a plurality of articles of elongated hair, each of which comprises an elongated support strand having attached thereto a plurality of "U" -shaped bundles of polypropylene multi-strand yarn, each beam defining a pair of vertical tufts extending from the strand, wherein the support strand comprises a continuous polypropylene filament; the elongated hair articles placed one after the other and attached to the support substrate with the tufts extending away from the support; So the hair surface structure is a string mat assembly of tufts stable to moisture.

24. A hair surface structure, characterized in that it comprises: a) a polyester support substrate; and b) a plurality of articles of elongated hair, each of which comprises an elongated support strand having attached thereto a plurality of "U" -shaped bundles of polyester multi-strand yarn, each beam defining a pair of vertical plumes extending from the strand, wherein the support strand comprises a continuous polyester filament; the elongated hair articles placed one after the other and attached to the support substrate with the tufts extending away from the support, whereby the hair surface structure is a string carpet assembly of tufts stable to moisture.

25. The hair surface structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the vertical tufts are in the form of tufts of curly hair.

26. The hair surface structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the vertical tufts are in the form of plumes of cut hair.

27. The hair surface structure according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the support thread has a surface comprising a thermoplastic polymer and the tufts in such a pair are bent at an angle in a base and extend upwards. of the same, the tufts define a distance separated from each other adjacent to the base, each of the bundles has a dense portion of filaments attached and secured to the surface of the support strand in the base by melting the thermoplastic polymer of the strand of support and filaments, the support strand has a width that is equal to or less than the distance between the tufts in the pair.

28. The hair surface structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the multi-filament bundles are joined to the support strand by melting the filaments together and to the strand, and the elongated hair articles are attached to the strand fabric. support by fusion of the hair articles to the support fabric.

29. The hair surface structure according to claim 28, characterized in that the fusion of the elongated hair articles to the support substrate is achieved by ultrasonic means.

30. A hair surface structure, characterized in that it comprises: a) a support substrate; and b) a plurality of articles of elongated hair, each of which comprises an elongated, adhesive support strand, having attached thereto a plurality of multi-strand yarn bundles with each bundle having tufts extending outwardly from the bundle. strand, articles of elongated hair placed one after the other and attached to the support substrate with the tufts extending outward from the support, so that there is a repeated pattern of strands of thread along a strand where one of the strands of yarn along the strand is substantially different from the other strands of yarn in the pattern, and there is a repeated pattern of bundles of yarn from strand to strand wherein one of the strands of yarn in a strand is substantially different from the strands. other bundles of thread in a different thread in the pattern.

31. A method for manufacturing a hair surface structure, characterized in that it comprises: a) contacting an elongate thermoplastic hair article with a thermoplastic support substrate to substantially cover the support substrate; and b) joining the thermoplastic elongate hair article to the thermoplastic support substrate using ultrasonic energy to thereby make a hair surface structure.

32. The method according to claim 31, characterized in that the ultrasonic energy is applied from the top of the support substrate.

33. The method according to claim 31, characterized in that the ultrasonic energy is applied from the underside of the support substrate.

34. A method according to claim 31, characterized in that it further comprises: distributing a plurality of thermoplastic hair strands along a thermoplastic support strand and joining the strands to the strand using ultrasonic energy to thereby produce the hair article elongate.

35. The method according to claim 31, characterized in that the ultrasonic energy is applied by two ultrasonic speakers that press the hair article and the support substrate together with the horns closely spaced one after the other along the elongated hair article. .

36. A hair surface structure to be used as a floor or wall cover, characterized in that it comprises: a) a support substrate; and b) a plurality of articles of elongated hair, each of which comprises an elongated, adhesive support strand, having attached thereto a plurality of multi-strand yarn bundles with each bundle having tufts extending outwardly from the bundle. strand, the elongated hair articles placed one after the other and attached to the support substrate with the tufts extending outwardly from the support, whereby there is an additional continuous filament along the length of the support strand which provides a function additional beyond the structural functions required for a floor or wall covering.

37. The hair surface structure according to claim 36, characterized in that the continuous filament is a continuous wire.

38. The hair surface structure according to claim 36, characterized in that the continuous filament is an insulated wire.

39. The hair surface structure according to claim 36, characterized in that the continuous filament is an optical fiber.