JP2007009402A - Papermaking process - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a papermaking process, and to provide paper products produced in a process wherein a biodegradable plastic is used with a papermaking material. <P>SOLUTION: The biodegradable plastic may be provided as a substrate, with the papermaking material being applied to the substrate. The papermaking material may include recycled paper fibers and/or agricultural crop material. Recycled wood fibers may be applied in a fibrous state or agricultural plant material may be powdered and applied to the substrate. The surface material is attached to the substrate by the application of heat and pressure or by the use of vegetable slime juice as an adhesive. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a process for making paper, more specifically, a process using agricultural material or recycled paper product and a paper product made from this process.

  In the conventional papermaking process, unused (virgin) fibers mainly from wood are used for various types of paper and paperboard. Processing of virgin wood fibers prior to papermaking includes peeling of logs, crushing pieces of wood, fiber extraction by mechanical work, fiber extraction by chemicals, washing, decolorization by chemicals, refining or treatment by mechanical work. The paper scrubbing, washing, and thickening / dilution steps are repeated in a relatively complex manner. Virgin wood fiber consumes a large amount of power and various chemicals and is expensive. Many bleaching processes for removing lignin from pulp use sulfur and chlorine, causing serious environmental pollution from the chemical processing process itself and from the handling and processing of its waste. Decolorization processes other than chlorine are very expensive and expensive. Conventional manufacturing methods also consume a large amount of water for fiber processing. Many paper mills are moving to a closed loop system, but the process is complex and expensive.

  In some parts of the world, timber is hard to obtain, and some rely on imports for papermaking timber. In economically developing countries, some countries cannot invest in traditional and expensive papermaking methods. Such countries often lack industrial bases such as long-distance transportation, drug procurement, and electricity required for conventional manufacturing.

  Although forest resources are renewable resources, forest growth is relatively slow in many parts of the world, including North America, and even varieties that are considered to grow fast often spend more than 10 years to harvest. As a result, a lot of arable land is used for tree growth and fiber procurement. In areas that are not suitable for densely populated areas or forests, paper-based lumber and wood fibers must be transported or finished goods must be transported, and long-distance transport increases costs.

  Although the reuse of wood fibers has recently increased, new problems have arisen by repeating the production process many times. Each time recycled fiber is recycled again, the length of the fiber is reduced. In the conventional construction method, the fibers must be tangled with each other in order to become a paper sheet, and the short fibers become crumbly brittle paper, which makes it impossible to give strength to the paper. As a result, it is usually necessary to incorporate virgin wood fibers into recycled paper pulp to increase strength.

  Other types of cellulose materials are also used to make paper as a substitute for wood fiber. Such alternatives include corn stalks, kenaf, sugar cane, agricultural products such as bananas and pineapple leaves. Many agricultural products can be harvested on a yearly basis, and may be cultivated on land unsuitable for forest growth. In addition, grasses have a lower lignin content than wood and can be decolorized and washed lightly when a white color is required. For example, the core in an industrial cannabis stalk (called hurd) is natural white and requires little decolorization to be used as writing paper.

  The pulping and pulping processes for paper making with alternative fibers are different from those for wood fibers, but once they reach the pulping process they are essentially the same as those for wood fibers. In the conventional manufacturing method, white water (slurry) diluted very thinly mixed with papermaking fibers is poured from a storage box into a winding wire mesh, and the water is dripped down through the winding wire mesh. The thin base paper peeled off from a winding wire net called a web passes through a pinch roller through several stages, or passes through hot air or a hot pinch roller to remove excess moisture. In this way, the papermaking material is heavy throughout the entire process, and the web itself cannot support its own weight, so complete support is necessary. Felt and cloth web support complicates the structure and operation of conventional machines.

  Virgin wood fibers result in undesirably short fiber scraps called pins or fines in the process of crushed wood, sieving, re-crushed wood pieces, shredding, and recycled paper in its manufacturing process. A small amount of yarn or fines has been used in conventional paper forming processes, but the use of too much short fiber component weakens the sheet. If the process generates more yarn or fines than is used, the excess is wasted. It would be beneficial to create a paper forming process that uses yarn and particulates.

  It would be advantageous to reduce energy, water and chemical consumption in the paper forming process, while reducing the dependence on wood fibers by utilizing fast growing crop fibers for paper forming. It is also beneficial to create a simplified paper making process that can be done on a small scale.

  The present invention suppresses the consumption of energy, water and chemicals for paper making compared to the conventional method.

  The present invention also relates to a paper forming process in which the dependence on virgin wood fibers is reduced and materials derived from agricultural products can be used.

  The present invention also relates to a paper forming process for producing high quality paper from recycled paper products using lower quality paper forming materials than those required in conventional paper forming processes.

  In addition, the present invention simplifies the papermaking process, and does not require a large-scale capital investment for papermaking, and enables economical papermaking even in small-volume production.

  Furthermore, the present invention provides a process for eliminating the need for pulping from paper making.

  The present invention comprises a papermaking method in which biodegradable plastic is used to impart strength to a paper web (thin film base paper). In one aspect of the present invention, a biodegradable plastic base material and paper-making fibers are deposited on top thereof. According to the present invention, in one step, the above-mentioned base material contains moisture and the surface layer material is in a powder form. The powder is applied to a wet surface and then pressed and dried.

  Further, in one step, the powdery surface layer material is mixed with the mucus or adhesive material coming out of the vegetable to form a paste, which is applied to the biodegradable plastic substrate. Drying can occur with or without heating.

  In another form of this process, the recycled paper product is repulped and, if necessary, deinked and fiberized. The regenerated pulp slurry is applied to a biodegradable plastic substrate and dried.

  In one aspect of the invention, biodegradable plastic fibers are used as an additive to the paper pulp slurry to increase strength. Separate fibers may be added to the paper forming slurry. The hollow fibers may be filled with powdered or fine fibers.

  The invention also relates to a paper product having a biodegradable plastic substrate having at least one surface coated with a paper forming material selected from crop-derived grassy plants and regenerated paper products.

  The process of the present invention is less complicated than conventional papermaking methods. The biodegradable plastic substrate gives wet strength to the fibers in the finished product and facilitates handling.

  The process of the present invention can readily use low quality fibers and easily renewable fibers such as agricultural products. In addition, the process of the present invention may otherwise utilize wasted paper forming materials such as remaining leaf and stem components from other agricultural processes and particulates and threads from conventional papermaking processes. In the present invention, a natural white raw material may be used. Thereby, the need for chemical bleaching of the paper forming material can be reduced or eliminated to obtain a white surface. Chemical pulping of the paper forming material is excluded.

  The process according to the invention is also acceptable for use in low technology configurations including handicrafts. For this reason, art paper and hobby paper may be made inexpensively even in low-volume production. In addition, this process can be applied in developing countries with readily available materials, making it easier to build the foundation needed for traditional paper forming processes such as utilities, roads for transporting materials, etc. Even small places that are not available can be used locally.

  Further features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
Referring to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, numeral 10 indicates the preferred life cycle of the paper forming process of the present invention, and more particularly paper made according to the present invention.

  The paper forming step 10 is used for manufacturing the paper product 12 of FIG. The paper product has a substrate 14, an upper layer 16 and a lower layer 18, respectively. The nature and content of the substrate 14, upper layer 16 and lower layer 18 are described and explained in detail below.

  Referring again to FIG. 1, the paper forming process 10 includes a surface layer material preparing process 20 and a base material preparing preliminary process 22. The treated surface material and the base material are mixed in the paper forming preliminary step 24. The paper product made here undergoes a deformation / use preliminary process 26. Thereafter, it is preferably recycled in the regeneration preparatory step 28, and returned to the surface material preparation step 20 by several methods described below.

  The substrate 14 used in the present invention is a biodegradable plastic. Some biodegradable plastics have an aliphatic polyester resin structure, some have a polyvinyl alcohol molecular structure, and some have a molecular structure based on a polysaccharide. There is also a thing. The characteristics of the biodegradable plastic suitable for the present invention include strength, chemical resistance, water resistance, and other biodegradability when discarded naturally. The desired properties of a biodegradable plastic substrate depend on the end use of the formed paper product. For example, when forming a heavy-weight type such as a packing paper box or a grocery paper bag, it is different from a lightweight paper product that emphasizes the appearance and surface shape that do not use strength.

  As one of the biodegradable plastics suitable for the usage of the present invention, the trade name Rakuti (registered trademark) of Shimadzu Corporation in Japan is sold. Another example is the trade name Lactron (registered trademark) of Kanebo Corporation in Japan. These are made from plant starch and are similar in nature to petroleum-based plastics, but the difference is that they are biodegradable unlike petroleum-based plastics. The physical structure of the substrate 14 takes several forms. There is also a production method in which non-directional fibers (nonwoven fabrics) such as rough cloth and felt are suitable. In other processes, individual biodegradable plastic fibers, medium pore fibers and fibers oriented as yarns or strands are used. Alternatively, a fine mesh or screen may be used. The strength against most tears, elongations and bursts is close to the strength properties of the resulting paper substrate 14. Therefore, in selecting the substrate 14, it is necessary to take into account the physical structure and other characteristics in these products.

  The upper layer 16 and the lower layer 18 are made of several kinds of treated surface layers made of agricultural product fibers, recycled fibers, and the like. Here, the upper layer and the lower layer are used only to show the difference between the layers divided by the base material 14, as shown in FIG. The two layers may be the same or may be used interchangeably. Alternatively, the material of the layers may be selected separately so that one has more favorable characteristics than the other. More preferable characteristics include color, texture, water resistance, and the like. Virgin or regenerated fibers may be used for the upper layer 16 and the lower layer 18, but one of the advantages of the present invention is that low quality or less cultivated but easy to harvest fibers can be used. In addition, secondary products and leftovers from crops can be used. Examples of such are leftovers of agricultural products that come out after being used for other purposes. For example, corn stalks, grain fir, sugar cane, bananas and pineapple leaves are also used as surface materials. Also, hemp, wheat and rice straw, jute, bamboo, coconut fiber, papyrus or almost any kind of herbaceous plant is used to give a unique appearance and character.

  Referring to FIG. 2, a wet process 40 using virgin produce fibers is shown in detail. The surface material preparation preliminary process 20 of the virgin fiber wetting process 40 including the crop development stage 42 includes a crop development stage 42 that occurs in a cultivated agricultural environment or is a natural growth for the desired material, and a harvest and dry stage 44. . If the harvesting method differs in the type of plant material, the harvesting method will differ for different plant materials depending on the nature of the crop or the material used. Harvesting includes mechanical logging, removal from cultivated land, or simple collection of naturally grown plants. Harvesting may occur primarily as part of the processing of crops grown for other purposes.

  Drying may be performed in a mechanical crop dryer. A direct fire type rotary drum is preferably used, but surplus heat generated from other processes can also be used. However, in the low energy consumption process embodied in the present invention, the harvested crop material may be air-dried on farmland or dump. The complexity of the drying stage depends on the nature of the material used and the dryness of the material at harvest. When using residual materials from other materials, it is also possible to use materials that have already been dried in the previous step. After harvesting and drying, the material is processed by crushing, powdering and mechanical processing steps 46. Crushing and / or pulverization is accomplished by conventional equipment such as hammer mills, grinders, rolling mills, refiners, beaters and the like. Paper made by the method of the present invention does not rely on strength due to fiber or fiber entanglement, so low quality materials can be used and the original shape of the fiber is not important. Even yarns or particulates generated in a conventional paper-forming pulp preparation process can be used.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the preparation of the substrate includes a substrate providing stage 50, which includes unwinding the substrate material from the material supply roll in a continuous process. May be. In a batch process, the substrate providing step 50 may include a step of flattening the substrate sheet. In the wet stage 52, a substrate for paper product formation is prepared. The wet stage 52 is accomplished by coating moisture from a shower or sprayer that has been manipulated such that water or other liquid is deposited on the surface of the substrate 14 as the substrate passes through the rollers. The wet stage 52 can also be performed by a manual sprayer or water sprayer, mainly in small-scale production and batch processes such as during manual work.

  The virgin fiber wetting process 40 shown in FIG. 2 is where the deposition stage 54, ie, the treated surface material is placed on a substrate containing moisture, followed by a squeezing and drying stage 56. The deposition step 54 can also be performed by spraying or sprinkling a powdered material onto a moisture-containing substrate, or by manually sprinkling the substrate in a low volume production process. The deposition stage 54 may be performed on both sides simultaneously prior to the spin / dry stage, or the first side may be prepared, spun and dried, and then the second side may be processed. The spin and dry stage 56 may include pressing the substrate, placing the material on a pinching roller, or simply air drying the formed sheet without initial pressing or simultaneous pressing. Good. Heat 58 may be used to assist in this process. When using heat, the surface layer material will bond well to the substrate if the temperature at which the biodegradable plastic substrate is slightly melted is selected. When using a pinching roller, the inside or the outside of one or both may be heated. The surface shape of the roller should be easily peeled off without sticking from the roller.

  In the process shown in FIG. 2, if a heating step 58 is included with the spin and dry step 56 to specifically dissolve the biodegradable plastic, the formed product will have a relatively hard surface. Such a material is convenient for a seedling planting plug or the like. The slightly melted substrate 14 enhances the bonding of the upper layer 16 and the lower layer 18 to the substrate and increases the water resistance.

  From the paper formation preparation step 24, the material proceeds to the deformation / use preliminary step 26. The deformation / use preliminary step 26 may immediately follow the paper forming sub-step 24, or the formed paper product may be rewinded, or otherwise accumulated and stored for later deformation / use. You may keep it. Depending on the finished product, the deformation / use preliminary step 26 may include spreading to individual sheets, binding to a notepad, or forming in a bag or box. Conventional cutting machines, rolling machines, perforating machines, origami machines, etc. can be used.

  The regeneration preliminary step 28 continues from the deformation / use step 26. It is desirable to recycle used materials and discarded materials, and the present invention is particularly useful for regeneration after use, but regeneration does not occur in all cases. In such a case, if the product after use is thrown away to the landfill, it will decompose in a short period of time due to the biodegradability of the substrate and other materials. As shown in FIG. 2, one suitable method for the regeneration pre-process is that the used product is reacquired at the collection stage 60. Depending on the method of product recovery, cleaning and separation may be required to remove unsuitable substances. For example, the district garbage collection process may use sorting and sorting to remove recyclable metals and glass. Thereafter, it is processed in the composting stage 62. The compost material is returned to the cultivated land in the agricultural product growth stage 42 in the surface layer material preparation preliminary process 20 and used as a fertilizer or a soil conditioner for agricultural products.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
Referring to FIG. 3, a dry substrate process 70 is shown. The substrate preparation preliminary process 24 is similar to the virgin fiber wet process 40 described above. The surface layer material preparation preliminary process in the dry base material process 70 is similar to the virgin fiber wet process 40 except that the base material does not have moisture. In the dry substrate process 70, however, the powdered surface material is mixed with the sticky vegetable juice made in the mucus or vegetable juice adhesive preparation step 72. It can also be made as a mixture of mucus from okra with water and mucus or vegetable juice adhesive. Other suitable vegetable juice mucus is morohaya leaves, fenugreek seeds, troro-aoi rhizomes and the like. Trolley is used in traditional Japanese paper making to improve fiber cohesion and improve fiber distribution uniformity. These and other vegetable ingredients, when mixed with water, become sticky mucilage that pulls sticky and thread and can be used as an adhesive. The adhesive liquid is a polysaccharide, which is found in many vegetables and becomes a colloidal form that is slimy in water. Such a sticky liquid is sometimes used in ethnic cuisine, and its sticky texture is prized. Substances suitable for this are different from adhesives made of starchy materials, and sticky liquids made from okra, trollahoi, moroheiya, and fenugreek are flexible even when dried, and when dried, they become harder and harder to break. In contrast to the resulting adhesive.

  The paste is made from the powdered surface material by mixing the powdered material in paste manufacturing stage 74 with vegetable mucus. In the application step 76, the paste is applied to the substrate. The application step 76 may include spraying the paste onto the substrate, depending on the viscosity, or may include applying the paste onto the substrate. The base material covered with the paste is dried after extruding excess moisture. Natural drying may be used, and air convection or warm air may be used. Vegetable slime juice functions as an adhesive for binding the surface material to the substrate. Thus, a substrate coated with a surface material does not require the use of heat to bond the surface material and the substrate. If necessary, heat can be used, resulting in a slight dissolution of the biodegradable plastic and physical characteristics such as water resistance.

  If the paper product made from the dry mesh process 70 is not cured by the application of heat, the paper made from the dry mesh process 70 is soft and supple. The dry mesh process may be particularly suitable for the preparation of thin paper such as writing paper, office paper, art paper. In addition, the benefits of using vegetable mucus appear when recycling. By re-solubilizing the mucus, the surface layer material is immediately peeled off from the base material, and these can be separately reprocessed or reused.

  Subsequent to the paper formation preliminary process 24 of the dry substrate process 70, the deformation / use process 26 and the regeneration process 28 may be applied to the virgin fiber wet process 40 as described above. The deformation is made to suit the material being made and the application used. Regeneration may also include a collection stage 60 and a composting stage 62.

  Referring to FIG. 4, a recycled fiber process 80 is shown. Recycled fibers are collected in the surface layer material preparation preliminary step 20, and go through a plurality of stages such as pulping 82, ink removal 84 and washing 86. Crushing 88 or pulverization may be performed to prepare fibers for coating the substrate with fibers. The final slurry preparation phase 90 includes adjusting the concentration by adding or thickening water to achieve the desired concentration. The recycled fibers are then deposited on the substrate at the deposition stage 92. This is followed by a pressing and drying step, usually including the application of heat. A deformation / use preliminary step 26 follows as required. The use agent and surplus are collected and recycled, and the process returns to the preparation stage 82. In this respect, the regeneration preparatory step 26 in step 80 is different from that shown in step 40. Step 40 includes returning the recycled material to the soil as a fertilizer or soil conditioner. In the recycled fiber process 80, the recycled fiber is used to regenerate conventional papermaking fibers such as wood, and the regeneration preliminary process 28 includes accumulating a suitable surface material from many raw materials. Low quality recycled fibers can also be used due to the sticking effect caused by heating the biodegradable substrate. Problems caused by repeated use of regenerated fibers, such as shortening of the fiber length and weakening of the binding strength between fibers, can cause the binding strength between fibers to create fiber strength in the finished product. The problem is overcome because it is not a decisive factor.

  The biodegradable plastic can be advantageously used as an additive in the conventional papermaking process, and it is not necessary to remain used only as a base material as described above. FIG. 6 shows a biodegradable plastic fiber addition step 110 in which biodegradable plastic fibers are added to a papermaking fiber-containing aqueous solution or pulp liquid before web formation. As described above, when the surface layer material is adhered to the base material with the vegetable sticky juice, the base material is immediately peeled off from the surface material during the regeneration of the paper product formed in the dry base material process. The biodegradable plastic substrate may then be fiberized and added to the papermaking pulp in the fiber addition step 110. Adding biodegradable plastic fibers can add strength to the resulting paper, reducing the need to add virgin fibers to paper products that primarily use recycled wood fibers.

  The biodegradable plastic fiber addition step 110 shown in FIG. 6 may take several forms, as shown in step 110 of FIG. 6 that includes several ingredients for paper product formation. The agricultural product growth and harvest stage 112 supplies raw materials to the conventional agricultural product pulping stage 114. Alternatively or additionally, papermaking fibers are supplied from the recycled fiber repulping process stage 116 and supplied to the ink removal and sorting stage 118. The regeneration stage 120 may supply material to the composting stage 116 for crop growth and harvesting stage 112 fertilizer or soil improvement. In addition, the regeneration stage 120 may supply material to the regenerated fiber repulping stage 116 or directly to the organic material mixing stage 126, depending on the material being regenerated. Recycled material fractionation stage 124 may also supply biodegradable plastic material to fiberization stage 128 where discrete fibers or filaments are made. In addition, virgin plastic fibers may be provided at step 130 to the biodegradable plastic fiberization stage 128. The fiberized biodegradable plastic is mixed with organic fibers in the fiber mixing stage 132. Thereafter, the mixed fiber is fed to the forming, pressing, drying, deformation and use stage 134. The forming, pressing, drying, deformation and use stage 134 may be conventional or may incorporate some of the processes previously described herein. Then, a vegetable sticky juice preparation stage 136 for depositing fibers on the substrate 14 may be used.

  The various processes disclosed herein can be modified to provide various desired physical properties for the resulting product. As described above, when heated during pressing or drying, the water resistance of the resulting material is improved by melting the surface of the individual fibers in the base material 14 or the fiber addition step shown in FIG. By combining the above methods in various ways, it is possible to make various products according to the characteristics of the material. Layering sheets containing recycled fiber felt or nonwovens would be suitable for diapers, feminine hygiene products and other hygiene products, with the remaining powder of produce and a thin biodegradable plastic substrate. Since all the raw materials are natural biodegradable substances, the degree of subsequent degradation in landfills is improved compared to conventional products.

  Through the selection of appropriate raw materials, you may be able to make art paper with a unique finish and appearance. In addition, wall coverings with water resistance can be made. In the use of a further modified material, the hollow biodegradable plastic monofilament may be filled with recycled paper fiber or plant material and may be conventionally woven into a fabric. As previously described herein, it may then be applied with a surface coating.

  Yet another application of a paper product made according to the present invention is a strip or yarn that is cut from a powder-coated substrate and woven or knitted into an elastic and three-dimensional fabric. It is done. Fabrics made in this way may be especially suitable for wall coverings with unique textures and patterns, and shock-absorbing packaging materials.

  While the invention has been described in detail herein, including several forms, additional modifications and variations may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims. That should be understood.

It is process drawing of the paper formation process by this invention. It is process drawing about the paper formation process in this Embodiment 1. FIG. It is process drawing about the paper formation process in this Embodiment 2. It is process drawing about the paper formation process using the recycled fiber of this invention. 1 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a paper made according to the present invention. It is process drawing of the other paper formation process by this invention.

Claims (2)

Preparing a paper-forming fiber;
Mixing a biodegradable plastic monofilament with the paper-forming fibers;
Forming a mixed paper-forming fiber and a biodegradable plastic monofilament woven fabric.   A structure having a matrix made from biodegradable plastic monofilaments, wherein the monofilaments contain at least one of the remainder of the crop and recycled paper material therein.

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