Molding of fiber blanks into three-dimensional fiber block articles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12420497-B2
Application number	US-202218066081-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 14, 2022
Priority date	Nov 30, 2016
Publication date	Sep 23, 2025
Grant date	Sep 23, 2025

Abstract

A fiber block molding apparatus comprising: —a mold having a lower part and an upper part forming between them a cavity for forming a fiber blank into a fiber block article upon closing the mold; —a conveyor system for receiving the fiber blank to be molded at a receiving position, transporting the fiber blank via a heater for activation of a binding agent, and delivering the heated fiber blank into the lower part of the mold at a delivery end of the conveyor system, and —a horizontal position shifting arrangement for shifting the horizontal position of the delivery end of the conveyor system relative to the lower part of the mold between a first and a second position to lay the fiber blank on the lower part of the mold.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A three-dimensional fiber block article, the three-dimensional fiber block article being obtainable by molding a heated fiber blank, including a thermally activated binding agent, into the three-dimensional fiber block article in a fiber block molding process, the fiber block molding process comprising:
receiving the fiber blank to be molded at a receiving position of a conveyor system;
transporting the fiber blank by means of the conveyor system via a heater, thereby heating the fiber blank to activate the binding agent, to a mold, the mold having a lower part and an upper part, wherein the lower and the upper parts of the mold form between them a cavity for forming the fiber blank into the fiber block article upon closing the mold;
cooling the lower part of the mold;
delivering the heated fiber blank on the cooled lower part of the mold; and
closing the mold to provide the fiber block article;
wherein the cavity is closed on only a single heated fiber blank, such that the fiber block article is of a unitary, one-piece construction;
wherein the fiber blank is lapped vertically, the fibers in the fiber blank being arranged perpendicularly to the longitudinal extension of the fiber blank, and/or the fibers in the fiber blank being arranged perpendicularly to the transport direction of the fiber blank on the conveyor system;
wherein the fiber block article has an outer surface with stronger bonded fibers compared to fibers in an interior of the fiber block article;
wherein the fiber block article is a cushion member; and
wherein the fiber block article includes binder fibers and filling fibers, the binder fibers being distinct from the filling fibers, wherein the binder fibers are bi-component binder polyester fibers that include the thermally activated binding agent, wherein the filling fibers are polyester fibers.

2. The three-dimensional fiber block article according to claim 1 , wherein the cushion member is a cushion member for a seat or a back rest of a sofa or a chair.

3. The three-dimensional fiber block article according to claim 2 , wherein the three-dimensional fiber block article is a seat cushion for a chair, the fibers being arranged standing in the seat cushion.

4. The three-dimensional fiber block article according to claim 1 ,
wherein the thermally activated binding agent has an activation temperature of 100 to 160° C., being lower than the melting point of the polyester fibers.

5. The three-dimensional fiber block article according to claim 1 , wherein the fiber blank comprises 10 to 80 wt % bi-component binder polyester fibers.

6. The three-dimensional fiber block article according to claim 5 , wherein the fiber blank comprises 20 to 60 wt % bi-component binder polyester fibers.

7. The three-dimensional fiber block article according to claim 1 , wherein the bi-component binder polyester fibers are core-sheath binder polyester fibers; and
wherein the sheath constitutes the thermally activated binding agent.

8. The three-dimensional fiber block article according to 1, wherein the fiber blank is received in the form of a sheet at the receiving position; and
wherein the received sheet once heated is molded into the molded fiber block article.

9. The three-dimensional fiber block article according to claim 1 , wherein heated air is pushed through the fiber blank in the step of transporting the fiber blank via the heater, the heated air having a temperature of 120 to 220° C.

10. The three-dimensional fiber block article according to claim 1 , wherein the molded fiber block article is cooled by pushing a cooling fluid through it once the mold has been closed.

11. The three-dimensional fiber block article according to claim 10 , wherein the cooling fluid is air.

12. The three-dimensional fiber block article according to claim 1 , wherein a delivery end of the conveyor system is arranged on a vertically higher level than the lower part of the mold in laying the heated fiber blank on the lower part of the mold; and
wherein the horizontal position of the delivery end of the conveyor system relative the lower part of the mold is shifted from a first position, in which the delivery end of the conveyor system is arranged in an area between a distal end and a proximal end of the lower part of the mold, to a second position, in which the delivery end of the conveyor system is arranged closer to the proximal end than the distal end of the lower part of the mold and outside of the area between the distal end and the proximal end, whilst feeding the heated fiber blank to the lower part of the mold, the feeding being coordinated with the shifting from the first to the second position such that the heated fiber blank is laid on the lower part of the mold.

13. The three-dimensional fiber block article according to claim 12 , wherein a feeding rate and a shifting rate are the same.

14. The three-dimensional fiber block article according to claim 12 , wherein the horizontal position of the delivery end of the conveyor system relative the horizontal position of the lower part of the mold is shifted by horizontally shifting the delivery end of the conveyor system, whilst laying the heated fiber blank on the lower part of the mold.

15. The three-dimensional fiber block article according to claim 1 , wherein the fiber blank comprises 20 to 60 wt % of the bi-component binder polyester fibers.

16. The three-dimensional fiber block article according to claim 1 , wherein the bi-component binder polyester fibers are core-sheath binder polyester fibers, the sheath constituting the thermally activated binding agent, and wherein the fiber blank comprises 20 to 60 wt % of the bi-component binder polyester fibers.

17. A three-dimensional fiber block article, the three-dimensional fiber block article being obtainable by molding a heated fiber blank, including binder fibers and filling fibers, the binder fibers being distinct from the filling fibers, the binder fibers being thermally activated bi-component binder polyester fibers, and the filling fibers being polyester fibers, into the three-dimensional fiber block article in a fiber block molding process, the fiber block molding process comprising:
receiving the fiber blank to be molded at a receiving position of a conveyor system;
transporting the fiber blank by means of the conveyor system via a heater, thereby heating the fiber blank to activate the binding agent, to a mold, the mold having a lower part, an upper part, and mold surfaces, wherein the lower and the upper parts of the mold form between them a cavity for forming the fiber blank into the fiber block article upon closing the mold;
delivering the heated fiber blank on the lower part of the mold, the temperature of the mold and the mold surfaces being lower than an activation temperature of the binding agent; and
closing the mold to provide the fiber block article;
wherein the cavity is closed on only a single heated fiber blank, such that the fiber block article is of a unitary, one-piece construction;
wherein the fiber blank is lapped vertically, the fibers in the fiber blank being arranged perpendicularly to the longitudinal extension of the fiber blank, and/or the fibers in the fiber blank being arranged perpendicularly to the transport direction of the fiber blank on the conveyor system;
wherein the fiber block article has an outer surface with stronger bonded fibers compared to fibers in an interior of the fiber block article; and
wherein the fiber block article is a cushion member.

18. The three-dimensional fiber

Assignees

• Inter Ikea Sys Bv

Inventors

• Bergner Anders

Classifications

• A47C27/12

  with fibrous inlays, e.g. made of wool, of cotton · CPC title

• D04H1/74

  the fibres being orientated, e.g. in parallel {(anisotropic fleeces)} · CPC title

• B29K2105/0863

  SMC, i.e. sheet moulding compound · CPC title

• B29K2067/00

  Use of polyesters {or derivatives thereof}, as moulding material · CPC title

• B29C43/34

  Feeding the material to the mould or the compression means {(B29C43/085 takes precedence)} · CPC title