Methods for manufacturing bulked continuous filament
First Claim
1. A method of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament, said method comprising:
- (A) providing a multi-screw extruder that comprises;
a multi-screw extruder housing that defines at least six satellite screw barrels;
at least six satellite screws each mounted within a respective one of said at least six satellite screw barrels and each mounted to rotate about a respective central axis of each of said at least six satellite screws; and
a pressure regulation system that is adapted to maintain a pressure within each of said respective satellite screw barrels between about 0.5 millibars and about 5 millibars;
(B) using said pressure regulation system to reduce a pressure within said at least six satellite screw barrels to between about 0.5 millibars and about 5 millibars;
(C) while maintaining said pressure within said at least six satellite screw barrels between about 0.5 millibars and about 5 millibars, passing a melt comprising recycled polymer through said multi-screw extruder so that at least a portion of said melt is fed through each of said at least six satellite screws; and
(D) after said step of passing said melt of recycled polymer through said multi-screw extruder, forming said recycled polymer into bulked continuous carpet filament.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament which, in various embodiments, comprises: (A) grinding recycled PET bottles into a group of flakes; (B) washing the flakes; (C) identifying and removing impurities, including impure flakes, from the group of flakes; (D) passing the group of flakes through an MRS extruder while maintaining the pressure within the MRS portion of the MRS extruder below about 5 millibars; (E) passing the resulting polymer melt through at least one filter having a micron rating of less than about 50 microns; and (F) forming the recycled polymer into bulked continuous carpet filament that consists essentially of recycled PET.
-
Citations
26 Claims
-
1. A method of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament, said method comprising:
-
(A) providing a multi-screw extruder that comprises; a multi-screw extruder housing that defines at least six satellite screw barrels; at least six satellite screws each mounted within a respective one of said at least six satellite screw barrels and each mounted to rotate about a respective central axis of each of said at least six satellite screws; and a pressure regulation system that is adapted to maintain a pressure within each of said respective satellite screw barrels between about 0.5 millibars and about 5 millibars; (B) using said pressure regulation system to reduce a pressure within said at least six satellite screw barrels to between about 0.5 millibars and about 5 millibars; (C) while maintaining said pressure within said at least six satellite screw barrels between about 0.5 millibars and about 5 millibars, passing a melt comprising recycled polymer through said multi-screw extruder so that at least a portion of said melt is fed through each of said at least six satellite screws; and (D) after said step of passing said melt of recycled polymer through said multi-screw extruder, forming said recycled polymer into bulked continuous carpet filament. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22)
-
-
11. A method of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament, said method comprising:
-
(A) providing a plurality of polymer flakes comprising recycled polyethylene terephthalate; (B) washing said plurality of polymer flakes; (C) drying said plurality of flakes to at least substantially remove any surface moisture from said plurality of flakes; (D) at least partially melting said plurality of polymer flakes to form a melt comprising recycled polymer; (E) providing a multi-screw extruder that defines an interior chamber and comprises; (i) a first satellite screw that is mounted to rotate about a central axis of said first satellite screw; (ii) a second satellite screw that is mounted to rotate about a central axis of said second satellite screw; (iii) a third satellite screw that is mounted to rotate about a central axis of said third satellite screw; (iv) a fourth satellite screw that is mounted to rotate about a central axis of said fourth satellite screw; (v) a fifth satellite screw that is mounted to rotate about a central axis of said fifth satellite screw; and (vi) a sixth satellite screw that is mounted to rotate about a central axis of said sixth satellite screw; (F) providing at least one vacuum pump that is in operative communication with said interior chamber of said multi-screw extruder and adapted to maintain a pressure within said interior chamber of said multi-screw extruder between about 0 millibars and about 5 millibars; (G) using said at least one vacuum pump to reduce said pressure within said interior chamber of said multi-screw extruder to between about 0 millibars and about 5 millibars; (H) while maintaining said pressure within said interior chamber of said multi-screw extruder between about 0 millibars and about 5 millibars, passing said melt comprising recycled polymer through said multi-screw extruder so that;
(1) a first portion of said melt is fed through said first satellite screw, (2) a second portion of said melt is fed through said second satellite screw, (3) a third portion of said melt is fed through said third satellite screw, (4) a fourth portion of said melt is fed through said fourth satellite screw, (5) a fifth portion of said melt is fed through said fifth satellite screw, and (6) a sixth portion of said melt is fed through said sixth satellite screw; and(I) after said step of passing said melt of recycled polymer through said multi-screw extruder, forming said recycled polymer into bulked continuous carpet filament. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 23, 24)
-
-
18. A method of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament comprising the steps of:
-
(A) washing a group of polymer flakes to remove at least a portion of one or more contaminants from a surface of said flakes, said group of flakes comprising a first plurality of flakes that consist essentially of PET and a second plurality of flakes that do not consist essentially of PET; (B) after said step of washing said first plurality of flakes; (i) scanning said washed group of flakes to identify said second plurality of flakes, (ii) separating said second plurality of flakes from said first plurality of flakes; (C) after separating said second plurality of flakes from said first plurality of flakes, melting said first plurality of flakes to produce a polymer melt; (D) providing a multi-screw extruder that extrudes material in a plurality of different extrusion streams; (E) reducing a pressure within said multi-screw extruder to between about 0 millibars and about 5 millibars; (F) while maintaining said pressure within said multi-screw extruder between about 0 millibars and about 5 millibars, passing said polymer melt through said multi-screw extruder so that said polymer melt is divided into at least eight extrusion streams, each having a pressure between about 0 millibars and about 5 millibars; (G) after passing said polymer melt through said multi-screw extruder, forming said recycled polymer into bulked continuous carpet filament. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 25, 26)
-
Specification