Method of manufacturing bulked continuous filaments
First Claim
1. A method of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament, said method comprising:
- (A) providing a multi-screw extruder that comprises;
(i) a first satellite screw extruder, said first satellite screw extruder comprising a first satellite screw that is mounted to rotate about a central axis of said first satellite screw;
(ii) a second satellite screw extruder, said second satellite screw extruder comprising a second satellite screw that is mounted to rotate about a central axis of said second satellite screw;
(iii) a third satellite screw extruder, said third satellite screw extruder comprising a third satellite screw that is mounted to rotate about a central axis of said third satellite screw;
(iv) a fourth satellite screw extruder, said fourth satellite screw extruder comprising a fourth satellite screw that is mounted to rotate about a central axis of said fourth satellite screw; and
(v) a pressure regulation system that is adapted to maintain a pressure within said first, second, third, and fourth satellite screw extruders between about 0 millibars and about 5 millibars;
(B) using said pressure regulation system to reduce a pressure within said first, second, third, and fourth satellite screw extruders to between about 0 millibars and about 5 millibars;
(C) while maintaining said pressure within said first, second, third, and fourth satellite screw extruders between about 0 millibars and about 5 millibars, passing a melt comprising recycled polymer through said multi-screw extruder so that;
(1) a first portion of said melt passes through said first satellite screw extruder, (2) a second portion of said melt passes through said second satellite screw extruder, (3) a third portion of said melt passes through said third satellite screw extruder, and (4) a fourth portion of said melt passes through said fourth satellite screw extruder; 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.
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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.
42 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament, said method comprising:
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(A) providing a multi-screw extruder that comprises; (i) a first satellite screw extruder, said first satellite screw extruder comprising a first satellite screw that is mounted to rotate about a central axis of said first satellite screw; (ii) a second satellite screw extruder, said second satellite screw extruder comprising a second satellite screw that is mounted to rotate about a central axis of said second satellite screw; (iii) a third satellite screw extruder, said third satellite screw extruder comprising a third satellite screw that is mounted to rotate about a central axis of said third satellite screw; (iv) a fourth satellite screw extruder, said fourth satellite screw extruder comprising a fourth satellite screw that is mounted to rotate about a central axis of said fourth satellite screw; and (v) a pressure regulation system that is adapted to maintain a pressure within said first, second, third, and fourth satellite screw extruders between about 0 millibars and about 5 millibars; (B) using said pressure regulation system to reduce a pressure within said first, second, third, and fourth satellite screw extruders to between about 0 millibars and about 5 millibars; (C) while maintaining said pressure within said first, second, third, and fourth satellite screw extruders between about 0 millibars and about 5 millibars, passing a melt comprising recycled polymer through said multi-screw extruder so that;
(1) a first portion of said melt passes through said first satellite screw extruder, (2) a second portion of said melt passes through said second satellite screw extruder, (3) a third portion of said melt passes through said third satellite screw extruder, and (4) a fourth portion of said melt passes through said fourth satellite screw extruder; 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, 11, 12)
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13. A method of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament, said method comprising:
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(A) providing a multi-screw extruder that comprises; at least six satellite screw extruders, wherein each of said at least six satellite screw extruders comprise a satellite screw mounted to rotate about a respective central axis of each of said at least six satellite screw extruders; and a pressure regulation system that is adapted to maintain a pressure within said at least six satellite screw extruders between about 0 millibars and about 5 millibars; (B) using said pressure regulation system to reduce a pressure within said at least six satellite screw extruders to between about 0 millibars and about 5 millibars; (C) while maintaining said pressure within said at least six satellite screw extruders between about 0 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 passes through each of said at least six satellite screw extruders; (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 (14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of manufacturing carpet filament comprising the steps of:
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(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 second plurality of flakes to produce a polymer melt; (D) providing an extruder that extrudes material in a plurality of different extrusion streams; (E) reducing a pressure within said extruder to between about 0 millibars and about 5 millibars; (F) while maintaining said pressure within said extruder between about 0 millibars and about 5 millibars, passing said polymer melt through said extruder so that said polymer melt is divided into a plurality of extrusion streams, each having a pressure between about 0 millibars and about 5 millibars; (G) after passing said polymer melt through said extruder, filtering said polymer melt through at least one filter; and (H) after passing said polymer melt through said filter, forming said recycled polymer into bulked continuous carpet filament. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification