Method of converting a glass fibre fabric material and products obtained by the method

• US 9,970,138 B2
• Filed: 04/04/2013
• Issued: 05/15/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ucomposites A/S
• Original Assignee: Ucomposites A/S
• Inventors: Linnet, Anders Kristian, Tholstrup, Jakob Grymer
• Primary Examiner(s): Hurley, Shaun R
• Application Number:
  US14/390,102
• Publication Number:
  US 20150167212A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,867 Days
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 37/16 Cutting or severing light guides G02B6/25
• CPC Class Codes: D01G 1/04 by cutting
• CPC Class Codes: D01G 11/00 Disintegrating fibre-containing articles to obtain fibres for re-use
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 1/4218 Glass fibres
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 1/4274 Rags; Fabric scraps
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 1/46 by needling or like operations to cause entanglement of fibres D04H1/45 takes precedence; needling machines D04H18/00
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 1/70 characterised by the method of forming fleeces or layers, e.g. reorientation of fibres
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 1/732 by fluid current, e.g. air-lay
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 1/74 the fibres being orientated, e.g. in parallel (anisotropic fleeces)
• CPC Class Codes: D10B 2101/06 Glass
• CPC Class Codes: F01N 2310/02 Mineral wool, e.g. glass wool, rock wool, asbestos or the like
• CPC Class Codes: Y02W 30/66 Disintegrating fibre-containing textile articles to obtain fibres for re-use
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/2938 Coating on discrete and individual rods, strands or filaments

Abstract

In order to recycle glass fiber/fiber fabric production waste material, such as a material used in the manufacturing of rotor blades for wind turbines, and preferably where the material is bendable or flexible and reinforced in a plurality of layers in one or more directions in planes that are parallel with the surface of the material and stitch bonded together, the material is mechanically processed involving a size reduction of the material into shorter fiber length, in order to convert the material into one or more substantial pure glass fiber products. In this way it is possible inter alia to further process the material and create materials such as acoustic insulation wool, and chopped glass fiber strands.

Claims

1. A method of converting a glass fibre fabric material into another glass fibre product by a mechanical process, wherein said fibre fabric material has not been embedded in a matrix material, wherein said fabric material is unidirectional or multiaxial and is made up of multilayers of glass fibres in one or more directions stitch bonded together into a fabric, said glass fibres being coated with a sizing, wherein the fabric material is cut into glass fibres having a length of from 5 cm to 30 cm, and subsequently the cut fibres are further processed into said other glass fibre product.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the glass fibre fabric material is a production waste material.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the glass fibre fabric material is bendable or flexible.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein said one or more directions is (are) parallel with the surface of the material.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the glass fibre fabric material is stitch bonded by polyester thread.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the glass fibres are further processed by a condensing technique.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the mechanical process is performed by a cutting process cutting the material into chopped glass fibre strands.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the cutting process is followed by a tearing process.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the glass fibre strands are further processed by a filtering process purifying the chopped glass fibre strands.

10. The method according to claim 7, wherein the chopped glass fibre strands have a length of from 8 cm to 20 cm.

11. The method according to claim 7, wherein the chopped glass fibre strands are further processed by a tearing process into glass fibre wool.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the glass fibre wool is further processed through a needle punched processing into a needle mat.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the needle punched processing is performed at temperatures below 300 degrees Celsius.

14. The method according to claim 7, wherein said chopped glass fibres are sorted and optionally moistened.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the material is a unidirectional material.

16. The method according to claim 1, wherein the glass fibre product is processed into a non-woven felt, air-laid or needle punched.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the glass fibre product is taken through a calendar process with two cylinders that impart heat and pressure as the sheets are drawn between them in order to increase density and cohesiveness.

18. A method of converting a glass fibre fabric material into another glass fibre product by a mechanical process, wherein said fabric material is unidirectional or multiaxial and is made up of multilayers of glass fibres in one or more directions stitch bonded together into a fabric, said glass fibres being coated with a sizing, wherein the fabric material is cut into glass fibres having a length of from 5 cm to 30 cm, and subsequently the cut fibres are further processed into said other glass fibre product,

wherein the mechanical process is performed by a cutting process cutting the material into chopped glass fibre strands,

wherein the cutting process is performed using knives.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the knives are made from tungsten carbide.