Reifenhäuser Gmbh & Co. Maschinenfabrik

Hills, Inc.

Hermann Balk

Bernd Kunze

Hans Georg Geus

Arnold E Wilkie

Herbert Schulz

Rolf H Joest

A spunbond system for manufacturing a non-woven web of fibers includes a spin beam assembly configured to process and deliver a plurality of polymer streams for extrusion through spinneret orifices. The spin beam assembly includes a plurality of manifold sections within the spin beam assembly, each manifold section including a distribution pipe configured to transfer a respective polymer component to a plurality of piping sections extending within the manifold section and a heat transfer medium that flows within the manifold section and around the piping sections extending into the manifold section so as to maintain the respective polymer component at a selected temperature. The system further includes a quenching zone configured to receive and quench extruded filaments from the spinneret orifices, a drawing unit in communication with the quenching zone and configured to receive and attenuate the quenched filaments, and a forming surface configured to receive drawn filaments emerging from the drawing unit and form a non-woven fibrous web on the forming surface.

Method and apparatus for producing polymer fibers and fabrics including multiple polymer components

A closed fiber spinning system includes a spin beam assembly including a plurality of polymer distribution manifolds to independently deliver different polymer component fluid streams to a spin pack and independently maintain those fluid streams at different temperatures. The spin beam assembly in combination with the closed spinning system facilitates the production of a wide variety of multiple polymer component fiber and fabric products having a desired denier and degree of uniformity.

Method and apparatus for producing polymer fibers and fabrics including multiple polymer components in a closed system

Core filaments for the formation of a fleece are formed in a spinneret assembly which has a wide slit extrusion die provided with two outlet slits for different thermoplastic synthetic resins. Below the die, a distribution plate has two sets of feed bores which deliver synthetic resin from the two sets of bores to a core-forming plate directly beneath the distribution plate and a spinneret plate below the core-forming plate whose spinneret bores are aligned with core-forming bores in the core-forming plate.

Apparatus for spinning core filaments

A process for producing a web fleece of thermoplastic polymer filaments. Filaments of thermoplastic polymer are spun from a spinneret to form a curtain passing through a cooling chamber and a stretching channel. The volume rate of flow of the thermoplastic polymer from the spinneret, the volume rate of flow of air, the velocity of the air and the temperature of the air in the cooling chamber and stretching channel are so controlled that individual filaments of the curtain have filament diameters less than .mu.m and a degree of crystallinity less than 45%. The filaments of the curtain are collected on a continuously moving sieve belt in a mat whose crossing points fuse together. The mat is heated to a stretching temperature of 80.degree. to 150.degree. C. and stretched axially by 100 to 400%. The biaxially stretched mat is heated to a temperature above that of the stretching temperature to thermofix the web.

Process for producing a web of thermoplastic polymer filaments

A melt-blowing head is used to produce long thermoplastic filaments which are collected on a sieve belt and form crossing welds at cross-over points. The resulting mat may be calendered and is composed of filaments having a diameter of less than 100 .mu.m and a degree of crystallinity which is less than 45%. The mat is heated to a stretching temperature of 80 to 150.degree. C. and is then biaxially stretched by 100 to 400% before being thermally fixed at a higher temperature. The result is a nonwoven web which can have a greater strength for a given area weight or a reduced area weight for a given strength than earlier systems.

Method of making a fleece or mat of thermoplastic polymer filaments

A spun-bond apparatus can be operated with additional high-pressure jets at the outlet gap immediately above the collecting belt and below the intermediate passage connecting that gap with the cooling chamber to establish a higher velocity of the filaments which are collected in the nonwoven fabric on the belt.

Method for producing nonwoven thermoplastic webs

A spun-filament nonwoven web is deposited on a sieve belt from a spinning head producing a curtain of thermoplastic filaments which traverse a cooling chamber by drawing the filaments in a drawing nozzle separate from the cooling chamber and passing the filaments through a delivery unit and in the form of a jet pump, air flow through which is controlled at least in part by a suction blower below that sieve belt.

Apparatus for producing a nonwoven spun-filament web of aerodynamically

In place of discrete orifice spinnerets, a nozzle unit for thermoplastified thermoplastic material in the production of nonwoven fabric has a wide-slit nozzle at least one lip of which is formed with sawtooth serrations so that a film emerges from the nozzle and is broken up by an air stream into continuous filaments or short fibers for the production of the nonwoven fabric by the normal spun-bond drawing process or by the melt-blown process.

Method of producing plastic fibers or filaments, preferably in

A method of and apparatus for continuously stretching a thermoplastic web comprises the steps of feeding the thermoplastic web longitudinally to a heating chamber at a relatively low input speed, engaging the thermoplastic web in the heating chamber with a first member with a relatively low sliding friction between the web and the first member and engaging the thermoplastic web in the heating chamber with a second member spaced longitudinally downstream from the first roller with a relatively high sliding friction between the web and the second member. The thermoplastic web is pulled off the second member in a downstream stretch of the web at a relatively high stretching speed and the web is heated in the chamber to a temperature sufficient to substantially prevent plastic-deformation stretching of the web upstream of the second member.

Method and apparatus for stretching thermoplastic films

The apparatus for making a spun-filament fleece from a stretched thermoplastic monofilament has a combined spinning unit made up of separate spinning units each having a plurality of spinning nozzles arranged in rows over a rectangular cross section, a blower shaft, a stretching shaft and a wire screen conveyor for the finished deposited fleece. The blower shaft is provided with air orifices for admission of stretching air simultaneously acting as a cooler. The stretching shaft has stretching shaft walls which are, if necessary, movable or adjustable with an accelerating device with a venturi nozzle like vertical cross section. At least two separate spinning units with separate groups of spinning nozzles are located above the blower shaft. At least one separating wall located between individual spinning units divides the blower shaft into separate portions for separate bands of monofilaments generated by the separate groups of spinning nozzles. The separate spinning units can be supplied with different thermoplastic materials from different extruders.

Apparatus for making a spun-filament fleece

The fleece spinning unit has a spinning nozzle system, a cooling shaft, a stretching aperture, a diffuser shaft, a continuously moving fleece receiving conveyor and a device for feeding process air and for drawing outflowing air through the fleece receiving conveyor. The cooling shaft has a shaft wall provided with a plurality of air orifices. Thus process air required for the cooling is fed into the cooling shaft and is at least partially drawn through the fleece receiving conveyor. The thickness of the spun fleece is measurable on the fleece receiving conveyor downstream of the diffuser shaft in the transport direction. A measured value/set-point comparison is made and on deviation of the measured value from the set-point the setting angles of opposing air control flaps which are located at the entrance of the stretching aperture are changed. On a positive deviation of the measured value of the thickness from the set-point the setting angle is increased. On a negative deviation from the set-point the setting angle is decreased.

The apparatus has a spinneret, a cooling shaft, a stretching aperture, a diffuser shaft, a fleece receiving conveyor and a device for feeding process air and for pulling or drawing outflowing air through the fleece receiving conveyor. The cooling shaft has a shaft wall provided with a plurality of air orifices. Process air required for the cooling is fed into the cooling shaft. The cooling shaft is provided with an upper intensive cooling region and a lower additional cooling region and suitable air flow dividing guiding walls connected to the outside of the shaft wall. Air control flaps which have an outlet gap opening to the stretching aperture and which form a wedge pointing in the feed direction of the endless filament are connected upstream of the stretching aperture to the shaft walls. The diffuser shaft is provided with pivoting wings defining the passage cross section which are each movable about one horizontal axis. The device for pulling or drawing outflowing air has an adjustable damper above and/or below the fleece delivery conveyor with which the width of the outflowing air measured in the transport direction is adjustable. The apparatus operates with a single process air flow which is dividable into one partial flow for the intensive cooling region and another partial flow for the additional cooling region.

A device for making a spun fleece has a spinning nozzle or spinneret system, a cooling shaft, a stretching gap, a diffuser shaft, a continuously moving fleece receiving conveyor and a device for feeding process air and for pulling or removing outflowing air through the fleece receiving conveyor. The cooling shaft has a shaft wall provided with a plurality of air orifices. Because of that process air required for the cooling is fed into the cooling shaft. The air flow at least partially is pulled through the fleece receiving conveyor and the spun fleece formed by the deposited endless filament loops. The deposited length of the endless filament loops is measured over the spun fleece width in the finished fleece. The measured value is compared with a predetermined set value. On deviation of the measured value from the set value the setting angles of the air control flaps pivotable about a horizontal axis which are located at the entrance of the stretching gap are changed. On a positive deviation of the measured value of the thickness from the set value the setting angles are decreased (deposited length larger than the set value).

Apparatus for making a spun fleece from endless synthetic-resin filament

The process for making at least one thermoplastic monofilament of an exact diameter from a thermoplastic material by spinning in an apparatus in which a thermoplastic material is fed to at least one spinneret, which has at least one spinning plate with a plurality of spinning holes for the thermoplastic monofilaments, and forcing the thermoplastic material through the spinning holes with at least one spinning pump. To provide a monofilament of a very exact diameter the process further comprises measuring the diameter of each of the monofilaments in or after the outlet of the associated spinning hole, feeding the resulting measured value of this diameter as the actual value to a controller associated with that monofilament and controlling the flow rate of thermoplastic material through the associated spinning hole according to the difference between the actual value and a predetermined setpoint value. An apparatus for performing the above process according to my invention includes a spinneret, a spinning plate, at least one spinning pump, a plurality of spinning holes in the spinning plate as well as a device for measuring the diameter of each of the monofilaments and a mechanism for adjusting the flow rate of thermoplastic material including a movable stopper for each of the spinning holes and an associated adjusting motor.

Apparatus for making a thermoplastic monofilament of exact thickness

Apparatus for spinning monofilaments made of thermoplastic synthetic resin, with a spinning head for monofilaments, at least one spinning panel with a plurality of nozzle orifices, one or more spinning pumps with a motor equipped with a regulator for controlling the thickness of the monofilaments. The regulator can be fed to the diameter measurements of the individually measured monofilaments. Anywhere from 6 to 60 nozzle orifices, preferably about 20 nozzle orifices, are combined into a nozzle orifice group. Each nozzle orifice group has its own spinning pump with its own regulator. The monofilaments of the nozzle orifices of a nozzle orifice group can be conducted past a measuring device for the measurement of the diameters of the monofilaments. This measuring device will calculate an average of the diameter measurements of the monofilaments, which can be fed as an actual value into the regulator which services the spinning pump of the corresponding nozzle orifice group.

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Troisdorf, Germany

Hermann Balk