System for producing blankets and webs of mineral fibers

Abstract

A recent development for manufacturing blankets of mineral fibers includes a system comprising a plurality of fiber forming and collecting modules spaced along a process line, each module designed to produce a relatively thin web of intertangled fibers and to deliver the thin web onto a common transfer conveyer to produce a plurality of superposed webs which can later be further processed to form a thick, uniform, mineral fiber blanket. The present invention provides an improvement in the above described system by permitting one or more of the modules to be operated independently of the remaining modules resulting in the manufacture of one or more secondary products when the primary product being made on the main transfer conveyer requires the operation of less than all the modules in the process line. The improved system includes means for removing a web from the collecting conveyer of a module prior to its being delivered to the transfer conveyer, means for elevating the web to the fiberizing level of the system, means for cutting the web into desired lengths, and means for accumulating the cut lengths into a form suitable for packaging, storage, and shipment. The improved system can optionally also include searing rolls to at least partially cure the binder in the web prior to elevating the web to the fiberizing level, slitting knives for edged trimming and slitting the web into desired widths, and other conventional web treating and laminating equipment.