A method for manufacturing a carpet and a carpet thus manufactured

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a carpet by starting from a fabric and tufting threads or yarns therein, and to apply a layer of latex to the semi-finished product thus obtained. The invention furthermore relates to a carpet consisting of a fabric comprising thread or yarn tufted therein and a layer of latex present on the obtained semi-finished product.

[0002] The method for manufacturing a carpet by tufting is described in European patent application No. 0 609 385, which patent application may be considered to be incorporated herein.

[0003] The tufted carpet according to the known prior art consists of a web or a ribbon-like fabric, into which web or fabric thread or yarn has been tufted. The tufting step leads to a semi-finished product, whereby the loose ends of the thread or the yarn form the contact surface and the underside of the semi-finished product obtained by tufting is covered with a layer of latex, thus fixing the incorporated pieces of thread or yarn.

[0004] The demand for a flat carpet is increasing, and such a flat carpet comprising various patterns can be obtained by means of a weaving technique. A few decades ago such a flat carpet was also obtained from a natural product, such as coconut fibres. Such desired patterns can be obtained by means of a weaving technique, but this is a highly labour-intensive and thus costly technique. A woven carpet having a particular surface area requires a production time of for example 8 hours, whilst a comparable tufted carpet can be produced within 10 minutes.

[0005] It has now appeared to be possible, by using a method according to the invention, to produce a carpet having the external form of a woven carpet within the time required for obtaining a tufted carpet.

[0006] Such a carpet can be obtained by using a method as referred to in the introduction, which method is characterized in that the layer of latex is applied to the pile side. As a result of this the contact surface of the tufted carpet becomes the surface to which previously the layer of latex was applied. The method according to the invention makes it possible to manufacture a tufted carpet which looks like a woven carpet. Although a method for manufacturing a tufted and knotted carpet is known from international patent application No. 93/07790, it is not known to apply the layer of latex to the pile side. The tufted carpet thus known consists of yarns which have been tufted through a primary base layer, such as jute or polypropylene, and whereby the ends of the yarns are embedded in a layer of latex, which has been applied to the back side of the primary base layer.

[0007] As usual a layer of jute is applied to the layer of latex in order to reinforce the underside of the carpet thus obtained. It is also possible, however, to use another woven material to reinforce the underside, for example a plastic material, such as polypropylene, possibly mixed with natural fibre materials. The aggregate of layers will be smoothened on the latex side by carrying out a calender operation.

[0008] According to the invention it is to be preferred to use a ribbon fabric rather than a web, because the web, which may usually also be used for the tufting of carpet, is too stiff for obtaining a carpet according to the invention.

[0009] The tufting step is preferably carried out by means of a so-called sliding comb from a coarser machine whilst using a finer machine. In this manner a coarse-looking carpet is obtained, which is precisely what is desired. After the tufting step a pre-coating consisting of a solution of a synthetic latex, in particular on a base of carboxylated styrene butadiene ribber, is applied first. Such a solution may contain usual additives, such as fillers. The applied solution is heated, so that the solvent will evaporate and the synthetic layer will remain behind in the form of a layer. Then the layer of latex is applied. The layer of latex is then covered with a layer of jute, and the whole is subsequently calendered, so that the side to be laid on the floor will be smooth. The contact surface of the carpet will then correspond with the underside of the semi-finished product of a tufted carpet known so far, to which the layer of latex was so far applied. Thus a carpet which can be manufactured cheaply and which looks like a woven carpet can be obtained by using the method according to the invention to obtain, whereby the original pile, to which latex has been applied, can function as an incorporated underlay.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing a carpet by starting from a fabric and tufting threads or yarns therein, and to apply a layer of latex to the semi-finished product thus obtained, characterized in that the layer of latex is applied to the pile side.

2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that first a pre-coating is applied to pile side of the semi-finished product, in order to anchor the pile.

3. A method according to claim 2, characterized in that said pre-coating consists of a synthetic latex in solution, which solvent is evaporated by heating.

4. A method according to claims 1 - 3, characterized in that a layer of jute is applied to the layer of latex.

5. A method according to claims 1 - 4, characterized in that a calender operation is carried out in order to smoothen the aggregate of layers on the latex side.

6. A carpet consisting of a fabric with thread and yarn tufted therein and with a layer of latex present on the semi-finished product thus obtained, characterized in that said layer of latex is present on the pole side.

7. A carpet according to claim 6, characterized in that a pre-coating is present between the layer of latex and the pile layer of the semi-finished product.

8. A carpet according to claims 6 - 7, characterized in that said layer of latex is finished with a layer of jute.