US3732135A

US3732135A - Textile process

Info

Publication number: US3732135A
Application number: US00027386A
Authority: US
Inventors: I Ernst; L Mizell
Original assignee: IWS Nominee Co Ltd
Current assignee: IWS Nominee Co Ltd
Priority date: 1969-04-18
Filing date: 1970-04-10
Publication date: 1973-05-08
Anticipated expiration: 1990-05-08
Also published as: JPS4948576B1; FR2039271A1; DE2018501A1; GB1285054A; BE748976A; FR2039271B1

Abstract

THE INVENTION DISCLOSED RELATES TO THE PRODUCTION OF PILE FABRICS FROM SILVER KNIT FABRICS. THE PROCESS CONSISTS ESSENTIALLY OF CUTTING A LAYER OF PILE FIBRES FROM THE SILVER KNIT FABRIC, TRANSFERRING THE LAYER OF FIBRES TO A LAYER OF ADHESIVE AND PRESSING THE FIBRE ENDS INTO CONTACT WITH THE ADHESIVE AT AN ELEVATED TEMPERATURE. THE HEAT AND PRESSURE ARE PREFERABLY APPLIED SIMULTANEOUSLY TO THE ASSEMBLY OF PILE FIBRES AND ADHESIVE, FOR EXAMPLE BY A HEATED FLAT PRESS OR HEATED ROLLS. THE ADHESIVE LAYER MAY BE CARRIED ON A RELEASE SURFACE, FROM WHICH IT MAY BE STRIPPED AS A COHERENT FILM AFTER THE PILE FIBRES HAVE BEEN BONDED TO IT, OR IT MAY BE FORMED ON A PERMANENT BACKING SHEET, OR INDEED IT MAY BE FORMED IN SITU ON THE FIBRE ENDS THEMSELVES. A BACKING SHEET MAY BE BONDED TO THE ADHESIVE LAYER AFTER THE FIBRES HAVE BEEN BONDED TO IT. THE PROCESS YIELDS PILE FABRICS WHICH CAN BE USED IN MANY APPLICATIONS, FOR EXAMPLE IN THE CLOTHING OR SHOE INDUSTRIES OR IN PAINT ROLLERS.

Description

May 8, 1973 L A m T s N R E 7.

s s E C 0 R P E L I T X E T 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 10, 1970 WVE/VTORS /A/V THOMAS ERNST LOU/S R/CHARD M/ZELL B) H Wham/g a w A TTOR/VEXS L A m T S N R E T May 8, m3

S S E C 0 R P E L T. T X E T 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed. April 10, 1970 TEXTILE PROCESS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed April 10, 1970 //Vl/E/VTO/?S lA/V THOMAS ERNST LOU/5 R/CHARO M/ZELL ATTORNEYS United States Patent land Filed Apr. 10, 1970, Ser. No. 27,386 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Apr. 18, 1969, 20,036/ 69 Int. Cl. B32b 31/18, 33/00 US. Cl. 156--72 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention disclosed relates to the production of pile fabrics from sliver knit fabrics. The process consists essentially of cutting a layer of pile fibres from the sliver knit fabric, transferring the layer of fibres to a layer of adhesive and pressing the fibre ends into contact with the adhesive at an elevated temperature. The heat and pressure are preferably applied simultaneously to the assembly of pile fibres and adhesive, for example by a heated fiat press or heated rolls. The adhesive layer may be carried on a release surface, from which it may be stripped as a coherent film after the pile fibres have been bonded to it, or it may be formed on a permanent backing sheet, or indeed it may be formed in situ on the fibre ends themselves. A backing sheet may be bonded to the adhesive layer after the fibres have been bonded to it. The process yields pile fabrics which can be used in many applications, for example in the clothing or shoe industries or in paint rollers.

The invention relates to a process for the production of pile fabrics from sliver knit fabrics.

The sliver knitting process involves the knitting of a base fabric, for example from cotton yarn, and the simultaneous interlacing or interlocking of pile forming fibres in the form of a sliver, into the knitted base fabric. It is usual to coat the base of the knitted fabric with an aqueous resin or elastomeric latex binder to anchor the fibres in the backing and to set and stabilize the width and length at the specified dimensions for the particular material.

The silver knitting process as applied to the production of pile fabrics has marked economic advantages since it produces, at relatively high speed, attractive pile fabrics of a kind which cannot readily be produced by other methods at comparable cost.

Processes are known in which a layer of pile fibres is cut from a sheepskin and bonded to a backing to form a secondary pile fabric. However, these processes have been designed for sheepskins and are not economically attractive for sliver knit fabrics. Moreover, difiiculty has been experienced in obtaining a secondary pile fabric which has good flexibility and at the same time an acceptable fibre-to-backing bond.

We have now found an economic process which produces a secondary pile fabric from a sliver knit fabric, wherein the secondary pile fabric has good fiexibility and fibre-to-backing bond.

According to the invention, the process of making such pile fabrics comprises cutting a layer of pile fibres from a sliver knit fabric while maintaining the layer in a coherent form, contacting the ends of the fibres which form one surface of the said layer with a layer of adhesive and subjecting the pile layer in contact with the adhesive to heat and pressure. The heat and pressure are preferably applied to the fabric simultaneously.

The separated pile layer secured to a layer of adhesive forms a secondary pile fabric. The knitted base fabric, together with the pile left remaining on it, remains as a primary pile fabric.

The layer of adhesive itself may form the backing for the secondary pile fabric but it is usually preferable to have a backing material bonded to the layer of adhesive because this results in a stronger secondary pile fabric. The separated layer of pile fibres may be brought into contact with the adhesive which has already been applied to a backing material, or alternatively the layer of adhesive may be applied to the layer of pile fibres and the backing material applied as a subsequent step.

Suitable backing materials or webs for the secondary pile fabric, depending on its intended use, include woven, non-woven or knitted textile fabrics, polyurethane or other plastics foam sheets, plastics film, metal foil, leather or felt. Not only does the type of backing material chosen affect the properties of the final product, but the porosity, wettability and surface characteristics of the chosen backing affect the amount of adhesive required to attach the pile layer.

In separating the layer of pile fibres from a sliver knit pile fabric, it is particularly important to ensure that the separated layer retains its identity as a continuous coherent sheet of pile. By reason of the falling-off in density of the pile away from the sliver knit base, the upper layers of pile may have a tendency to disintegrate. While any means of separation which does not involve undue disturbance of the layer may be used in the process, bandknifing has been found to be a particularly etficient method of carrying out this part of the process. The bandknife equipment used preferably incorporates continuous resharpening equipment, such as a pair of grindstones which continually sharpen the knife during the cutting operation, the grindstones respectively sharpening the upper and lower edges of the bandknife.

In cutting the pile of the sliver knit fabric in a plane parallel to the knitted base, a planar surface is produced both at the free surface of the pile remaining on the knitted base, and also in the separated pile layer, and this surface of the pile layer is particularly well adapted for attachment to the layer of adhesive and ensures that virtually all the fibres of the layer become adhesively attacked to the backing.

It is not necessary and in some cases it is undesirable to untangle, straighten or erect the fibres before the pile is cut. This is true when the adhesive is applied to the pile surface along the plane of the bandknife cut, as preferred. Most of the fibres in sliver knit pile fabrics as knitted are only tangled or bent near the tip ends of the fibres. Thus, if the pile is cut below the level of entanglement, good results are obtained in both residual sliver knit and secondary pile fabrics. Some fibre entanglement is actually helpful in holding the cut pile mass together when the pile density is low. When or if the adhesive is applied to the free tip ends of the cut pile then the fibres in the starting material should be untangled and straightened somewhat by either combing or ironing prior to the cutting.

Following the cutting of the pile by the bandknife, or other cutting or separating equipment, the separated portion of the pile is transferred, for example by sliding over a surface, to a location at which the pile is attached to the backing. During transfer of the pile, it may be compressed or extended laterally so that the resulting pile density in the secondary pile fabric is respectively greater or less than it would otherwise be.

The coherence of the pile may be preserved, during transfer from the sliver knit fabric to the adhesive layer, by applying to the tips of the fibres, before separation, a temporary support, such as a tacky adhesive-coated paper or moistened gummed paper, which can be readily removed after the pile is bonded to the adhesive.

After bringing together the cut layer of pile and the adhesive or a backing material and adhesive, the assembly is then heated and lightly pressed, preferably by being placed in a heated press or run between heated rolls, to assist the adhesion of fibre ends to the secondary backing. The pressure employed need only be 2 to 3 psi. but satisfactory results may be obtained over the range of 0.2 to 30 psi. and especially in the range of 0.5 to p.s.i. The temperature of the press, that is to say the temperature of the plates in a flat bed press or the temperature of the rolls in the case of heated rolls, may be in the range of 80250 C., preferably in the range 150220 C.

When a heated pair of rolls is employed the diameter of the rolls should be relatively large so that sufficient contact is made between the rolls and the assembly passing through them to achieve the desired degree of adhesion between the fibres and the backing. They should be at least 20 inches in diameter and preferably in the range 25 to 50 inches in diameter.

When a heated press is used in this way, it is found that the ends of the pile fibres attached to the adhesive or adhesively coated backing material become bent so that a greater terminal length of fibre is embedded in the adhesive. However, it is important to note that excessively high pressures will cause too much of the fibre length to be embedded in the adhesive, especially in the case of sparse piles.

The adhesive is dried and cured and the pile fibres can be brushed and combed, or preferably ironed with a heated grooved metal cylinder to erect and straighten the fibres.

Preferred adhesives for use in the production of the secondary pile fabrics are water-based adhesive rather than organic solvent-based adhesives, this choice being dictated by the higher cost, handling difficulties and hazards of the latter. Suitable adhesives for particular applications are acrylic emulsions, compounded vinyl plastisols, polyurethane latices, acrylonitrile-butadiene latices and butadiene-styrene latices. An example of a suitable organic solvent-based adhesive, should this type be desired, is a self-curing urethane rubber adhesive. Plastisols, for example of polyvinyl chloride, can also be used, as also can fused plastics materials on appropriate machinery, such as a hot calender.

Adhesives may be applied to a backing fabric, as by spraying, knife coating, roller coating, brushing or curtain coating, and the ends of the array of bandkkife cut pile fibres then embedded in the coating of adhesive on the backing fabric. The adhesive may alternatively be applied directly to the pile surface, preferably the surface containing the cut fibre ends, and a backing fabric applied thereafter. In these circumstances it is important to form a practically continuous film of wet adhesive over the cut pile surface to coat practically all the free fibre ends. Also, the adhesive coated pile should not be disturbed, which might cause bunching of the fibres or places devoid of adhesive, until after the adhesive is dried. The total amount of dry adhesive solids applied to the pile surface after the solvent or dispersion medium, generally water, is removed, preferably ranges from 5 ounces to 16 ounces per square yard of pile.

Instead of applying the adhesive to a fabric or other backing material or to the fibre ends, the adhesive alone can be cast into a film to serve as the backing for manufactured products. In this case, a thickened aqueous adhesive may be applied to a PTFE-coated glass fibre fabric belt. The mass of cut pile (at either end of the fibres) is brought into contact with the adhesive coated belt and the assembly is moved between the heated platens of a press or through the nip of calender rolls,

where the fibre ends are embedded into the adhesive, water is driven from the adhesive, and a continuous adhesive film is formed as the backing. If desired a reinforcing fibre, e.g. an inexpensive scrim can be cast into the film. The user of the pile fabric can then laminate the adhesive backing to other materials, such as coat-front fabrics, shoe materials, or paint rollers.

For a continuous process, an alternative technique for applying and forming a film-backing only is to spray or knife coat the thickened adhesive onto one of the heated PTFE-coated rolls of a calender. The cut mass of pile is fed to the nip of the rolls by a conveyor, and as the pile passes between the rolls one surface of it picks up the adhesive film. In this technique, pellets of plastic such as PVC or polyethylene can be used as the adhesive, by melting the pellets above the calender and causing the molten film to flow into the nip of the calender where one surface of the cut pile picks it up.

The process according to the invention may be used to produce two pile fabrics from one sliver knit pile fabric, in the manner described or alternatively, it may be used to produce more than two pile fabrics, by cutting the pile of the original sliver knit fabric along two or more different planes parallel to the knitted base of the sliver knit fabric, each pile layer so obtained being adhesively bonded to separate backings. Two or more pile fabrics are thus produced with minimum fibre wastage, whereas before only one fabric was produced, together with very considerable fibre wastage.

The process also results in the production of two or more pile fabrics each having a smaller variation in pile density than the original sliver knit pile fabric. However, the two pile fabric products obtained from the operation of the process may differ from one another in pile density and uniformity of pile density. In view of this, optimum utilisation of the two products may lie in different product market. In general the greater the number or secondary pile fabrics made from one sliver knit pile fabric, the less will be the cost of each resulting fabric.

Since sliverknit fabrics can readily be produced in long lengths of fixed width, the process of the present invention can conveniently be carried out in a continuous fashion using conveyor belts to carry the material under treatment through the various stages of the process. The knitted base of the primary pile fabric product is normally quite flexible, but if the intended use of the product is, for example, in carpet manufacture, it will probably be found desirable to laminate a further backing sheet on to the knitted backing to increase the rigidity and dimensional stability of the product.

While it is preferable for the sliver knit fabric starting material to be dry (room condition), it is possible to start with a wet or damp pile, as after dyeing or other wet processing, and preferably after hydro-extraction.

The process according to the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of one form of apparatus for separating a pile layer from a sliver knit fabric and transferring it to a secondary backing in accordance with one aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of typical sliver knitting apparatus for manufacturing a sliver knit pile fabric;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, diagrammatic sectional view of a sliver knit fabric; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of another form of apparatus for separating a pile layer from a sliver knit fabric and transferring it to a secondary backing in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.

Referring to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, a sliver knit pile fabric 11 is manufactured in conventional manner, as described below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

A feed belt conveyor 13 carries a length of the sliver knit pile fabric from the sliver knitting machine towards a horizontal bandknife 15, which is adjacent to the offtake end of the feed conveyor and spaced above the conveyor by a distance corresponding to the height of pile which it is desired to leave on the sliver knit pile fabric. The feed conveyor 13 incorporates a vacuum zone 17 adjacent to its offtake end for the purposes of holding the sliver knit fabric firmly to the conveyor during the bandknifing operation.

Situated above and beyond the bandknife is a transfer belt conveyor 19 which receives a layer 21 of cut pile from the bandknifing operation. At the intake end of the transfer conveyor is a vacuum zone 23 for the purpose of holding the pile layer 21 received from the bandknife. A roller 25 of the transfer conveyor 19 in the vicinity of the bandknife 15 has a small radius to enable the intake end of the conveyor to be disposed close to the bandknife.

At the otftake end of the transfer conveyor 19 is an inclined sheet metal slide 27 which receives the cut pile layer 21 and transfers it by gravity to a backing conveyor system where a secondary pile fabric is formed. The backing conveyor system comprises an endless release belt 29, the surface of which is coated with a release material such as PTFE. A support belt 31 serves to support the release belt along major portion of its run. The lower end of the inclined slide .27 is curved towards the plane of the release belt 2-9 and terminates slightly above this belt.

Above the release belt surface, upstream from the termination of the slide 27, is a knife or spray coater 33 adapted to spray a uniform film of adhesive on the surface of the release belt. The pile layer 21 passing from the slide on to the release belt 29 thus meets a film of tacky adhesive.

Downstream from the support belt 31, the release belt passes between the upper and lower plates of a heated press 35, which press the cut pile layer onto the tacky adhesive layer on the release belt and form an efficient bond between the fibre ends of the cut pile and the adhesive film. In order to carry out the pressing operation, the release and support belt systems are stopped intermittently during the pressing operation.

The inclined slide 27 acts as a buffer or equaliser by receiving cut pile from the transfer conveyor 19 during those periods when the press 35 is in operation and the release belt 29 is stopped. The length of the slide 27 must be related to the general rate of advance of the pile layer 21, the time during which the release belt is stopped, and the length of sliver knit pieces processed by the equipment.

Pile may be taken from the slide 27 in separate pieces of predetermined length, or in continuous lengths. In the latter case the pile layer stored on the slide will be subjected to some degree of cyclical lateral compression. Moreover, depending on the intended use of the secondary pile fabric, an increase or decrease in the final density of the secondary pile fabric may be achieved by varying the rate of offtake of the pile from the slide 27 in relation to the rate at which pile is fed to this sheet from the transfer conveyor 19.

Where long continuous lengths of sliver knit are processed, a dwell or delay zone may be interposed between the release belt 29 and the press 35. The dwell zone may comprise a roller system over which the release belt passes and which permits loops to form temporarily in the release belt during those times when the press is operating and the portion of the release belt within the press is stationary.

In a modification of the process just described, the backing of the secondary pile fabric, instead of being formed by a cast adhesive layer, includes a textile fabric or other sheet material. In this case, the sheet material is carried forward by a conveyor corresponding to the belt 29, past an adhesive spraying station, and adhesive may also be sprayed on the fibre ends of one face of the cut pile layer, before the two components are brought together and advanced to the heated press 35. In a further modification, the heated press is replaced by one or more calendering rolls, permitting the heating and pressing operation to be carried out continuously.

Referring now to FIG. 2 of the drawings, a circular knitting machine 10, which is generally known in the art and more details of which may be found in U.S. Pats. 2,680,360 and 2,255,078, includes a needle cylinder 12 provided with a plurality of latch needles 14, only one of which is illustrated in the drawings, and which needles are moved vertically by suitable drive cam mechanism.

Adjacent to the needle cylinder 12 is the main cylinder or transfer roll 16 of a carding unit. The cylinder 16 may be covered with a conventional card clothing comprising the usual cotton backing and felt body and wire teeth 18. Arranged about the cylinder 24 are a plurality of drawing or drafting sections only two of which are illustrated at 20 and 20'. It will also be understood that while a single carding unit is illustrated, each knitting machine can be provided with a plurality of carding units angularly spaced around the frame ring of the device. As shown in the drawing, each of the two illustrated drawing or drafting sections 20 and 20' feeds a sliver of. fibres 22 to the main cylinder 16 and as known in the art, acts upon the sliver to progressively attenuate, flatten and widen it into a thick relatively wide web of aligned fibres uniformly distributed across the width of the web.

As also known in the art, the assembly includes a

cylinder brush

24 and 24 for each of the drawing and drafting

sections

20 and 20 respectively, and a fancy wheel 26 somewhat similar in construction to the main cylinder 16 except that the card clothing consists of longer and more widely spaced wires 28. The sliver knitting machine also has a final doifing roll 30 which is covered with conventional card clothing such as the clothing which covers the main cylinder 16.

Also illustrated in FIG. 2 is a portion of the knitted fabric backing 32 with the silver fibres 34, which are interlaced or interlocked with the base fabric and extend from a surface of the fabric, as shown on a larger scale in FIG. 3. It will be particularly noted that the individual fibres of the pile are not rectilinearly aligned and are intermixed with other fibres or other groups of fibres following silver knitting.

The starting material for the pile 34 can be composed of any fibre that can be converted into a pile fabric. Thus, the pile may consist of synthetic fibres such as acrylics, modacrylics, polyesters, nylons, rayons, or cellulose acetate. Natural fibres which are suitable for the process include wool, mohair, camel hair, cashmere, alpaca, vicuna, cotton, and other vegetable and animal fibres. In addition, the pile may be composed of mineral fibres such as fine glass fibre, or blends of natural, synthetic and mineral fibres. For the purposes of this invention however, the preferred pile fibre is wool.

It is preferred to start with silver knit pile fabrics having pile weights not including the backing, of from 10 to ounces per square yard and having pile heights of from /2 inch to 3 inches. However, the pile weight can be as low as 4 ounces per square yard when the pile is short, and the pile length can be 4 inches or as long as can be achieved by using the longest staple fibres that can be satisfactorily carded into a sliver and knitted into a base fabric.

A further preferred example of apparatus for carrying out the process of this invention is shown in FIG. 4.

Sliver knit pile fabric is drawn over a bar 81 where it is subject to the action of a bandknife 82 which cuts the pile fibres along a plane between their ends, yielding a separated pile 83 and a residual fabric 84 on the knitted base, which is withdrawn by a driven roll 85.

A fabric backing is drawn from a roll 87 past a spray head 88 supplied with adhesive composition from a source 89. The adhesive coated backing then passes over an angle plate 90 to receive and support the separated pile 83.

The assembly of backing and pile then passes between two heated metal rolls 91 and 92 provided with pressure adjusting screws 93. The rolls simultaneously heat and lightly press one end of the fibres in the cut mass of pile 83 into the adhesive coated backing material. The rolls should be about 30 inches in diameter and both heated to a temperature of 400-450" F. The pressure on the pile and fabric is 2 to 3 p.s.i. The speed of travel of the pile and adhesive coated fabric through the nip of the calender rolls is from 1 to 4 linear feet per minute. The rolls are conveniently heated by infra-red tube lamps 94 above and below. The high temperature heat from the large diameter rolls rapidly gels the adhesive on the backing fabric to firmly anchor the bent fibre ends to the backing. A bank of infra-red lamps 95 (or other drying apparatus) is placed behind the calender to further dry and cure the adhesive.

Advantages of the heated rolls over a fiat bed press are firstly that the process is continuous, and secondly, that water from the adhesive coating can rapidly escape from the backing and the pile into the atmosphere.

The process of the invention will be further illustrated by reference to the following examples. In these examples the following adhesive formulation was used:

95.25 parts by weight of an acrylic latex with 46% solids 1.20 parts by weight of a solution of oxalic acid 25.00 parts by Weight 3% aqueous solution of a neutral thickener (MC Standard 4,000 cps.)

The acrylic latex is commercially available from Rohm & Haas Company as Rhoplex 13-32 and the thickener from the Dow Chemical Company as Methocel.

EXAMPLE 1 A 60 inch wide silver knit, navy blue dyed, wool pile fabric containing 16 ounces per linear yarn of 64s grade wool was used as the starting material in this example. The pile height of majority of fibres was Ma inch. The pile was bandknife cut a distance of /4 inch from the knitted base at a rate of 3 linear feet per minute. The cut upper portion of the pile was backed using the apparatus of FIG. 4 at 3 feet per minute using an adhesive coated blue cotton 4-leaf twill fabric. The adhesive formulation described above was used and 3.7 ounces acrylic solids was applied per square yard of fabric. The surface temperature of the rolls was 380 F. (in centre) and the pressure was 2-3 p.s.i. The gap between the rolls when at the temperature given above was 0.010 inch (in centre).

EXAMPLE 2 The starting fabric was a 60 inch wide, sliver knit, all-wool pile fabric containing 23 ounces per linear yard of 64s grade, shrink-resist treated wool. The pile height of the majority of fibres as knit and in the crimped fibre state was inch. The pile was bandknife cut at a nominal distance of /3 inch from the knitted base. The pile was cut and backed at a speed of 1 /2 linear feet per minute. The cut upper layer of pile was backed with an adhesive coated, 6 ounces per square yard, cotton flannel fabric mapped on one side. The adhesive formulation described above was used and applied in an amount of 4.5 ounces acrylic solids per square yard of fabric. The surface temperature of the rolls was 350-368 F. The spring-loaded rolls were touching each other (at their centres) before the assembly ran through the nip. The adhesive was heat cured at 280300 F. for 3 minutes.

EXAMPLE 3 The starting fabric was a 54 inch wide, sliver knit white (undyed), shrink-resist treated wool pile containing 40 ounces per linear yard of a 50-50 blend of New 8 Zealand crutchings and BASs wools. The pile height averaged 2% inches. This pile fabric was tigered (brushed), wetted with water and tumble-dried to produce a curled pile effect.

The pile was bandknife cut at 3 feet per minute at a distance of /2 inch from the knitted base or at about the widest area of the curled tufts of fibres. The cut layer of curled pile was backed with the white cotton flannel fabric which had been coated with the adhesive formulation described above on one surface in an amount of 4.5 ounces of acrylic solids per square yard of fabric. The cut pile was backed with this fabric continuously (as it was cut at 3 feet per minute) between 30 inches diameter heated and pressure rolls. The surface temperature of the rolls was 375-390 F. The opening between the rolls was 0.006-0.009 inch. The adhesive of the pile fabric was cured under a bank of I.R. lamps at 300 F. for 2 /2 minutes.

We claim:

1. A process for making pile fabrics comprising the steps of:

providing a sliver knit pile fabric having a fibrous pile;

cutting a layer of said pile from said sliver knit fabric while maintaining said layer in coherent form; contacting the ends of the pile fibres constituting one face of said layer with a layer of adhesive; and subjecting said pile layer in contact with said adhesive to heat and pressure.

2. A process according to claim 1 including the additional step of forming said adhesive layer on a backing web prior to contacting said pile layer with said adhesive.

3. A process according to claim 1 including the additional step of applying a backing web to said adhesive layer after contacting said pile layer with said adhesive.

4. A process according to claim 1 including the additional steps of forming said adhesive layer on a release surface prior to contacting said pile layer with said adhesive and of removing the resulting pile fabric product after the application of heat and pressure by stripping said adhesive layer from said release surface.

5. A process according to claim 1 including the steps of knitting said sliver knit fabric on a sliver knitting machine and severing said pile layer from said sliver knit fabric whilst the pile thereof is in an entangled state as received from said machine.

6. A process according to claim 1 wherein said pile layer in contact with said adhesive is subjected to a pressure within the range of 0.2-30 lb. per sq. inch.

7. A process according to claim 1 wherein said pile layer in contact with said adhesive is heated to a temperature in the range -250 C.

8. A process according to claim 1 wherein heat and pressure are applied simultaneously to said pile layer and adhesive layer.

9. A process for making pile fabrics which comprises the steps of:

continuously forming a sliver knit fabric having a fibrous pile;

advancing said sliver knit fabric to a cutting station;

cutting a layer of said pile fibres from said sliver knit fabric at said cutting station;

transporting said layer of pile fibres from said cutting station to a second station while maintaining said layer in coherent form;

contacting the ends of said fibres forming one face of said pile layer with a layer of adhesive at said second station to form an assembly of pile fibres and adhesive; transporting said assembly from said second station to a third station;

applying pressure substantially at right angles to the plane of said assembly at said third station at an elevated temperature;

and removing the resulting pile fabric from said third station.

9 10 10. A process according to claim 9 including the addi- FOREIGN PATENTS tional steps of: forming said layer of adhesive on a mov-' 213,287 4/1957 Australia 156 72 ing web prior to contacting with said pile layer; and advancing said moving web to said second station for con- BENJAMIN BORCHELT, i Examiner b t l tact e ween said adhesive and said p1 e layer 5 I. v- DORAMUS Assistant Exammer References Cited US. 01. X.R. UNITED STATES PATENTS 15 297 515 3,042,991 7/1'962 Rona 156-68 3,554,824 1/1971 Callahan 15672 10 3,560,284 2/1971 Wisotzky et a1 156-72