Regenerated cotton board material and method of manufacture
View Patent ↗The present disclosure includes a regenerated cotton board material comprised of dry cut cotton lint fiber, and wood fiber. The regenerated cotton board material may further include non-cellulosic fibers such as synthetic fibers or other natural fibers. In an alternate embodiment, a cotton board material may be manufactured from a mixture of dry cut cotton lint fiber and a binder material. A method for forming a regenerated cotton board material according to the present disclosure includes forming an aqueous slurry fiber furnish from a combination of dry cut cotton lint fiber, and wood fiber. The fiber furnish is then wet processed, calendered to remove the bulk of the water, and dried.
1. A method for forming a regenerated cotton board material, comprising:
a) forming an aqueous slurry fiber furnish from a combination of
i) dry cut cotton lint fiber, and;
ii) refined wood fiber;
b) wet processing the fiber furnish;
c) calendering the fiber furnish to remove the bulk of the water,
d) drying the resulting calendered material.
2. The process of claim 1 wherein non-cellulosic fiber selected from the group consisting of natural fibers, synthetic polymer fibers, and inorganic fibers are added to the fiber furnish.
3. The process of claim 1 wherein characteristic enhancers are added to the slurry.
4. The process of claim 1 wherein a binder is added to the slurry.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the binder is a latex.
6. The method of claim 4 wherein said binder is polyethylene or polypropylene.
7. The method of claim 4 wherein said binder is a polyamide.
8. The method of claim 4 wherein said binder is a polyester.
9. The method of claim 4 wherein said binder is an epoxy.
10. The method of claim 4 wherein said binder is a styrene butadiene.
11. The process of claim 1 wherein the wood fiber is disk refined to about 300° Canadian Standard Freeness (CSF) and then mixed with the cotton lint fiber in the slurry.
12. The method of claim 1 wherein the binder material is a polymer particle whose largest dimension is greater than 15 micrometers.
13. The method of claim 1 wherein the wood fiber is softwood kraft or sulfite pulp.
14. The method of claim 1 wherein the wood fiber is hardwood kraft or sulfite pulp.
15. A method for forming a regenerated cotton board material, comprising:
a) forming an aqueous slurry fiber furnish from a combination of
i) dry cut cotton lint fiber derived from cotton scrap, and;
ii) a binder;
b) wet processing the fiber furnish;
c) calendering the fiber furnish to remove the bulk of the water,
d) drying the resulting calendered material.
16. The process of claim 15 wherein non-cellulosic fiber selected from the group consisting of natural fibers, synthetic polymer fibers, and inorganic fibers are added to the fiber furnish.