Process of making short fiber nonwoven molded articles

1. A method of forming a nonwoven article, the method comprising:

a) receiving fibrous material comprising thermoplastic fibers, wherein at least a portion of the fibrous material is waste material;

b) processing the fibrous material to produce short fibers, wherein the processing step comprises granulation utilizing at least one granulator with a screen;

c) distributing the short fibers approximately evenly across an area to form a short fiber web, wherein the distributing step comprises using a recyclate spreader that reduces clumping of the short fibers by reducing the static charge of the short fibers;

d) heating the short fiber web to fuse the short fibers to form a nonwoven material;

e) forming a sheet of the nonwoven material; and

f) molding the sheet of the nonwoven material into a molded article having a three-dimensional shape

wherein the molded article is suitable for use as a sound absorption material.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the short fibers are blended before the distributing step to achieve a relatively consistent distribution of fibrous material.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the distributing step distributes the short fibers approximately evenly onto a facing material.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the facing material is formed of a non-woven preformed web, needle punched material, fabric, or combination thereof.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein a second facing material is placed on top of the short fiber web after the distributing step.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method includes a compacting step to achieve a desired density of the nonwoven material.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the compacting step comprises using at least one set of heated calendar rolls.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nonwoven material exhibits selected air flow resistivity of about 275,000 Rayls/m to about 3,000,000 Rayls/m.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the molded article is surrounded by waste.

10. The method of claim 9 : wherein the molded article is separated from the waste.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the molded article is separated from the waste with a water jet, laser, die, or ultrasonic cutter.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the waste is recycled at the receiving step.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the processing step includes shredding with a single shaft shredder before the at least one granulator with the screen.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the processing step comprises granulation with two or more granulators arranged in series, with each granulator having at least one screen.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the short fibers after the processing step have an average length of about 2 mm to about 3 mm.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the heating step comprises a con oven to soften low-melt temperature short fibers and bond the short fibers together.

17. A method of forming a nonwoven article, the method comprising:

a) receiving fibrous material comprising thermoplastic fibers;

b) processing the fibrous material to produce short fibers, wherein the processing step comprises granulation using at least one granulator with a screen;

c) blending the short fibers achieve a relatively consistent distribution of fibrous material;

d) distributing the short fibers approximately evenly to form a short fiber web on a facing material, wherein the distributing step comprises use of a recyclate spreader;

e) heating the short fiber web and the facing material in an oven to form a nonwoven material;

f) compacting the nonwoven material,

g) forming a sheet of the nonwoven maternal;

h) shaping the sheet of nonwoven material into a molded article surrounded by waste;

i) separating the molded article from the waste; and

j) recycling the waste into the receiving step without performing melting or disambiguation steps prior to the receiving step,

wherein the nonwoven material is suitable for use as a sound absorption material, and

wherein the nonwoven, material exhibits a selected air flow resistivity of about 275,000 Rayls/m to about 3,000,000 Rayls/m.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein a second facing material is placed on top of the short fiber web after the distributing step.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the compacting step comprises using at least one set of heated calendar rolls.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the waste material does not undergo melting or disambiguation steps prior to the receiving step.