Artificial turf production using a nucleating agent

Abstract

The invention provides for a method of manufacturing artificial turf (1000), The method comprising the steps of: —creating (100) a polymer mixture (100, 400, 500) comprising at least one polymer and a nucleat ing agent for crystallizing the at least one polymer; —extruding (102) the polymer mixture into a monofilament (606); —quenching (104) the monofilament; —reheating (106) the monofilament; —stretching (108) the reheated monofilament to form the monofilament into an artificial turf fiber (1004), wherein during the stretching the nucleating agent boosts the creation of crystalline portions of the at least one polymer within the monofilament; —incorporating (110) the artificial turf fiber into an artificial turf backing, thereby mechanically fixing the monofilaments of the arranged artificial turf fibers in the artificial turf backing.FIG. 2aFIG. 2bFIG. 2c

We claim: 
     
         1 .  1 - 32  (canceled) 
     
     
         33 . A method of manufacturing artificial turf such that artificial turf fibers of the artificial turf remain fixed in an artificial turf backing upon applying a predefined pulling force, the method comprising:
 creating a polymer mixture including,
 at least one polymer, 
 optionally one or more dyes, and 
 a desired amount of a nucleating agent, wherein
 the nucleating agent is an inorganic substance, an organic substance, or a mixture thereof, 
 the desired amount of the nucleating agent is an amount of the nucleating agent necessary to provide a monofilament which is, after its extrusion, stretched and incorporated into the artificial turf backing in the form of an artificial turf fiber, capable of resisting a predefined pulling force of at least 30 Newtons, and 
 the desired amount of nucleating agent depends on the number and type of dyes contained in the polymer mixture, if any, and depends on the capability of each of the dyes to act as a nucleating agent; 
 
   extruding the polymer mixture into a monofilament;   quenching the monofilament;   reheating the monofilament;   stretching the reheated monofilament to form the monofilament into an artificial turf fiber; and   incorporating the artificial turf fiber into the artificial turf backing by:
 arranging a plurality of the artificial turf fibers on a carrier, wherein first parts of the monofilaments of the arranged artificial turf fibers are exposed to a bottom side of the carrier and second parts of the monofilaments are exposed to a top side of the carrier, 
 adding a fluid on the bottom side of the carrier such that at least the first parts become embedded in the fluid, and 
 causing the fluid to solidify into a film, the film surrounding and thereby mechanically fixing at least the first parts of the monofilaments of the arranged artificial turf fibers, the solid film acting as the artificial turf backing. 
   
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein
 the at least one polymer comprises crystalline portions and amorphous portions, and   the presence of the nucleating agent in the polymer mixture during the stretching causes an increase in the size of the crystalline portions relative to the amorphous portions.   
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34 , further comprising:
 adding a first amount of a first dye to the polymer mixture, the first amount of the first dye being incapable of boosting the creation of the crystalline portions;   determining a second amount of the nucleating agent, wherein the second amount is determined such that the first amount of the first dye in combination with the second amount of the nucleating agent are capable of boosting the creation of crystalline portions such that the crystallization is slow enough to ensure that the majority of crystalline portions is created during the stretching and is sufficient to boost the creation of sufficiently many crystalline portions to ensure that the surface roughness is high enough that a bundle of six embedded artificial turf fibers remains fixed in the artificial turf backing unless a pulling force over 30 Newton more preferentially over 40 Newton, more preferentially over 50 Newton, is applied on the fiber;   wherein the adding of the nucleating agent comprises adding the determined second amount of the nucleating agent.   
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 34 , further comprising:
 adding Titanium-Dioxide to the polymer mixture, the Titanium-Dioxide acting as a dye, the polymer mixture comprising 1.9 to 2.3 percentage by weight of the Titanium-Dioxide after the adding.   
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 34 , further comprising:
 adding azo-nickel-complex pigment to the polymer mixture, the azo-nickel-complex pigment acting as a dye, the polymer mixture comprising 0.01 to 0.5 percentage by weight of the azo-nickel-complex pigment after the adding.   
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 34 , further comprising:
 adding phthalocyanine green to the polymer mixture, the phthalocyanine green acting as a dye, the polymer mixture comprising 0.001 to 0.3 percentage by weight of the phthalocyanine green after the adding.   
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 34 , further comprising:
 adding phthalocyanine blue to the polymer mixture, the phthalocyanine blue acting as a dye, the polymer mixture comprising 0.001 to 0.25 percentage by weight after the adding.   
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the polymer mixture comprises 1.9 to 2.3 percentage by weight Titanium-Dioxide, the Titanium-Dioxide acting as a dye, or comprises 0.01 to 0.5 percentage by weight an azo-nickel-complex pigment, the azo-nickel-complex pigment acting as a dye; and
 wherein the determined amount of the nucleating agent for the polymer mixture is identical to an amount of the nucleating agent determined for polymer mixtures not comprising any dye.   
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 40 , wherein
 the nucleating agent is the inorganic substance, and   wherein the determined amount of the nucleating agent is 0.01 to 3 percentage by weight of the polymer mixture.   
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 41  further comprising:
 creating a first artificial turf fiber from the polymer mixture according to claim  8 ; and 
 creating a second artificial turf fiber from a further polymer mixture, 
 wherein the further polymer mixture comprises 0.001 to 0.3 percentage by weight of phthalocyanine green, the phthalocyanine green acting as a dye, or comprises 0.001 to 0.25 percentage by weight of phthalocyanine blue, the phthalocyanine blue acting as a dye, 
 wherein the determined amount of nucleating agent is zero, and 
 wherein both the first and the second artificial turf fiber are incorporated in the same piece of artificial turf. 
 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the nucleating agent includes at least one nucleating agent further acting as a dye. 
     
     
         44 . An artificial turf comprising an artificial turf backing and multiple different artificial turf fibers incorporated into the artificial turf backing and generated from a variety of polymer mixtures respectively comprising different dyes, each artificial turf fiber including at least one monofilament, the at least one monofilament of each of the different artificial turf fibers comprising:
 at least one polymer; and   an amount of a nucleating agent for crystallizing the at least one polymer, the nucleating agent being an inorganic substance, an organic substance, or a mixture thereof,   wherein the amount of the nucleating agent in each of the variety of polymer mixtures is chosen in dependence on the kind and amount of the dyes of the polymer mixture such that all turf fibers incorporated in the artificial turf show the same resistance to tuft withdrawal forces,   wherein the inorganic nucleating agent consists of one or more of: talcum; kaolin; calcium carbonate; magnesium carbonate; silicate; silicic acid; silicic acid ester; aluminium trihydrate; magnesium hydroxide; meta- and/or polyphosphate; or coal fly ash;   wherein the organic nucleating agent consists of one or more of: 1,2-cyclohexane dicarbonic acid salt; benzoic acid; benzoic acid salt; sorbic acid; or sorbic acid salt;   wherein the artificial turf fiber and a plurality of further artificial turf fibers are arranged together in a carrier on or within the artificial turf backing in a way that first parts of the monofilaments of the arranged artificial turf fibers are exposed to a bottom side of the carrier and second parts of the monofilaments are exposed to a top side of the carrier; and   wherein at least the first parts are embedded in and mechanically fixed by a solid film, the solid film being a solidified fluid, the solid film acting as the artificial turf backing.   
     
     
         45 . An artificial turf comprising an artificial turf backing and a first artificial turf fiber incorporated into the artificial turf backing, the first artificial turf fiber including at least one first monofilament, each of the at least one first monofilaments comprising:
 at least one first polymer;   a first nucleating agent;   a first dye, the first nucleating agent and the first dye being different substances, a plurality of the first artificial turf fibers being arranged in a carrier in a way that first parts of the first monofilaments of the arranged first artificial turf fibers are exposed to a bottom side of the carrier and second parts of the first monofilaments are exposed to a top side of the carrier and wherein at least the first parts are embedded in and mechanically fixed by a solid film, the solid film being a solidified fluid, the solid film acting as the artificial turf backing, the artificial turf backing further incorporating a second artificial turf fiber, and the second artificial turf fiber includes at least a second monofilament,   the second monofilament including,
 at least one second polymer, the at least one second polymer being chemically identical or different from the at least one first polymer; 
   a second nucleating agent also acting as a second dye;   a plurality of the second artificial turf fibers being arranged in the carrier such that first parts of the second monofilaments of the arranged second artificial turf fibers are exposed to the bottom side of the carrier and second parts of the second monofilaments are exposed to the top side of the carrier and at least the first parts of the second monofilaments are also embedded in and mechanically fixed by the solid film.   
     
     
         46 . The artificial turf of  claim 45 , wherein the second monofilament lacks the first nucleating agent and lacks any other kind of nucleating agent. 
     
     
         47 . The artificial turf of  claim 45 , wherein
 the second nucleating agent is one of phthalocyanine green and phthalocyanine blue, and   the first dye is one of titanium-dioxide and azo-nickel-complex pigment.   
     
     
         48 . The artificial turf of  claim 45 , wherein
 the first nucleating agent is an inorganic substance, an organic substance, or a mixture thereof,   the inorganic nucleating agent consists of one or more of: talcum; kaolin; calcium carbonate; magnesium carbonate; silicate; silicic acid; silicic acid ester; aluminium trihydrate;   magnesium hydroxide; meta- and/or polyphosphate; or coal fly ash; and   the organic nucleating agent consists of one or more of: 1,2-cyclohexane dicarbonic acid salt; benzoic acid; benzoic acid salt; sorbic acid; or sorbic acid salt.   
     
     
         49 . A method of manufacturing artificial turf, the method comprising:
 creating a polymer mixture comprising at least one polymer and a nucleating agent for crystallizing the at least one polymer, the nucleating agent comprising a phthalocyanine metal complex;   extruding the polymer mixture into a monofilament;   quenching the monofilament;   reheating the monofilament;   stretching the reheated monofilament to form the monofilament into an artificial turf fiber, wherein during the stretching the nucleating agent boosts the creation of crystalline portions of the at least one polymer within the monofilament as compared to crystalline portions that would be created from stretching the reheated monofilament extruded from the polymer mixture without the nucleating agent, wherein the boosting of the creation of the crystalline portions increases a surface roughness of the monofilament;   incorporating the artificial turf fiber into an artificial turf backing by arranging a plurality of the artificial turf fibers on a carrier, wherein first parts of the monofilaments of the arranged artificial turf fibers are exposed to a bottom side of the carrier and second parts of the monofilaments are exposed to a top side of the carrier;   adding a fluid on the bottom side of the carrier such that at least the first parts become embedded in the fluid; and   causing the fluid to solidify into a film, the film surrounding and thereby mechanically fixing at least the first parts of the monofilaments of the arranged artificial turf fibers, the solid film acting as the artificial turf backing.   
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 49 , wherein the phthalocyanine metal complex comprises one of phthalocyanine green and phthalocyanine blue. 
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 50 , wherein the phthalocyanine green is included in an amount of 0.001% to 0.30% by weight of the polymer mixture. 
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 50 , wherein the phthalocyanine blue is included in an amount of 0.001% to 0.25% by weight of the polymer mixture.