Coconut hard shell granular infill for synthetic sport fields

Abstract

A coconut material comprising short fibers having a length in a range of 0.5 to 25 millimeters. A method to produce short fibers includes processing coconut husks to separate coir material comprised of pith and fiber from the husks, separating short coconut fibers having a length in the rage of 0.5 to 25 millimeters from the coir material, and packaging the short coconut fibers. The method may include softening the short fibers.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A coconut material comprising short fibers having a length in a range of 0.5 to 25 millimeters. 
     
     
         2 . The coconut material as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising coconut pith mixed with the short fibers. 
     
     
         3 . The coconut material as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein the coconut material comprises pith in a percentage in the range of 30 to 50 percent and the short fibers in a range of 50 to 70 percent. 
     
     
         4 . The coconut material as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising hard shell granulars mixed with the short fibers. 
     
     
         5 . The coconut material as claimed in  claim 4 , further comprising coconut pith mixed with the short fibers and the hard shell granulars. 
     
     
         6 . The coconut material as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the fibers have a consistency similar to wool. 
     
     
         7 . The coconut material as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the coco material is buffered. 
     
     
         8 . A method, comprising:
 processing coconut husks to separate coir material comprised of pith and fiber from the husks;   separating short coconut fibers having a length in the rage of 5 to 25 millimeters from the coir material; and   packaging the short coconut fibers.   
     
     
         9 . The method as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein processing the coconut husks comprises removing pith material from the fibers. 
     
     
         10 . The method as claimed in  claim 8 , wherein separating the short coconut fibers from the coconut fibers comprises sorting the short fibers from the coconut fibers. 
     
     
         11 . The method as claimed in  claim 8 , wherein separating the short coconut fibers from the coconut fibers comprises cutting the coconut fibers to produce short coconut fibers. 
     
     
         12 . The method as claimed in  claim 11 , wherein cutting the coconut fibers comprises twisting the long fibers into long ropes and then cutting the ropes into short fibers. 
     
     
         13 . The method as claimed in  claim 8 , wherein packaging the short coconut fibers comprises packaging the short coconut fibers alone. 
     
     
         14 . The method as claimed in  claim 8 , wherein packaging the short coconut fibers comprises packaging the short coconut fibers with pith material. 
     
     
         15 . The method as in  claim 13 , further comprising adding pith to the short coconut fibers. 
     
     
         16 . The method as claimed in  claim 15 , further comprising mixing the short coconut fibers with the pith material to produce a mixture in which pith material comprises a percentage in a range of 30 to 50 percent of the mixture. 
     
     
         17 . The method as claimed in  claim 8 , wherein packaging the short coconut fibers comprises packaging the short coconut fibers with hard shell granulars. 
     
     
         18 . The method as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein packaging the short coconut fibers comprises adding coconut pith material. 
     
     
         19 . The method as claimed in  claim 8 , further comprising buffering the short fibers with a solution of calcium nitrate. 
     
     
         20 . The method as claimed in  claim 8 , further comprising softening the short fibers.