Tuftable carpet backings and carpets with enhanced tuft holding properties

Abstract

Primary carpet backings for tufted carpets comprise, in one embodiment, fabric woven from warp tapes comprising polypropylene and weft yarns in a plain, closed weave with an average warp count of about 18 to 32 tapes per inch and a lower average weft count, wherein the warp tapes have deniers of about 250 to about 800 and the weft yarns comprise polypropylene tapes that are thicker and of greater denier than the warp tapes. In another embodiment carpets comprising a primary backing as described above tufted with carpet face yarn to provide a pile surface comprising a plurality of face yarn tufts on one side of the backing and a plurality of stitches of the face yarn on an opposite, stitched side of the tufted backing and, optionally having a secondary backing laminated to the stitched side of the backing, have good tuft holding properties for a wide range of carpet face yarn deniers, carpet pile surfaces and styles.

1 . A primary backing fabric with tuftability and tuft hold for carpet face yarn with deniers as high as about 20000 g/900 m comprising fabric woven in a plain, closed weave from warp tapes comprising polypropylene resin and weft yarns, with an average warp count of about 18 to about 32 tapes per inch and a lower average weft count of about 10 to about 22 yarns per inch, wherein the warp tapes have deniers of about 250 to about 800 and the weft yarns comprise tapes comprising polypropylene resin that are thicker than the warp tapes and have deniers of about 1200 to about 1600.  
   
   
       2 . The primary backing fabric of  claim 1  wherein the weft tapes have thicknesses of about 1.7 to about 2.5 mils.  
   
   
       3 . The primary backing fabric of  claim 2  wherein the warp tapes have thicknesses of about 1.4 to about 2.0 mils.  
   
   
       4 . The primary backing fabric of  claim 2  having weft coverage of about 95 to about 220%.  
   
   
       5 . The primary backing fabric of  claim 1  having an average weft count of about 10 to about 16 weft tapes per inch and improved tuft hold for textured carpets as indicated by at least one of an Average Peak Load of at least about 1.1 pounds and a Maximum Load of at least about 2.2 pounds, for 5000 denier face yarn tufted at 5/32 gauge and 7.5 stitches per inch in an alternating high/low pattern.  
   
   
       6 . The primary backing fabric of  claim 5  having an average warp count of about 24 tapes per inch.  
   
   
       7 . The primary backing fabric of  claim 5  having an average warp count of about 28 tapes per inch.  
   
   
       8 . The primary backing fabric of  claim 5  having an average warp count of about 30 to about 32 tapes per inch.  
   
   
       9 . The primary backing fabric of  claim 1  having an average weft count of about 16 to about 20 tapes per inch and improved tuft hold for carpets tufted with face yarn having deniers of about 800 to about 4000 to form a smooth pile surface, as indicated by an Average Peak Load of at least about 0.9 pounds and a Maximum Load of at least about 1.8 pounds, for 3300 denier face yarn tufted at ⅛ gauge and 8 stitches per inch.  
   
   
       10 . The primary backing fabric of  claim 9  having an average warp count of about 24 tapes per inch.  
   
   
       11 . The primary backing fabric of  claim 9  having an average warp count of about 28 tapes per inch.  
   
   
       12 . The primary backing fabric of  claim 9  having an average warp count of about 30 to about 32 tapes per inch.  
   
   
       13 . The primary backing fabric of  claim 1  wherein at least 60% of the weft tapes have deniers of about 1200 to about 1600 and thicknesses of about 1.7 to about 2.5 mils.  
   
   
       14 . Tufted carpet comprising a primary carpet backing according to  claim 1  having a pile surface comprising a plurality of tufts of face yarn projecting from a side of the backing and a plurality of stitches of the face yarn disposed on an opposite, stitched side of the backing.  
   
   
       15 . The tufted carpet of  claim 14  wherein the primary backing fabric has an average weft count of about 10 to about 15 tapes per inch and the carpet is tufted with a textured pile surface.  
   
   
       16 . Berber carpet comprising the tufted carpet of  claim 15 .  
   
   
       17 . The tufted carpet of  claim 14  wherein the primary backing fabric has an average weft count of about 16 to about 22 tapes per inch and the face yarn has a denier of about 800 to about 4000.  
   
   
       18 . The tufted carpet of  claim 18  wherein the face yarn provides a smooth pile surface.  
   
   
       19 . Beck-dyed carpet according to  claim 18 .  
   
   
       20 . The tufted carpet of  claim 14  additionally comprising a secondary carpet backing adhered to the stitched side of the primary backing.