Apparatus and method for manufacturing non-woven fabric

Abstract

An apparatus for manufacturing a non-woven fabric is provided. The apparatus includes a spinning device and a coagulation device. The spinning device has at least one spinning nozzle, and the coagulation device has an ice sheet thereover and is disposed corresponding to the spinning device. Furthermore, a method for manufacturing the non-woven fabric is described as followed. First, a spinning solution containing a solvent and a fiber material dissolved therein is provided. Then, a spinning step is performed, in which the fibrous spinning solution extruded from the spinning device is coagulated by the coagulation device to form a plurality of mutually stacked fibers, thus forming a non-woven fabric. The non-woven fabric made by the apparatus and the method has desired uniformity.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An apparatus for manufacturing a non-woven fabric, comprising:
 a spinning device, having at least one spinning nozzle, for extruding a spinning solution from the at least one spinning nozzle to form a plurality of fibrous spinning solutions; and   a coagulation device, disposed corresponding to the spinning device, having an ice sheet thereover, for coagulating the fibrous spinning solutions extruded from the spinning nozzle on the ice sheet to form a plurality of mutually stacked fibers.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus for manufacturing a non-woven fabric as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the ice sheet over the coagulation device is composed of cracked ice. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus for manufacturing a non-woven fabric as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the ice sheet over the coagulation device is composed of a layer of frost. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus for manufacturing a non-woven fabric as claimed in  claim 3 , wherein the coagulation device comprises:
 a reception device;   a refrigerating device, disposed inside the reception device, such that the temperature on a surface of the reception device is reduced to a temperature at which water is frozen; and   a sprinkling device, disposed above the reception device, for sprinkling water to the surface of the reception device, so as to form the layer of frost on the surface of the reception device.   
     
     
         5 . The apparatus for manufacturing a non-woven fabric as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein the refrigerating device comprises a liquid nitrogen supply device. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus for manufacturing a non-woven fabric as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the coagulation device is disposed under the spinning device. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus for manufacturing a non-woven fabric as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the distance between the spinning device and the coagulation device is 30 cm-1 m. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus for manufacturing a non-woven fabric as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising a drying device disposed adjacent to the coagulation device, for drying the mutually stacked fibers to form a non-woven fabric. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus for manufacturing a non-woven fabric as claimed in  claim 8 , further comprising a rolling-up device disposed adjacent to the drying device, for batching up the non-woven fabric. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus for manufacturing a non-woven fabric as claimed in  claim 9 , further comprising a conveyor belt connected between the coagulation device, the drying device, and the rolling-up device. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus for manufacturing a non-woven fabric as claimed in  claim 9 , further comprising a gas generator disposed between the spinning device and the coagulation device for generating a gas flow to the fibrous spinning solutions extruded from the spinning nozzle. 
     
     
         12 . A method for manufacturing a non-woven fabric, comprising:
 providing a spinning solution, wherein the spinning solution contains a solvent and a fiber material dissolved therein; and   performing a spinning step, to coagulate the spinning solution on an ice sheet to form a plurality of mutually stacked fibers.   
     
     
         13 . The method for manufacturing a non-woven fabric as claimed in  claim 12 , wherein the spinning solution is coagulated on an ice sheet with cracked ice to form the mutually stacked fibers. 
     
     
         14 . The method for manufacturing a non-woven fabric as claimed in  claim 13 , wherein the cracked ice is continuously provided during the spinning step. 
     
     
         15 . The method for manufacturing a non-woven fabric as claimed in  claim 12 , wherein the spinning solution is coagulated on an ice sheet frozen into a layer of frost to form the mutually stacked fibers. 
     
     
         16 . The method for manufacturing a non-woven fabric as claimed in  claim 15 , wherein the method for forming the layer of frost comprises:
 providing a low-temperature surface, at a temperature at which water is frozen; and   sprinkling water to the low-temperature surface, so as to form the layer of frost on the low-temperature surface.   
     
     
         17 . The method for manufacturing a non-woven fabric as claimed in  claim 12 , wherein the spinning step comprises:
 providing a spinning device, and feeding the spinning solution into the spinning device;   disposing a coagulation device corresponding to the spinning device, wherein the coagulation device has the ice sheet thereover; and   extruding the spinning solution from the spinning device to the coagulation device, such that the spinning solution is coagulated on the ice sheet to form the mutually stacked fibers.   
     
     
         18 . The method for manufacturing a non-woven fabric as claimed in  claim 17 , further comprising disposing a conveyor belt on the coagulation device, wherein the ice sheet is placed on the conveyor belt, and thus the fibers are stacked on a surface of the conveyor belt and the mutually stacked fibers are conveyed. 
     
     
         19 . The method for manufacturing a non-woven fabric as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the distance between the spinning device and the coagulation device is 30 cm-1 m. 
     
     
         20 . The method for manufacturing a non-woven fabric as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the spinning pressure for extruding the spinning solution from the spinning device to the coagulation device is 25 psi to 2000 psi. 
     
     
         21 . The method for manufacturing a non-woven fabric as claimed in  claim 12 , further comprising performing a drying step, such that the mutually stacked fibers form a non-woven fabric. 
     
     
         22 . The method for manufacturing a non-woven fabric as claimed in  claim 12 , wherein the solvent in the spinning solution comprises N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMMO) or tertiary amine oxides. 
     
     
         23 . The method for manufacturing a non-woven fabric as claimed in  claim 12 , wherein the fiber material in the spinning solution comprises cellulose. 
     
     
         24 . The method for manufacturing a non-woven fabric as claimed in  claim 12 , further comprising generating a gas flow to the spinning solution before coagulating on the ice sheet.