Claims
- 1. A method for producing molded products comprising the steps of:
(a) reducing feathers in a reducing apparatus selected from the group consisting of at least one refiner, at least one pulper, and combinations thereof to produce a reduced feather material; (b) cleaning said feathers using a cleaning agent; (c) diluting at least a portion of said reduced feather material to form a slurry; (d) delivering said slurry to a vacuum molding apparatus to form a molded product.
- 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of adding a reduced paper material to said slurry.
- 3. The method of claim 2 wherein said slurry has a feather to paper ratio in the range of from about 40% to about 95% by weight.
- 4. The method of claim 3 wherein, when delivered to said vacuum molding apparatus, said slurry has a total solids concentration in the range of from about 0.5% to about 10% by weight.
- 5. The method of claim 4 wherein, when delivered to said vacuum molding apparatus, said slurry has a total solids concentration in the range of from about 0.5% to about 1.5% by weight.
- 6. The method of claim 2 further comprising the step after step (a) and prior to step (d) of adding a bonding material to at least said portion of said reduced feather material.
- 7. The method of claim 6 wherein said bonding material comprises at least one acrylamide polymer.
- 8. The method of claim 7 wherein said bonding material comprises an anionic acrylamide polymer and a cationic acrylamide polymer.
- 9. The method of claim 1 wherein said reducing apparatus comprises a disc mill.
- 10. The method of claim 1 wherein said reducing apparatus comprises a high shear pulper.
- 11. The method of claim 1 wherein said cleaning agent is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen peroxide, detergent, de-inking compounds, surface acting surfactants, chlorine bleach, and combinations thereof.
- 12. The method of claim 11 wherein at least a portion of said cleaning agent is present with said feathers in step (a) in said reducing apparatus.
- 13. The method of claim 11 wherein step (b) is conducted after step (a).
- 14. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step after step (a), and prior to step (d) of adding a bonding material to at least said portion of said reduced feather material.
- 15. The method of claim 14 wherein said bonding material comprises at least one acrylamide polymer.
- 16. The method of claim 14 wherein said bonding material comprises an anionic acrylamide polymer and a cationic acrylamide polymer.
- 17. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step, after step (a), of adding dye to at least said portion of said reduced feather material.
- 18. The method of claim 1 wherein said molded product is a plantable flower pot.
- 19. A molded product produced in accordance with the method of claim 1.
- 20. A molded product produced in accordance with the method of claim 2.
- 21. A molded product produced in accordance with the method of claim 3.
- 22. A molded product produced in accordance with the method of claim 6.
- 23. A molded product produced in accordance with the method of claim 8.
- 24. A molded product produced in accordance with the method of claim 9.
- 25. A molded product produced in accordance with the method of claim 10.
- 26. A molded product produced in accordance with the method of claim 11.
- 27. A molded product produced in accordance with the method of claim 12.
- 28. A molded product produced in accordance with the method of claim 15.
- 29. A molded product produced in accordance with the method of claim 17.
- 30. A plantable flower pot produced in accordance with the method of claim 18.
REFERENCE TO CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending application Ser. No. 10/008,543, filed Nov. 8, 2001 which is related to Provisional Patent Applications No. 60/246,671, filed Nov. 8, 2000 and 60/282,431, filed Apr. 9, 2001.
Provisional Applications (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60246671 |
Nov 2000 |
US |
|
60282431 |
Apr 2001 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10008543 |
Nov 2001 |
US |
Child |
10133200 |
Apr 2002 |
US |