CA1137265A - Fibre structures of split multicomponent fibres - Google Patents
Fibre structures of split multicomponent fibresInfo
- Publication number
- CA1137265A CA1137265A CA000322710A CA322710A CA1137265A CA 1137265 A CA1137265 A CA 1137265A CA 000322710 A CA000322710 A CA 000322710A CA 322710 A CA322710 A CA 322710A CA 1137265 A CA1137265 A CA 1137265A
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- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- matrix
- fibres
- segment
- segments
- fibre
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
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Classifications
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- D—TEXTILES; PAPER
- D01—NATURAL OR MAN-MADE THREADS OR FIBRES; SPINNING
- D01D—MECHANICAL METHODS OR APPARATUS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FILAMENTS, THREADS, FIBRES, BRISTLES OR RIBBONS
- D01D5/00—Formation of filaments, threads, or the like
- D01D5/28—Formation of filaments, threads, or the like while mixing different spinning solutions or melts during the spinning operation; Spinnerette packs therefor
- D01D5/30—Conjugate filaments; Spinnerette packs therefor
-
- D—TEXTILES; PAPER
- D01—NATURAL OR MAN-MADE THREADS OR FIBRES; SPINNING
- D01F—CHEMICAL FEATURES IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FILAMENTS, THREADS, FIBRES, BRISTLES OR RIBBONS; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CARBON FILAMENTS
- D01F8/00—Conjugated, i.e. bi- or multicomponent, artificial filaments or the like; Manufacture thereof
- D01F8/04—Conjugated, i.e. bi- or multicomponent, artificial filaments or the like; Manufacture thereof from synthetic polymers
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Textile Engineering (AREA)
- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
- General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Multicomponent Fibers (AREA)
- Chemical Or Physical Treatment Of Fibers (AREA)
- Spinning Methods And Devices For Manufacturing Artificial Fibers (AREA)
- Treatments For Attaching Organic Compounds To Fibrous Goods (AREA)
- Chemical Treatment Of Fibers During Manufacturing Processes (AREA)
- Nonwoven Fabrics (AREA)
- Paper (AREA)
- Treatment Of Fiber Materials (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A process for the production of fibre structures which comprises treating shrinkable substantially unfixed multicomponent fibres having at least two incompatible components arranged in the form of a matrix and several segments in the fibre cross-section, the segments occupying from 20 to 80% of the total cross-section and at least three-segments being peripherally arranged without complete envelopment by the matrix components, with a liquid or gaseous organic shrinkage-initiating agent effective to shrink said polyester, which reduces the zero shrinkage temperature of the matrix polymer or of the segment polymer by at least 160°C. and in which the polymer components forming the fibres show different shrinkage behaviour is disclosed;
the process of the invention provides fibre structures in which the splitting produces a soft texture and ?l, similar to silk, additionally the structures provide good wearing comfort is that they have a high water retention capacity.
A process for the production of fibre structures which comprises treating shrinkable substantially unfixed multicomponent fibres having at least two incompatible components arranged in the form of a matrix and several segments in the fibre cross-section, the segments occupying from 20 to 80% of the total cross-section and at least three-segments being peripherally arranged without complete envelopment by the matrix components, with a liquid or gaseous organic shrinkage-initiating agent effective to shrink said polyester, which reduces the zero shrinkage temperature of the matrix polymer or of the segment polymer by at least 160°C. and in which the polymer components forming the fibres show different shrinkage behaviour is disclosed;
the process of the invention provides fibre structures in which the splitting produces a soft texture and ?l, similar to silk, additionally the structures provide good wearing comfort is that they have a high water retention capacity.
Description
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- 2 -This invention relates to fibre structures O:e split multioomponent :Eibres; more partioularlyit relates to fibre structures, such as staple fibres, yarns and sheet-form struotures, such as wov~ll.fabrics, knitted fabrics and ileeces, of`split multicomponent ~ibres and to a process ~or t`he produotion o~ these structures by splitting multicomponent fibres by : :. treatment with organic solvents.
There are numerous known processes for producing a fibre from two or more incompatible polymer components which may be distributed in various ways in the cross-section of the iibre. On the other hand, : various attempts have been made to saparate the components o~ multicomponent fibres from one another after spinning.
~ hus, British Paten-t No. 1,1719843 describes a process for producing a multicomponent ~ilament in which a number o~ very fine micro~ilaments (segments) of component A are completely surrounded and separated from one another by a matrl~ component B or .. in which the individual filaments o~ components A and B
lie adjacent one another, filaments o~ component A
being in contact both with other filaments o~
component A and also with ~ilaments of component B.
The same appIies to filaments o~ component B.
Filaments O:r this type are said to be produced by initially preforming two-¢omponent structures having a core-sheath or side-by_side configuration, collecting a plurality of these preformed stru¢tures in a funnel-like chamber terminating in a spinning ori~ice and extruding them through the spinning oriiice. The arrangement of these segments relative to one another in the cross-section of the finished filament and also the separatian of the segments by the matrix oomponent is random in nature~ Particular cross-sectional configurations cannot be reproducibly obtained. There is nothing in this reference to show that multicomponent filaments of this type may be separated into filaments of the individual components by splitting.
German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,117,076 :
describes a process for -the production of filamen$s consisting of several segments and a matrix separating the segments, in which a stream of a liquid spinning material conslsting o~ at least two thin layers of substantially uni~orm thickness, the layersextending radially from the middle o~ the cross-section of a pipe leading to an outlet opening up to the wall of the pipe, is introduced into the pipe by a delivery nozzle extending a~ially above the pipe whilst, at the , ~ .
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same -time, a stream o~ another spimling material is ` introcluced under pressllre into that section which is :Eormed by the above radially extending thin layer and the wall of the pipe in order to embed the above-mentDned thin layer between the streams o.f the second spinnine mal,erlal, arter which the combined stream is extruded through the outlet opening without disturbing the flow line of the thin layer, Although Figures 1 to 6 of this reference show cross-sections having from 3 to 6 segments, it is pointed out on page 14 paragraph 1, -that filaments ~aving 3, 5 or more segments (except 6 segments) are difficult to produce. The spinning heads ~nown from this reference are also dif~icult to produce. It is virtually impossible to switch the spinning heads from one filament cross-section to another, for example -from a filament cross-section having four segments to;~a filament cross-seotion having six segments. There is no mention of any separation of the multisegment filament into matrix and segment filaments. I~stead9 the only teaahing given is that these filaments may be divided up or decomposed by treatm~nt with water or or organic solvents, German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2 ? 040,802 also shows filament. cross-sections in which a plurality "
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~ 5 --of segments is completely surrounded by a matrix component The productlon o~ ~uch ~ilaments is not desorlbed :ln any detail in this reference, neither is there any mention of the splitting of such composite filaments into the individual components thereof.
Also, Dutch Offenlegungsschrift No, 67 12 909 sho~s numerous filament~ cross-sections containing more than two segmentsO All the segments consist oi~
different polymer components wich are not separated from one another by a matrix component. In addition~
most of the filament cross-sections are completely surrounded by the maxtrix component. Filaments of this type cannot be divided up into a bundle of extremely fine filaments and/or fibres by mechanical and/or chemical after-treatment, although this is an important objec-tive o~ many reoent developments in the ~ield of multicomponent ~ilaments.
According to British Patent No. 1~104~6g49 fine filaments may be obtained ~rom ma~trix ~ibril filaments by preheating the ma~rix fibril fiIament, for-example by the action of heat, solvents or swelling agents, and then subjecting it to flexural strassing.
However, this process leads to filamen-ts which fibrillate only partly and very irregularly. Sheet-form textiles produced from such filaments may only be used to a limited exten-t and do not have the reqllired softness or the necessary silk-like sheen. The coverin~ power thereof is also ~ery unsatlsfactory.
According to German Auslegeschrif~ No.
2~41g~318~ textile fibre struotures may be produced from multicomponent filaments of polyamide and other pol~mers b~ using for fibrillation an aqueous emulsion of from 1.5 to 50 ~, by weight, of benzyl aloohol and/or phenyl alcohol prepared with the aid of a surfactant, a less than 20 ~ permeability to light having a wavelength of 495 nm being presupp~ed for the treatment solution.
One of the disadvantages of this process lies in the fact that the oomposition of the treating agent and also the treatment eonditions have to be c~refully controlled. In addition, the sheet-~orm textile has to be subjected to a treatm0nt of relatively long duration to ob-tain any useful fibrillation at all. In addi$ion, -the polyamide is in danger of altering during the trea-tment so that the end produc-t no longer has the required properties.
Furthermore, it is extremely difficult wi~h this process to adjust a certain degree of fibrillation.
In many cases, the filamen-t is only incompletely fibrillated In addition, the fibres may easily adhere .., , ~ .
:~ , 1~37~5 to one another in the process described in the above-mentioned reference.
German Auslegesohri~t No. 2,505,272 describes similar processes, mentioning a number o~
other organic solvents which are used in the iorm o~
solutions or emulsions in water. These processes are : attended_ by substantially the same disadvantages which were mentioned ab~ve in the discussion of German AusIegeschri~t No. 2,419,318. Furthermore, considerable di~iculties are also involved in working-up aqueous~solutions or emulsions containing organic solvents. Thus, not only is it di~icult to recover the pure organic solvent and to put it to another use, treatment o~ the water also involves considerable problems which are particularly important to pollution control.
US Patent No. 3,117,362 describes the treatment- of multicomponent fibres using acetone.
Although the filaments are immersed for 5 mlnutes in the solvent, no signifioant separation ooours and, when-the ~ilaments are drawn over a sharp edge, only partial splitting is obtained. It is only a~ter this additlonal mechanioal treatment has been repeated ; three times that oomplete splitting is said to occur.
Although numerou~ methods for splitting ..
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~3~65 multicomponent fibres and for producing corresponding flbre structures a*e kn~own, there is still a need for improved processe~ which ~ive ~ibre structures having more advàntageous ~roperties.
Ao~orclinglv, an ob~eot of the present invention is to provide a process which enables -~ibre structures to be simply, eoonomioally and reproducibly obtained by splitting multicomponent fibres, with which it is possible.precisely to adjust a desired degree of splitting and, in parti.cular, to obtain complete separation of the filament and which leads to fibre sl;ructures which are distinguished by the fineness in terms of denier, the silk-like ~eel, the high covering power, the regularity and by the versatility both in textile and in technioal applications -thereof.
In the context of the present invention, "fibre structures" are to be understood to include linear structures, such as shor-t and relativeIy long staple fibres, substantially endless linear structures, such as filaments or yarns of endless fibres or staple ~ibres and also sheet-form struotures, such as woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, non-woven ~abrics, fleeces, ~locked substrates and:also sheet-form structures provided with a pile on or~ or both sides 2S and, also 3-dimensional struotures, such as wadding-, .
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_ 9 _ loose or compressed9 formed or non-formed fibre structures.
In the context of the present invention, the term "shrinlsable" is to be understood to mean that the polyester arranged in the form o~ a matri~ or segments in the CrQSS-SeCtiOn of the filament is shrunk, i.e. shortened~ by the treatment with solvent according to the present invention.
The shrinkage capacity of the ~ibres is dependent upon the history thereof and by the shrinkage conditions, such as temperature and treatment time. In particular, the shrinkability o-f the fibres is inl~luenced by the conditions appli~d during the spinning and/or drawing of the ~ibres.
~cco~ding to the present inven-tion, adequate shrin~ability may generally be imparted to the fibres by drawing o~ the type normally applied in the _o ~.-production o~ polyester filaments, for example by drawing the fibres to thres times the original length the~eof and more~ Adequate shrinkability may also be obtained by running off the ~ilaments at an increased rate during spinning and subjecting them to - slight drawing. The necessary shrinkability may also be obtained by air drawing of the type normally applied in the production of spun fleeces.
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- 9a -In accordance with the invention there is provided a process for the production of fibre structures by at least partly splitting multicomponent fibres which comprises treating shrinkable substantially unfixed multicomponent fibre~ having at least two incompatible polymer components arranged in the form of a matrix and several segments in the fibre cross-section, at least one of said two components being a polyester component, the segments occupying from 20 to 80% of the total cross-section and at least three seg-ments being peripherally arranged without complete envelop-ment by the matrix component, with a liquid or gaseous or-ganic shrinkage-init.iating agent effective to shrink poly-ester, which reduces the zero shrinXage temperature of the matrix polymer or of the segment polymer by at least 160C. and in which the polymer components forming the fibres show dif-ferent shrinkage behaviour, to shrink one of said components ~ by'at least 10%, said treating having a short shrinkage induc-I tion time.
The shrinkage-initiating agent may typically be an ~ 20 organic liquid or gas which is conventionally considered to be ! a solvent and hereinafter referenc~ to an organic solvent is to be understood to be a reference to the shrinkage-initiating ! agent, ,In accordance with another aspect of the invention j there is provided a fibre s~ructure consisting,completely or in ¦ part of split multicomponent fibres of at least two incompatible ¦ polymer components, at least one of said components being a polyester component of the matrix-segment type, having a matrix i fibre of at least three segment fibres, split off completely 1 30 or in part therefrom, one of said components being shrunk by at . ,.;
I ",,,~*~, least 10% in relation to the other.
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An important factor is that the matrix :
component or segment componen-t should still show signl~ic~nt shrinlcage in the solvent This shrinlcage should generally amount to at least 10 p; a shrinkage of at least 15 ~ be:ing preferred.
Although adequate shrinkage is provided by the production conditions, it does no-t necessarily have to be -tested on the multicomponent fibre itself, but instead may even be tested on multicomponent filaments produced under otherwise the same conditions, but using only the matrix or segment polymer, i.e fibres consisti~g solely of polyester are produced under other~ise the same conditions as applied in the production of the multicomponent flbre, i.e. using the same take-off rate during spinning and using the same degree of draw, and the shrinkage thereof in the solvent is dètermined.
Shrinkage is determined, for example, by treating the *ibres largely in accordance with the proposed splitting conditions For example, a 50 cm long strand of fibre having two spacing marks at its beginning and end is immersed for 5 minutes in methylene chloride at a temperature of 35C. The degree of shrinkage is the di~ference between the distanoes separating the marks before and after .
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trea-tment with the solvent.
Another important -factor is that the matrix and segment components show di~erent shrinkage behaviour in the solvent This di~ference in shrinkage behaviour may be embodied, -~or example, in shrinkage o~ the matri~ and not the segments or in shrinkage o-~
the segments and not the matrix. It may also be embodied in different degrees of shrinkage. What i9 important however, is that the induction time, i.e.
the period o~ time elapsing be-~ore shrinkage in the treatment medium reaches signi~icant levels, should be dif~erent It is of importance to the present process that the shrinkage induotion time should be as short as possible either in the case o~ the matr~x oomponent or in the case of the segment component, pre~erably amoùnting to only a matter o~ seconds.
The dif~erence in shrinkage behaviour may also be reilected in the ~act tha-t the matrix has a higher shrinkage rate than -the segments or vice versa.
Full information on -the methods used to determine induction time may be found in the two Articles by N~L. Linder in the Journal i'Colloid and Polymer Sci.~ 255, 213 et seq and 433 et ~ (1977).
In the context o~ the present invention, the 25- expression "substantially unfixed~' is to be understood , ,~ ,. .. :
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to mean that, prior to -~he treatitlent w~h3! the solvent, the mlllticolllponent ~ibres have still not been l`i~d, nl)ove nll therlllally, to the point where the original sh.rinkage capaoity thereo~ imparted by the spinning and/or draw~ oonditions is completely or partly eliminated. Fixing using chemical agents, ~or example, should also be avoided before the actual splitting treatment.
In the context of the present invention7 the word "~ibre" is to be unders-tood to include both -~ibres o~ finite length, such as short-cùt or standard ` staple fibres, and also substantially endless ; structures, such as ~ilaments.
Multicomponen-t -~ibres having a matrix and several components arranged in the form o~ segments are to be understood to be fibres in which the individual segments and the matrix are arranged .continuously over the entire axial leng-th c~ the fibre : so that the ~ibre cross-seotion is substantial1y the same over the length o~ the Yibre. In this connection, the matrix is to be understood to be the component in which the other components are incorporated or embedded. Examples o~ ~ibre cross-sections which are partlcularly suitable in the context o~ the present lnvention are shown in accompanying Figures 1 `
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to 7, (a3 denoting the matrix and (b) the segments.
Incompatible polymers are to be understood to be polymers which are immiscible with one another, do not react chemically with one another and have a distinct phase boun-dary under the conditions mentioned, particularly when they are mixed with one another, for example in the melt, or are spun together as adjacent components to form a multicompo-nent fibre~ Incompatible polymers corresponding to this definition are, in particular, polyamides and polyesters, polyesters based on terephthalic acid being preferred for the purposes of the present invention. These two polymers also do not enter into any significant chemical reactions with one another in the melt, at least for certain periods, so that there is very little, if any, formation of copolymers which.would bond the two phases more firmly to one another.
It is obvious that exchange reactions which may take place between polyesters and polyamides in the melt over prolonged periods, of the type described, for example, in Doklady Akademii Nauk SSSR 1962, Vol. 147, No. 6, page 13, 165 to 8 do not come into consideration.
In a particular embodiment of the process of the invention at 20%,preferably about 50% of the periphery of each of the peripheral segments is not surrounded by the matrix component~ The part of the segment periphery of the peri-pheral segments which is surrounded by the matrix has an irregular, optionally indented form. The peripheral seg-ments may be assymmetrically arranged in the fihre cross-section. In particular the surface area of a peripheral segment in the fibre cross-section suitably amounts to at most one fifth, preferably at most one eighth of the total .~ ,"
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surface area.
In another embodiment in addition to the peripheral segments, a centrally arranged segment of the same polymer or of a third polymer, which is completely separated from the peripheral segments by the matrix polymer, is present in the fibre cross-section~
In a further embodiment there may be present further segments completely surrounded by the matrix compo-nent in a regular or irregular arrangement in the fibre cross-section.
Multicomponent fibres having the necessary fila-ment cross-section according to the present invention may be produced in various ways by melt-spinning multicomponent fibres, for example o~ polyamides and polyesters, using corresponding spinning jets or spinning units and then drawing the thus-produced multicomponent fibres in the con-ventional way so that they have an adequate shrinkage capacity. Multicomponent fibres of this type may be produ-ced particularly advantageously by a process and using an apparatus of the type described in Canadian Patent Applica-tion ~o. 320,168, filed January 24, 1979 Erich Kessler et al.
Multicomponent fibres having cross-sections of the type shown in Figures 1, 2 and 6 thereof may be split particularly advantageously in accordance with the present invention, i.e.
in such a way that the peripheral segments and the matrix are separated substantially completely when the segments consist of polyamide.
The cross-section shown in accompanying Figures 1 to 7 are very suitable in cases where the segments consist of polyester.
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' - 15 - 1~3~5 In many cases, cross-sections of the type shown in accompanying Figure 3 even enable complete or partial separation of the core segment to be obtained, ~or example when the peripheral segments and core segment consist of polyester.
In one particularly advantageous embodiment of the present process, multicomponent fibres produced in accordance with German Patent Application P 28 03 236.9 having a poly-esker matrix and peripheral segments of polyamide, or vice vers_, are split by treatment with the organic shrinkage-initiating agent.
The still shrinkable multicomponent fibres produced, for example, in accordance with the aforementioned Canadian Patent Application ~o. 320,168 have, on the one hand, sufficient-ly strong adhesive forces between the matrix and the segments to be able to be processed in the conventional way into' for example fleeces and knitted fabrics, in largely unsplit form and, on the other hand, sufficient shrinkage capacity to be separated into the individual components thereof in accordance with the pre-sent invention by exposure to the action o the shrinkage-; initiating agent.
It is neither necessary nor even desirable for the sol-vent to dissolve one or all the polymers of which the multicom-ponent fibres are composed. The shrinkage-initiating agent should cause the matrix fibres to shrink to the maximum possible extent, but should have little or no shrinkage effect on the ~, segments, or vice versa.
~ The zero shrinkage temperatures may be determined ! by a process which is described, for example, in Lenzinge . Berichte, May 1976, Series 40, pages 22 to 29. In this connection, it is necessary to determine dynamic shrinkage :
curves of filaments in the shrinkage-initiating agent which is used for treating the multicomponent fibres. Extrapolation of the linear part of the dynamic shrinkage curve gives the zero shrinkage temperature as the point of intersection with the abscissa.
As the shrinkage-initiating agent there may suitably be employed one which reduces the zero shrinXage temperature of the matrix polymer or of the segment polymer by at least 200C.
It has been found that suitable shrinkage-initiating agents particularly for the purposes of the present invention include organic solvents including methylene chloride, 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, 1,1,2-trichloroethane and chloroform, which sufficiently reduce the zero shrinkage temperature of the mat-rix polymer or the segment polymer and bring about unexpectedly favourable splitting of the multicomponent fibres.
The-treatment with the shrinkage-inltiating agent may conveniently be combined with a dyeing proces~.
In the process according to the present invention, 1 20 splitting is accompanied by considerable shrinkage of the matrix fibre or the segment fibres, the degree of shrinkage generally amounting to at least 10%, preferably to at least ; 1~ to 25%.
- The treatment is generally very short and, in many cases, a period of from a few seconds to 1 or a few minutes is sufficient for obtaining the required splitting. ~he use ~ of the shrinkaye-initiating agent, for example, methylene ¦ chloride, in accordance with the present invention eliminates I the need to use auxiliaries so that it is possible to employ virtually pure solvents as shrinkage-initiating agents with-out diluents or other additives.
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The treatment with methylene chloride may be carried out at room temperature or even at higher tempera-tures. It is also possible to carry out the treatment using methylene chloride gases.
According to the present invention, it is possible to produce fibre structures of various types by splitting the multicomponent fibres. For example the fibre structure may have bonded multicomponent fibres, the fibres being bonded at their intersections, for example with polyamide or copolyester, and segment fibres crossing bonded or unbonded segment fihres, segment fibres crossing bonded matrix fibres and matrix fibres crossing unbonded or bonded matrix fibres at the fibre intersections. Additionally, it is possible to produce linear fibre structures, i.e.
fibres of finite length, which may have a variety of dif-ferent lengths. It is possible to split so-called short-staple fibres. Staple fibres having lengths of 10, 20, 50, 100 mm and more may also be split. It is also possible to split fibres of substantially infinite length which, gener-ally, are also known as filaments. The fibre structuresobtained may have complete andfor partial splitting into matrix fibres and segment fibres, the only partly split multicomponent fibres still showing mechanical cohesion between the matrix and segment components, some having slots between the matrix and segment fibres and some only longitudinal grooves, corresponding to the phase boundaries, along the edge of the multicomponent fibres.
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Splitting of the multicomponent fibres may be car-ried out not only on fibre structures, such as staple fibres or endless filaments, but also and in particular on fibre a ~
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structures which have been obtained by processing the multioomponent fibres into textile and teohnioal struotllres, suoh as in particular knitted :Eab:rics, woven fabrios, net fabrics, non-woven fabrics and fleeces, above all random-~ibre :Eleeces and needle-punched fleeces, wadding, flocked substrates and materials having a plle on one or both sides The process according to the present invention is particularly ~uitable for the production o$
knitted fabrics and woven fabrics in which a corresponding sheet-form material is initially produced by knitting or weaving unsplit multicomponent fibre~ or filaments. This sheet_form material.is then treated with the so~vent so that the filbres shrink in the sheet-form material, the shrinkage thereof being accompanied by consolidation whioh results inter alia in interesting optical e~fects - .and in a high covering power of the material. When such fibre structures are treated with the solvent the matrix c~mponent or the segments. shrink and, in doing so, build up tension or give rise to surface shrinkage which causes the segment ~ilaments or the matrix filaments to curve so that they are noticeable as arcuate projections above and below.
the plane of the sheet-form material.
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It is particularly in the treatment of multioomponent fibres of finite length that splitting i9 aooompanied by ourving of the fibres to a certain extent, the overall curvature o~ the segment fib~s being greater than that of the matrix fibres. The curving of the segment ~ibres and the shrinkage which occurs at the same tlme gives rise to surface shrinkage, above all in the case of sheet-form . materials, such as fleeces, where the fibres are randomly arranged, so that.the material is .consolidated to a considerable extent and receives a high covering power. At the same time, matting occurs to a very considerakle exte~t, providing the fibres with intense cohesion.
Fibre structures according to the present invention may consist comple-tely or in part of the comp.letely or partly spli~ multicomponent fibres 9 in other words they may also oontain other types o~
fibre~ such as conventional slngle-component fibres7 for ex~mple p~lyester and/or polyamide fibres.
Fibre structures7 such as sheet-form materials, for e~ample woven fabrics or knitted fabrios, may be made up of fibres, yarns or filaments which only contain multicomponent fibres, although yarns and filaments which consist partly o~ multicomponent , ~ ~ ! . .
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fibres and partly of other conventional fibres, for example weft filaments of multicomponent fibres and warp filaments of polyester in the case of a woven fabric, may also b~
present at the same time, and may be treated in accordance with the process of the invention.
The above-mentioned fibre structures, such as line-ar structure~, sheet-form materials, such as woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, non-woven fabrics and fleeces, may be pro-duced by known methods. ~ particular pattern or special effects may be imparted to the structure before it is treated with the solvent solely by the method of production by con-ventional techniques, such as texturing, stitching, weaving and knltting, random deposition, different weaves and fila~
ment counts. This augments the effect provided by the treatment according to the present invention.
In one particular embodiment of the present process, woven or knitted fabrics of unsplit multicomponent fibres are provided with fixed regions. This fixing in the required places may be obtained, for example, by stamping regular or irregular patterns into the knitted or woven fabric using a hot embossing calendar~ The thus-treated regions are fixed so that the fibres situated in these regions may no longer shrink. It is only the non-fixed regions which may shrinX during the following treatment with the solvent, ' - : . ' ' :
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resulting inter alia in interesting optical and feel e~ects.
B~ hot-embossing using a calender comprising raised areas arranged to ~orm a pattern, it is also 5 possible to consolidate the material over.the ~ixed areas. - -The ~ixing oi certaln regions may, of course, also be obtained by other processes 9 such as chemical Yixing or exposu~e to steam.
10In order to obtain corresponding patterns and e~fects, it is also possible to treat sheet-~orm materials o~ unsplit multicomponent ~ibres with the solvent at certain places only, ~or example by.
processes o~ the type normally used in printing.
15~ It is also possible by partly applying a suitable paste, ~or example based on polyacrylates, in the ~orm o~ a pattern to prevent penetration of the methylene .chloride responsible for s;plitting, with the - result that splitting only occurs in the zones whioh have not been coated with the paste.
In some cases, it is advisable to subject the multicomponent ~ibres to an additiona-l mechanical treatment during the treatment with the solvent.
. This may be done, ~or example, by mechanically moving the fibres.
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Simultaneous treatment usin~ ul-trasound has also proved to be very suitable.
The additional mechanical treatment o:~ the ~ibre structllres, such as staple fibres, yarns or sheet-iorm materials, may be carried out by moving the material in the treatment liquid, for example by stirring, by regular or irregular raising and lowering, by pressing and relaxing or by a milling-like treatment.
In one particularly suitable process, the ~ibre structure is exposed to.the action o~ ultrasound during the treatment with the organic solvent. This may be done by carrying out the treatment with the organic solvents in vessels o~ the type used for ultrasonic cleaning. ~pparatus of this type are commercially available and are mentioned, ~or example, in Bulletin ~ No. C~-100 ~E-1-72 oi Branson Europa N.~. Such apparatus generally consists of a tank for.treating the material with liquid and comrise an ultrasonic generator installed in the housing.
The treatment according to the present.
invention enables more extensi~e splitting to be obtained, particularly in di~icult casas. Thus~ in the treatment of strand-~orm materials with methylene.
chloride, much greater splitting is obtained when the : : , , : .
:
: .
13~3~
strand-~orm material is simultaneously exposed to ultrasonic waves, Knltted fabrics O:e multicomponent fibres are also split to a ~ar greater extent when the trea-tment with ~ethylene chlo~-ide is accompanied by exposure to - -ultrasonic waves.
In cases where multicomponent flbres having a cross-sectlon of the type shown in accompanying Figure 7 are used :~or the production o:E fibre structures, the application of ultrasonio waves durlng the treatment wlth the organlc solvents gives a considerably great~r degree of` splitting than may be obtalned wlthout corresponding additional mechanical.
or ultrasonlc treatment.
The ultrasonic treatment i9 particularly advantageous in the production of fleeces because, in addition to improvlng splitting, lt also has a ma-tting effect whlch increases the strength of the fleeces.
It was particularly suprising to find that simple, rapid and controlled splitting may be obtained both in the fibres alone and also in the sheet-form textile by the present process. Splitting requires only a brlef treatment, for e~ample by immerslon ln a corresponding solution or by brief treatment using the gaseous solvent, There is no need .. . . .
. ~
. - 2~ _ .
for any additives, such as surfactants, or water to be added. Nor is it necessary to produce emulsions or dispersions 90 that recovery o~ the solvent used for the treatment does not present any problems:and, in addition, does not involve any dangerof pollution.
Since the treatment is extremely brief,'no d~mage is caused to the fibres or sheet-form materials. The sheet-form textiles are distinguished by the particular softness, the high covering power and the particular uniformity thereof and by interesting optical effects.
Flocked substrates may be produced as follows:
Multicompo:nent fibres cut to a suitable length are electrostatically applied in unfixed, shrinkable form to a subst~ate, for example an adhesive-coated woven'fabric, by one of the methods normally used in the manufacture of flocks.
After -the fibres ha~e been fix'ed to the substrate, they are treated with the solvent,~
~20 resulting in complete or partial splitting into matri~
- and peripheral segment fibres One advantage of this process is that, for producing a flock of fine ~ibres, it is possible to use fihres of greater staple length for flocking than in conventional processes because the unsplit fibre ~ : . ' - 25 ~
still has a ~airly ooarse denier, the fine denier only being developed a~ter ~'lo¢king ~ coording So the present invention, ~leeces may be produced in known manner, ~or example by 5 correspondingly laying the multl¢omponent -~ibres.
The fibres may be split beforehand and also after the sheet-form stru¢ture has been formed.
I~ the fibres are to be bonded at the intersections thereof, this'may be done by the action o~ heat, ~or example hot water, saturated steam, hot air or contnc-t heat from hot rollers, in the presence or absence of pressure.
One of th'e polymer ¢omponents may be used for bonding the fibres Mixed polyamides and copolyesters are particularly suitable, It is obvious that the bonding component should have a lower melting point than the non-bonding component.
-In the process according 'to the'present invention, -the multicomponent ~ibres may be subjected before splitting to the conventional processing steps, such as winding and of~winding, twisting, weaving and knitting, without spli-t-ting to any significant extent.' Splitting ln-t-o segment and matrix ~ibres may then be carried out at the required time on the flnished fibre structure.
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Since there is no loss of material in the present process by polymers being dissolved out, the process is extremely economical.
The fibre structures according to the present invention are distinguished inter alia by a high water retention capacity. One particular advantage of the present invention is that it is possible to produce products which contain both extremely fine and also fairly coarse deniers. Thus, it is possible to produce fibre structures containing segment fibres having a denier of from 0.1 to 3 dtex and matrix fibres having a denier of from 0.5 to 20 dtex. Particular effects in terms of feel may be obtained by correspondingly dis-tributing the denier values.
The present invention is illustrated by the following Examples:
Using a spinning jet of the type described in the aforementioned Canadian Patent Application ~o. 320,168, a matrix-segment filament having the cross-section illust-rated in Figure 3 and a denier of 50 dtex f 30 is spun from polyethylene terephthalate (relative viscosity 1.63) and polyamide-6 (relative viscosity 2.20) in a ratio, by weight, of 80 to 20. The spun filament is taken up at a rate of 1200 metres per minute and drawn in a X
There are numerous known processes for producing a fibre from two or more incompatible polymer components which may be distributed in various ways in the cross-section of the iibre. On the other hand, : various attempts have been made to saparate the components o~ multicomponent fibres from one another after spinning.
~ hus, British Paten-t No. 1,1719843 describes a process for producing a multicomponent ~ilament in which a number o~ very fine micro~ilaments (segments) of component A are completely surrounded and separated from one another by a matrl~ component B or .. in which the individual filaments o~ components A and B
lie adjacent one another, filaments o~ component A
being in contact both with other filaments o~
component A and also with ~ilaments of component B.
The same appIies to filaments o~ component B.
Filaments O:r this type are said to be produced by initially preforming two-¢omponent structures having a core-sheath or side-by_side configuration, collecting a plurality of these preformed stru¢tures in a funnel-like chamber terminating in a spinning ori~ice and extruding them through the spinning oriiice. The arrangement of these segments relative to one another in the cross-section of the finished filament and also the separatian of the segments by the matrix oomponent is random in nature~ Particular cross-sectional configurations cannot be reproducibly obtained. There is nothing in this reference to show that multicomponent filaments of this type may be separated into filaments of the individual components by splitting.
German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,117,076 :
describes a process for -the production of filamen$s consisting of several segments and a matrix separating the segments, in which a stream of a liquid spinning material conslsting o~ at least two thin layers of substantially uni~orm thickness, the layersextending radially from the middle o~ the cross-section of a pipe leading to an outlet opening up to the wall of the pipe, is introduced into the pipe by a delivery nozzle extending a~ially above the pipe whilst, at the , ~ .
, ~3~
same -time, a stream o~ another spimling material is ` introcluced under pressllre into that section which is :Eormed by the above radially extending thin layer and the wall of the pipe in order to embed the above-mentDned thin layer between the streams o.f the second spinnine mal,erlal, arter which the combined stream is extruded through the outlet opening without disturbing the flow line of the thin layer, Although Figures 1 to 6 of this reference show cross-sections having from 3 to 6 segments, it is pointed out on page 14 paragraph 1, -that filaments ~aving 3, 5 or more segments (except 6 segments) are difficult to produce. The spinning heads ~nown from this reference are also dif~icult to produce. It is virtually impossible to switch the spinning heads from one filament cross-section to another, for example -from a filament cross-section having four segments to;~a filament cross-seotion having six segments. There is no mention of any separation of the multisegment filament into matrix and segment filaments. I~stead9 the only teaahing given is that these filaments may be divided up or decomposed by treatm~nt with water or or organic solvents, German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2 ? 040,802 also shows filament. cross-sections in which a plurality "
~ 3~Z6~
~ 5 --of segments is completely surrounded by a matrix component The productlon o~ ~uch ~ilaments is not desorlbed :ln any detail in this reference, neither is there any mention of the splitting of such composite filaments into the individual components thereof.
Also, Dutch Offenlegungsschrift No, 67 12 909 sho~s numerous filament~ cross-sections containing more than two segmentsO All the segments consist oi~
different polymer components wich are not separated from one another by a matrix component. In addition~
most of the filament cross-sections are completely surrounded by the maxtrix component. Filaments of this type cannot be divided up into a bundle of extremely fine filaments and/or fibres by mechanical and/or chemical after-treatment, although this is an important objec-tive o~ many reoent developments in the ~ield of multicomponent ~ilaments.
According to British Patent No. 1~104~6g49 fine filaments may be obtained ~rom ma~trix ~ibril filaments by preheating the ma~rix fibril fiIament, for-example by the action of heat, solvents or swelling agents, and then subjecting it to flexural strassing.
However, this process leads to filamen-ts which fibrillate only partly and very irregularly. Sheet-form textiles produced from such filaments may only be used to a limited exten-t and do not have the reqllired softness or the necessary silk-like sheen. The coverin~ power thereof is also ~ery unsatlsfactory.
According to German Auslegeschrif~ No.
2~41g~318~ textile fibre struotures may be produced from multicomponent filaments of polyamide and other pol~mers b~ using for fibrillation an aqueous emulsion of from 1.5 to 50 ~, by weight, of benzyl aloohol and/or phenyl alcohol prepared with the aid of a surfactant, a less than 20 ~ permeability to light having a wavelength of 495 nm being presupp~ed for the treatment solution.
One of the disadvantages of this process lies in the fact that the oomposition of the treating agent and also the treatment eonditions have to be c~refully controlled. In addition, the sheet-~orm textile has to be subjected to a treatm0nt of relatively long duration to ob-tain any useful fibrillation at all. In addi$ion, -the polyamide is in danger of altering during the trea-tment so that the end produc-t no longer has the required properties.
Furthermore, it is extremely difficult wi~h this process to adjust a certain degree of fibrillation.
In many cases, the filamen-t is only incompletely fibrillated In addition, the fibres may easily adhere .., , ~ .
:~ , 1~37~5 to one another in the process described in the above-mentioned reference.
German Auslegesohri~t No. 2,505,272 describes similar processes, mentioning a number o~
other organic solvents which are used in the iorm o~
solutions or emulsions in water. These processes are : attended_ by substantially the same disadvantages which were mentioned ab~ve in the discussion of German AusIegeschri~t No. 2,419,318. Furthermore, considerable di~iculties are also involved in working-up aqueous~solutions or emulsions containing organic solvents. Thus, not only is it di~icult to recover the pure organic solvent and to put it to another use, treatment o~ the water also involves considerable problems which are particularly important to pollution control.
US Patent No. 3,117,362 describes the treatment- of multicomponent fibres using acetone.
Although the filaments are immersed for 5 mlnutes in the solvent, no signifioant separation ooours and, when-the ~ilaments are drawn over a sharp edge, only partial splitting is obtained. It is only a~ter this additlonal mechanioal treatment has been repeated ; three times that oomplete splitting is said to occur.
Although numerou~ methods for splitting ..
, .: ,.. : -" ~ : .
~3~65 multicomponent fibres and for producing corresponding flbre structures a*e kn~own, there is still a need for improved processe~ which ~ive ~ibre structures having more advàntageous ~roperties.
Ao~orclinglv, an ob~eot of the present invention is to provide a process which enables -~ibre structures to be simply, eoonomioally and reproducibly obtained by splitting multicomponent fibres, with which it is possible.precisely to adjust a desired degree of splitting and, in parti.cular, to obtain complete separation of the filament and which leads to fibre sl;ructures which are distinguished by the fineness in terms of denier, the silk-like ~eel, the high covering power, the regularity and by the versatility both in textile and in technioal applications -thereof.
In the context of the present invention, "fibre structures" are to be understood to include linear structures, such as shor-t and relativeIy long staple fibres, substantially endless linear structures, such as filaments or yarns of endless fibres or staple ~ibres and also sheet-form struotures, such as woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, non-woven ~abrics, fleeces, ~locked substrates and:also sheet-form structures provided with a pile on or~ or both sides 2S and, also 3-dimensional struotures, such as wadding-, .
, ~3~
.
_ 9 _ loose or compressed9 formed or non-formed fibre structures.
In the context of the present invention, the term "shrinlsable" is to be understood to mean that the polyester arranged in the form o~ a matri~ or segments in the CrQSS-SeCtiOn of the filament is shrunk, i.e. shortened~ by the treatment with solvent according to the present invention.
The shrinkage capacity of the ~ibres is dependent upon the history thereof and by the shrinkage conditions, such as temperature and treatment time. In particular, the shrinkability o-f the fibres is inl~luenced by the conditions appli~d during the spinning and/or drawing of the ~ibres.
~cco~ding to the present inven-tion, adequate shrin~ability may generally be imparted to the fibres by drawing o~ the type normally applied in the _o ~.-production o~ polyester filaments, for example by drawing the fibres to thres times the original length the~eof and more~ Adequate shrinkability may also be obtained by running off the ~ilaments at an increased rate during spinning and subjecting them to - slight drawing. The necessary shrinkability may also be obtained by air drawing of the type normally applied in the production of spun fleeces.
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- 9a -In accordance with the invention there is provided a process for the production of fibre structures by at least partly splitting multicomponent fibres which comprises treating shrinkable substantially unfixed multicomponent fibre~ having at least two incompatible polymer components arranged in the form of a matrix and several segments in the fibre cross-section, at least one of said two components being a polyester component, the segments occupying from 20 to 80% of the total cross-section and at least three seg-ments being peripherally arranged without complete envelop-ment by the matrix component, with a liquid or gaseous or-ganic shrinkage-init.iating agent effective to shrink poly-ester, which reduces the zero shrinXage temperature of the matrix polymer or of the segment polymer by at least 160C. and in which the polymer components forming the fibres show dif-ferent shrinkage behaviour, to shrink one of said components ~ by'at least 10%, said treating having a short shrinkage induc-I tion time.
The shrinkage-initiating agent may typically be an ~ 20 organic liquid or gas which is conventionally considered to be ! a solvent and hereinafter referenc~ to an organic solvent is to be understood to be a reference to the shrinkage-initiating ! agent, ,In accordance with another aspect of the invention j there is provided a fibre s~ructure consisting,completely or in ¦ part of split multicomponent fibres of at least two incompatible ¦ polymer components, at least one of said components being a polyester component of the matrix-segment type, having a matrix i fibre of at least three segment fibres, split off completely 1 30 or in part therefrom, one of said components being shrunk by at . ,.;
I ",,,~*~, least 10% in relation to the other.
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An important factor is that the matrix :
component or segment componen-t should still show signl~ic~nt shrinlcage in the solvent This shrinlcage should generally amount to at least 10 p; a shrinkage of at least 15 ~ be:ing preferred.
Although adequate shrinkage is provided by the production conditions, it does no-t necessarily have to be -tested on the multicomponent fibre itself, but instead may even be tested on multicomponent filaments produced under otherwise the same conditions, but using only the matrix or segment polymer, i.e fibres consisti~g solely of polyester are produced under other~ise the same conditions as applied in the production of the multicomponent flbre, i.e. using the same take-off rate during spinning and using the same degree of draw, and the shrinkage thereof in the solvent is dètermined.
Shrinkage is determined, for example, by treating the *ibres largely in accordance with the proposed splitting conditions For example, a 50 cm long strand of fibre having two spacing marks at its beginning and end is immersed for 5 minutes in methylene chloride at a temperature of 35C. The degree of shrinkage is the di~ference between the distanoes separating the marks before and after .
: ., , : :
trea-tment with the solvent.
Another important -factor is that the matrix and segment components show di~erent shrinkage behaviour in the solvent This di~ference in shrinkage behaviour may be embodied, -~or example, in shrinkage o~ the matri~ and not the segments or in shrinkage o-~
the segments and not the matrix. It may also be embodied in different degrees of shrinkage. What i9 important however, is that the induction time, i.e.
the period o~ time elapsing be-~ore shrinkage in the treatment medium reaches signi~icant levels, should be dif~erent It is of importance to the present process that the shrinkage induotion time should be as short as possible either in the case o~ the matr~x oomponent or in the case of the segment component, pre~erably amoùnting to only a matter o~ seconds.
The dif~erence in shrinkage behaviour may also be reilected in the ~act tha-t the matrix has a higher shrinkage rate than -the segments or vice versa.
Full information on -the methods used to determine induction time may be found in the two Articles by N~L. Linder in the Journal i'Colloid and Polymer Sci.~ 255, 213 et seq and 433 et ~ (1977).
In the context o~ the present invention, the 25- expression "substantially unfixed~' is to be understood , ,~ ,. .. :
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13~d~~
to mean that, prior to -~he treatitlent w~h3! the solvent, the mlllticolllponent ~ibres have still not been l`i~d, nl)ove nll therlllally, to the point where the original sh.rinkage capaoity thereo~ imparted by the spinning and/or draw~ oonditions is completely or partly eliminated. Fixing using chemical agents, ~or example, should also be avoided before the actual splitting treatment.
In the context of the present invention7 the word "~ibre" is to be unders-tood to include both -~ibres o~ finite length, such as short-cùt or standard ` staple fibres, and also substantially endless ; structures, such as ~ilaments.
Multicomponen-t -~ibres having a matrix and several components arranged in the form o~ segments are to be understood to be fibres in which the individual segments and the matrix are arranged .continuously over the entire axial leng-th c~ the fibre : so that the ~ibre cross-seotion is substantial1y the same over the length o~ the Yibre. In this connection, the matrix is to be understood to be the component in which the other components are incorporated or embedded. Examples o~ ~ibre cross-sections which are partlcularly suitable in the context o~ the present lnvention are shown in accompanying Figures 1 `
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..
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- 13 - ~ ~3~
to 7, (a3 denoting the matrix and (b) the segments.
Incompatible polymers are to be understood to be polymers which are immiscible with one another, do not react chemically with one another and have a distinct phase boun-dary under the conditions mentioned, particularly when they are mixed with one another, for example in the melt, or are spun together as adjacent components to form a multicompo-nent fibre~ Incompatible polymers corresponding to this definition are, in particular, polyamides and polyesters, polyesters based on terephthalic acid being preferred for the purposes of the present invention. These two polymers also do not enter into any significant chemical reactions with one another in the melt, at least for certain periods, so that there is very little, if any, formation of copolymers which.would bond the two phases more firmly to one another.
It is obvious that exchange reactions which may take place between polyesters and polyamides in the melt over prolonged periods, of the type described, for example, in Doklady Akademii Nauk SSSR 1962, Vol. 147, No. 6, page 13, 165 to 8 do not come into consideration.
In a particular embodiment of the process of the invention at 20%,preferably about 50% of the periphery of each of the peripheral segments is not surrounded by the matrix component~ The part of the segment periphery of the peri-pheral segments which is surrounded by the matrix has an irregular, optionally indented form. The peripheral seg-ments may be assymmetrically arranged in the fihre cross-section. In particular the surface area of a peripheral segment in the fibre cross-section suitably amounts to at most one fifth, preferably at most one eighth of the total .~ ,"
'~ '' .. ,~,. .
, , - 14 - ~3~
surface area.
In another embodiment in addition to the peripheral segments, a centrally arranged segment of the same polymer or of a third polymer, which is completely separated from the peripheral segments by the matrix polymer, is present in the fibre cross-section~
In a further embodiment there may be present further segments completely surrounded by the matrix compo-nent in a regular or irregular arrangement in the fibre cross-section.
Multicomponent fibres having the necessary fila-ment cross-section according to the present invention may be produced in various ways by melt-spinning multicomponent fibres, for example o~ polyamides and polyesters, using corresponding spinning jets or spinning units and then drawing the thus-produced multicomponent fibres in the con-ventional way so that they have an adequate shrinkage capacity. Multicomponent fibres of this type may be produ-ced particularly advantageously by a process and using an apparatus of the type described in Canadian Patent Applica-tion ~o. 320,168, filed January 24, 1979 Erich Kessler et al.
Multicomponent fibres having cross-sections of the type shown in Figures 1, 2 and 6 thereof may be split particularly advantageously in accordance with the present invention, i.e.
in such a way that the peripheral segments and the matrix are separated substantially completely when the segments consist of polyamide.
The cross-section shown in accompanying Figures 1 to 7 are very suitable in cases where the segments consist of polyester.
.
' - 15 - 1~3~5 In many cases, cross-sections of the type shown in accompanying Figure 3 even enable complete or partial separation of the core segment to be obtained, ~or example when the peripheral segments and core segment consist of polyester.
In one particularly advantageous embodiment of the present process, multicomponent fibres produced in accordance with German Patent Application P 28 03 236.9 having a poly-esker matrix and peripheral segments of polyamide, or vice vers_, are split by treatment with the organic shrinkage-initiating agent.
The still shrinkable multicomponent fibres produced, for example, in accordance with the aforementioned Canadian Patent Application ~o. 320,168 have, on the one hand, sufficient-ly strong adhesive forces between the matrix and the segments to be able to be processed in the conventional way into' for example fleeces and knitted fabrics, in largely unsplit form and, on the other hand, sufficient shrinkage capacity to be separated into the individual components thereof in accordance with the pre-sent invention by exposure to the action o the shrinkage-; initiating agent.
It is neither necessary nor even desirable for the sol-vent to dissolve one or all the polymers of which the multicom-ponent fibres are composed. The shrinkage-initiating agent should cause the matrix fibres to shrink to the maximum possible extent, but should have little or no shrinkage effect on the ~, segments, or vice versa.
~ The zero shrinkage temperatures may be determined ! by a process which is described, for example, in Lenzinge . Berichte, May 1976, Series 40, pages 22 to 29. In this connection, it is necessary to determine dynamic shrinkage :
curves of filaments in the shrinkage-initiating agent which is used for treating the multicomponent fibres. Extrapolation of the linear part of the dynamic shrinkage curve gives the zero shrinkage temperature as the point of intersection with the abscissa.
As the shrinkage-initiating agent there may suitably be employed one which reduces the zero shrinXage temperature of the matrix polymer or of the segment polymer by at least 200C.
It has been found that suitable shrinkage-initiating agents particularly for the purposes of the present invention include organic solvents including methylene chloride, 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, 1,1,2-trichloroethane and chloroform, which sufficiently reduce the zero shrinkage temperature of the mat-rix polymer or the segment polymer and bring about unexpectedly favourable splitting of the multicomponent fibres.
The-treatment with the shrinkage-inltiating agent may conveniently be combined with a dyeing proces~.
In the process according to the present invention, 1 20 splitting is accompanied by considerable shrinkage of the matrix fibre or the segment fibres, the degree of shrinkage generally amounting to at least 10%, preferably to at least ; 1~ to 25%.
- The treatment is generally very short and, in many cases, a period of from a few seconds to 1 or a few minutes is sufficient for obtaining the required splitting. ~he use ~ of the shrinkaye-initiating agent, for example, methylene ¦ chloride, in accordance with the present invention eliminates I the need to use auxiliaries so that it is possible to employ virtually pure solvents as shrinkage-initiating agents with-out diluents or other additives.
,:
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- 17 ~
The treatment with methylene chloride may be carried out at room temperature or even at higher tempera-tures. It is also possible to carry out the treatment using methylene chloride gases.
According to the present invention, it is possible to produce fibre structures of various types by splitting the multicomponent fibres. For example the fibre structure may have bonded multicomponent fibres, the fibres being bonded at their intersections, for example with polyamide or copolyester, and segment fibres crossing bonded or unbonded segment fihres, segment fibres crossing bonded matrix fibres and matrix fibres crossing unbonded or bonded matrix fibres at the fibre intersections. Additionally, it is possible to produce linear fibre structures, i.e.
fibres of finite length, which may have a variety of dif-ferent lengths. It is possible to split so-called short-staple fibres. Staple fibres having lengths of 10, 20, 50, 100 mm and more may also be split. It is also possible to split fibres of substantially infinite length which, gener-ally, are also known as filaments. The fibre structuresobtained may have complete andfor partial splitting into matrix fibres and segment fibres, the only partly split multicomponent fibres still showing mechanical cohesion between the matrix and segment components, some having slots between the matrix and segment fibres and some only longitudinal grooves, corresponding to the phase boundaries, along the edge of the multicomponent fibres.
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Splitting of the multicomponent fibres may be car-ried out not only on fibre structures, such as staple fibres or endless filaments, but also and in particular on fibre a ~
. . ~ .. .~ . .
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structures which have been obtained by processing the multioomponent fibres into textile and teohnioal struotllres, suoh as in particular knitted :Eab:rics, woven fabrios, net fabrics, non-woven fabrics and fleeces, above all random-~ibre :Eleeces and needle-punched fleeces, wadding, flocked substrates and materials having a plle on one or both sides The process according to the present invention is particularly ~uitable for the production o$
knitted fabrics and woven fabrics in which a corresponding sheet-form material is initially produced by knitting or weaving unsplit multicomponent fibre~ or filaments. This sheet_form material.is then treated with the so~vent so that the filbres shrink in the sheet-form material, the shrinkage thereof being accompanied by consolidation whioh results inter alia in interesting optical e~fects - .and in a high covering power of the material. When such fibre structures are treated with the solvent the matrix c~mponent or the segments. shrink and, in doing so, build up tension or give rise to surface shrinkage which causes the segment ~ilaments or the matrix filaments to curve so that they are noticeable as arcuate projections above and below.
the plane of the sheet-form material.
, .
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It is particularly in the treatment of multioomponent fibres of finite length that splitting i9 aooompanied by ourving of the fibres to a certain extent, the overall curvature o~ the segment fib~s being greater than that of the matrix fibres. The curving of the segment ~ibres and the shrinkage which occurs at the same tlme gives rise to surface shrinkage, above all in the case of sheet-form . materials, such as fleeces, where the fibres are randomly arranged, so that.the material is .consolidated to a considerable extent and receives a high covering power. At the same time, matting occurs to a very considerakle exte~t, providing the fibres with intense cohesion.
Fibre structures according to the present invention may consist comple-tely or in part of the comp.letely or partly spli~ multicomponent fibres 9 in other words they may also oontain other types o~
fibre~ such as conventional slngle-component fibres7 for ex~mple p~lyester and/or polyamide fibres.
Fibre structures7 such as sheet-form materials, for e~ample woven fabrics or knitted fabrios, may be made up of fibres, yarns or filaments which only contain multicomponent fibres, although yarns and filaments which consist partly o~ multicomponent , ~ ~ ! . .
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' - 20 - ~ ~ 3t~
fibres and partly of other conventional fibres, for example weft filaments of multicomponent fibres and warp filaments of polyester in the case of a woven fabric, may also b~
present at the same time, and may be treated in accordance with the process of the invention.
The above-mentioned fibre structures, such as line-ar structure~, sheet-form materials, such as woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, non-woven fabrics and fleeces, may be pro-duced by known methods. ~ particular pattern or special effects may be imparted to the structure before it is treated with the solvent solely by the method of production by con-ventional techniques, such as texturing, stitching, weaving and knltting, random deposition, different weaves and fila~
ment counts. This augments the effect provided by the treatment according to the present invention.
In one particular embodiment of the present process, woven or knitted fabrics of unsplit multicomponent fibres are provided with fixed regions. This fixing in the required places may be obtained, for example, by stamping regular or irregular patterns into the knitted or woven fabric using a hot embossing calendar~ The thus-treated regions are fixed so that the fibres situated in these regions may no longer shrink. It is only the non-fixed regions which may shrinX during the following treatment with the solvent, ' - : . ' ' :
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- 21 - .
resulting inter alia in interesting optical and feel e~ects.
B~ hot-embossing using a calender comprising raised areas arranged to ~orm a pattern, it is also 5 possible to consolidate the material over.the ~ixed areas. - -The ~ixing oi certaln regions may, of course, also be obtained by other processes 9 such as chemical Yixing or exposu~e to steam.
10In order to obtain corresponding patterns and e~fects, it is also possible to treat sheet-~orm materials o~ unsplit multicomponent ~ibres with the solvent at certain places only, ~or example by.
processes o~ the type normally used in printing.
15~ It is also possible by partly applying a suitable paste, ~or example based on polyacrylates, in the ~orm o~ a pattern to prevent penetration of the methylene .chloride responsible for s;plitting, with the - result that splitting only occurs in the zones whioh have not been coated with the paste.
In some cases, it is advisable to subject the multicomponent ~ibres to an additiona-l mechanical treatment during the treatment with the solvent.
. This may be done, ~or example, by mechanically moving the fibres.
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Simultaneous treatment usin~ ul-trasound has also proved to be very suitable.
The additional mechanical treatment o:~ the ~ibre structllres, such as staple fibres, yarns or sheet-iorm materials, may be carried out by moving the material in the treatment liquid, for example by stirring, by regular or irregular raising and lowering, by pressing and relaxing or by a milling-like treatment.
In one particularly suitable process, the ~ibre structure is exposed to.the action o~ ultrasound during the treatment with the organic solvent. This may be done by carrying out the treatment with the organic solvents in vessels o~ the type used for ultrasonic cleaning. ~pparatus of this type are commercially available and are mentioned, ~or example, in Bulletin ~ No. C~-100 ~E-1-72 oi Branson Europa N.~. Such apparatus generally consists of a tank for.treating the material with liquid and comrise an ultrasonic generator installed in the housing.
The treatment according to the present.
invention enables more extensi~e splitting to be obtained, particularly in di~icult casas. Thus~ in the treatment of strand-~orm materials with methylene.
chloride, much greater splitting is obtained when the : : , , : .
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strand-~orm material is simultaneously exposed to ultrasonic waves, Knltted fabrics O:e multicomponent fibres are also split to a ~ar greater extent when the trea-tment with ~ethylene chlo~-ide is accompanied by exposure to - -ultrasonic waves.
In cases where multicomponent flbres having a cross-sectlon of the type shown in accompanying Figure 7 are used :~or the production o:E fibre structures, the application of ultrasonio waves durlng the treatment wlth the organlc solvents gives a considerably great~r degree of` splitting than may be obtalned wlthout corresponding additional mechanical.
or ultrasonlc treatment.
The ultrasonic treatment i9 particularly advantageous in the production of fleeces because, in addition to improvlng splitting, lt also has a ma-tting effect whlch increases the strength of the fleeces.
It was particularly suprising to find that simple, rapid and controlled splitting may be obtained both in the fibres alone and also in the sheet-form textile by the present process. Splitting requires only a brlef treatment, for e~ample by immerslon ln a corresponding solution or by brief treatment using the gaseous solvent, There is no need .. . . .
. ~
. - 2~ _ .
for any additives, such as surfactants, or water to be added. Nor is it necessary to produce emulsions or dispersions 90 that recovery o~ the solvent used for the treatment does not present any problems:and, in addition, does not involve any dangerof pollution.
Since the treatment is extremely brief,'no d~mage is caused to the fibres or sheet-form materials. The sheet-form textiles are distinguished by the particular softness, the high covering power and the particular uniformity thereof and by interesting optical effects.
Flocked substrates may be produced as follows:
Multicompo:nent fibres cut to a suitable length are electrostatically applied in unfixed, shrinkable form to a subst~ate, for example an adhesive-coated woven'fabric, by one of the methods normally used in the manufacture of flocks.
After -the fibres ha~e been fix'ed to the substrate, they are treated with the solvent,~
~20 resulting in complete or partial splitting into matri~
- and peripheral segment fibres One advantage of this process is that, for producing a flock of fine ~ibres, it is possible to use fihres of greater staple length for flocking than in conventional processes because the unsplit fibre ~ : . ' - 25 ~
still has a ~airly ooarse denier, the fine denier only being developed a~ter ~'lo¢king ~ coording So the present invention, ~leeces may be produced in known manner, ~or example by 5 correspondingly laying the multl¢omponent -~ibres.
The fibres may be split beforehand and also after the sheet-form stru¢ture has been formed.
I~ the fibres are to be bonded at the intersections thereof, this'may be done by the action o~ heat, ~or example hot water, saturated steam, hot air or contnc-t heat from hot rollers, in the presence or absence of pressure.
One of th'e polymer ¢omponents may be used for bonding the fibres Mixed polyamides and copolyesters are particularly suitable, It is obvious that the bonding component should have a lower melting point than the non-bonding component.
-In the process according 'to the'present invention, -the multicomponent ~ibres may be subjected before splitting to the conventional processing steps, such as winding and of~winding, twisting, weaving and knitting, without spli-t-ting to any significant extent.' Splitting ln-t-o segment and matrix ~ibres may then be carried out at the required time on the flnished fibre structure.
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Since there is no loss of material in the present process by polymers being dissolved out, the process is extremely economical.
The fibre structures according to the present invention are distinguished inter alia by a high water retention capacity. One particular advantage of the present invention is that it is possible to produce products which contain both extremely fine and also fairly coarse deniers. Thus, it is possible to produce fibre structures containing segment fibres having a denier of from 0.1 to 3 dtex and matrix fibres having a denier of from 0.5 to 20 dtex. Particular effects in terms of feel may be obtained by correspondingly dis-tributing the denier values.
The present invention is illustrated by the following Examples:
Using a spinning jet of the type described in the aforementioned Canadian Patent Application ~o. 320,168, a matrix-segment filament having the cross-section illust-rated in Figure 3 and a denier of 50 dtex f 30 is spun from polyethylene terephthalate (relative viscosity 1.63) and polyamide-6 (relative viscosity 2.20) in a ratio, by weight, of 80 to 20. The spun filament is taken up at a rate of 1200 metres per minute and drawn in a X
3~3~
ratio of 1:3.26. The shrinkage of the polyethylene terephthalate in methylene chloride amounts to 22%.
~le thus-obtained filament is immersed in methylene chloride for 1 minute at 35C in the form of a 50 cm long fibre strand, largely freed from the solvent by blotting with ilter paper and then dried at 80C in a recirculating-air drying cabinet. The fibres are split up almost completely into matrix and segment fibres, as may clearly be seen under a microscope.
E~AMPLE 2 Using the same spinning jet as in Example 1, a filament is spun from polyethylene terephthalate and a mixed polyamide based on 60% of ~-caprolactam and 40% of hexamethylene diamine/adipic acid under otherwise the same conditions. After drawing, the filament is cut into short-staple fibres (5 mm long).
The fibres are then split by treatment with methylene chloride, suspended in water containing a dispersant and processed on a conventional sheet former to fGrm a wet fleece. On drying at about 95C, the fleece is bonded by softening of the polyamide.
E~AMPLE 3 A knitted fabric weighing approximately 100 g/m2 is produced from unsplit endless filaments corresponding to Example 1. The knitted fabric is X
' `
~3~
then passed through the yap of an embossing calender heated to 220C, the embossed areas of the knitted fabric corresponding to the raised areas of the calender being heated to about 180C and, hence, fixed, while the remaining areas remain unfixed.
The fibres in the unfixed areas are split by treat-ment with methylene chloride for 1 minute at a temperature of 35C.
Using a spinning jet of the type described in the afore-mentioned Canadian Patent Application ~o.
320,168, a matrix-segment filament having the cross-section illustrated in Figure 2 and a denier of 50 dtex f 25 is spun from polyethylene terephthalate (relative vi~scosity 1.63) and polyamide-6 (relative viscosity 2.~0) in a ratio, by weight, of 75 : 25. The spun filament is taken up at a rate of 1200 metres per minute and drawn in a ratio of 1:3.26.
m e linear shrinkage of the polyethylene terephthalate in methylene chloride amounts to approximately 20%.
The thus-obtained filament is immersed in methylene chloride for 10 minutes at 35C in the form of a 50 cm long strand, freed from most of the solvents by blotting with filter paper and then dried at 80C
in a recirculating air drying cabinet. The fibres are completely fibrillated.
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~137~i5 - 29 ~
EX~MPLE 5 .
~ ~lat-knitted ~abric weighing approximately lO0 g/m2 is produced ~rom unspllt endless ~ilaments corresponding to Figure 2 using polyethylene terephthalate as the matrix component and polyamide-6 as the segment components. The thus-produced knitted iabric is then 1mmersed in methylene chloride for about 5 minutes at a temperature of 35C and dried in a recirculating air drying cabinet The thus-obtained sample is completely fibrillated. Since most o~ the segments are externally situated on the upper side and underneath-of the knitted ~abric, the fabric is distinguished by increased covering power, by a so~t voluminous ~eel ana by a silky sheen A two-bar warp-knitted fabric is produced from a matrix-segment ~ilament corresponding to Figure 2 produced in accordance with Example 4. This matrix-segment ~ilament, which has a denier of 50 dtex f 30 9 .
is introduced into the ~irst back guide bar in a 3-4 satin weave, whilst polyester ~ilaments having a denier of 50 dtex i 14 are introduced into the seco~d back guide bar d A~ter velouring and tearing, the ~abric is immersed in methylene chloriae for 5 minutes at 35C
;-,, ~ ~
: ~ :
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~ 30 -and then dried. The originally unsplit pile filaments fibrillate.
While the fine segments remain on the surface, the thicker matrix shrinks inwards. This leaves the fabric having a dense, soft pile characterised by a good writing effect.
Using a spinning jet of the type described in the afore-mentioned Canadian Patent Application ~o.
320,168, a matri~-segment filament having 9 peripheral segments and a denier of 40 dtex f 5 is spun from poly-ethylene terephthalate (relative viscosity 1.63) and polyamide-6 (relative viscosity 2.20) in a ratio, by weight, of 80:20. The spun filament is taken up at a rate of 1200 metres per minute and drawn in a ratio of 1:3.8. A flat-knitted fabric was produced from the thus-obtained filament and, for comparison, samples of fabric were immersed in methylene chloride for one minute at 35~C with and without application of ultra-sound and then dried in a recirculating air drying cabinet. While the non-ultrasonically-treated sample showed only incomplete separation of the individual components due to the considerable wedging of the segments, the filaments of the ultrasonically treated , sample were completely'split up.
' ~ 5 Fibres having a staple length of 45 mm were cut ~rom Imsplit endless filaments aocording to Examplo 7 and processed into a needle-punched fleece having 80 per~orations per square metre. Separation o~ the fibres was carried out in a tank ~illed with methylene chloride at 35C and ~itted with an ultrasonic generator. It was clearly discernible tha-t, - on fibrillation, the ultrasonically-treated samples, in addi~on to a more complete separation of the components, also showed heavy matting and hence greater strength for equally good fleece properties by comparison with the non-ultrasonically--treated samples, .
:
.
ratio of 1:3.26. The shrinkage of the polyethylene terephthalate in methylene chloride amounts to 22%.
~le thus-obtained filament is immersed in methylene chloride for 1 minute at 35C in the form of a 50 cm long fibre strand, largely freed from the solvent by blotting with ilter paper and then dried at 80C in a recirculating-air drying cabinet. The fibres are split up almost completely into matrix and segment fibres, as may clearly be seen under a microscope.
E~AMPLE 2 Using the same spinning jet as in Example 1, a filament is spun from polyethylene terephthalate and a mixed polyamide based on 60% of ~-caprolactam and 40% of hexamethylene diamine/adipic acid under otherwise the same conditions. After drawing, the filament is cut into short-staple fibres (5 mm long).
The fibres are then split by treatment with methylene chloride, suspended in water containing a dispersant and processed on a conventional sheet former to fGrm a wet fleece. On drying at about 95C, the fleece is bonded by softening of the polyamide.
E~AMPLE 3 A knitted fabric weighing approximately 100 g/m2 is produced from unsplit endless filaments corresponding to Example 1. The knitted fabric is X
' `
~3~
then passed through the yap of an embossing calender heated to 220C, the embossed areas of the knitted fabric corresponding to the raised areas of the calender being heated to about 180C and, hence, fixed, while the remaining areas remain unfixed.
The fibres in the unfixed areas are split by treat-ment with methylene chloride for 1 minute at a temperature of 35C.
Using a spinning jet of the type described in the afore-mentioned Canadian Patent Application ~o.
320,168, a matrix-segment filament having the cross-section illustrated in Figure 2 and a denier of 50 dtex f 25 is spun from polyethylene terephthalate (relative vi~scosity 1.63) and polyamide-6 (relative viscosity 2.~0) in a ratio, by weight, of 75 : 25. The spun filament is taken up at a rate of 1200 metres per minute and drawn in a ratio of 1:3.26.
m e linear shrinkage of the polyethylene terephthalate in methylene chloride amounts to approximately 20%.
The thus-obtained filament is immersed in methylene chloride for 10 minutes at 35C in the form of a 50 cm long strand, freed from most of the solvents by blotting with filter paper and then dried at 80C
in a recirculating air drying cabinet. The fibres are completely fibrillated.
t, " '', :
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~137~i5 - 29 ~
EX~MPLE 5 .
~ ~lat-knitted ~abric weighing approximately lO0 g/m2 is produced ~rom unspllt endless ~ilaments corresponding to Figure 2 using polyethylene terephthalate as the matrix component and polyamide-6 as the segment components. The thus-produced knitted iabric is then 1mmersed in methylene chloride for about 5 minutes at a temperature of 35C and dried in a recirculating air drying cabinet The thus-obtained sample is completely fibrillated. Since most o~ the segments are externally situated on the upper side and underneath-of the knitted ~abric, the fabric is distinguished by increased covering power, by a so~t voluminous ~eel ana by a silky sheen A two-bar warp-knitted fabric is produced from a matrix-segment ~ilament corresponding to Figure 2 produced in accordance with Example 4. This matrix-segment ~ilament, which has a denier of 50 dtex f 30 9 .
is introduced into the ~irst back guide bar in a 3-4 satin weave, whilst polyester ~ilaments having a denier of 50 dtex i 14 are introduced into the seco~d back guide bar d A~ter velouring and tearing, the ~abric is immersed in methylene chloriae for 5 minutes at 35C
;-,, ~ ~
: ~ :
. :.
~ 30 -and then dried. The originally unsplit pile filaments fibrillate.
While the fine segments remain on the surface, the thicker matrix shrinks inwards. This leaves the fabric having a dense, soft pile characterised by a good writing effect.
Using a spinning jet of the type described in the afore-mentioned Canadian Patent Application ~o.
320,168, a matri~-segment filament having 9 peripheral segments and a denier of 40 dtex f 5 is spun from poly-ethylene terephthalate (relative viscosity 1.63) and polyamide-6 (relative viscosity 2.20) in a ratio, by weight, of 80:20. The spun filament is taken up at a rate of 1200 metres per minute and drawn in a ratio of 1:3.8. A flat-knitted fabric was produced from the thus-obtained filament and, for comparison, samples of fabric were immersed in methylene chloride for one minute at 35~C with and without application of ultra-sound and then dried in a recirculating air drying cabinet. While the non-ultrasonically-treated sample showed only incomplete separation of the individual components due to the considerable wedging of the segments, the filaments of the ultrasonically treated , sample were completely'split up.
' ~ 5 Fibres having a staple length of 45 mm were cut ~rom Imsplit endless filaments aocording to Examplo 7 and processed into a needle-punched fleece having 80 per~orations per square metre. Separation o~ the fibres was carried out in a tank ~illed with methylene chloride at 35C and ~itted with an ultrasonic generator. It was clearly discernible tha-t, - on fibrillation, the ultrasonically-treated samples, in addi~on to a more complete separation of the components, also showed heavy matting and hence greater strength for equally good fleece properties by comparison with the non-ultrasonically--treated samples, .
:
.
Claims (84)
1. A process for the production of fibre structures by at least partly splitting multicomponent fibres which comprises treating shrinkable substantially unfixed multi-component fibres having at least two incompatible polymer components arranged in the form of a matrix and several seg-ments in the fibre cross-section, at least one of said two components being a polyester component, the segments oc-cupying from 20 to 80% of the total cross-section and at least three segments being peripherally arranged without complete envelopment by the matrix component, with a liquid or gaseous organic shrinkage-initiating agent effective to shrink polyester, which reduces the zero shrinkage temperature of the matrix polymer or of the segment polymer by at least 160°C. and in which the polymer components forming the fibres show different shrinkage behaviour, to shrink one of said components by at least 10%, said treating having a short shrinkage induction time.
2. A process as claimed in claim 1, in which the peripheral segments are completely separated from one another by the matrix component.
3. A process as claimed in claim 1, in which at least six segments are peripherally arranged in the fibre cross-section.
4. A process as claimed in claim 1, in which at least twelve segments are peripherally arranged in the fibre cross-section.
5. A process as claimed in claim 3 or 4, in which at least 20% of the periphery of each of the peripheral seg-ments is not surrounded by the matrix component.
6. A process as claimed in claim 1, 3 or 4, in which about 50% of the periphery of each of the peripheral seg-ments is not surrounded by the matrix component.
7. A process as claimed in claim 1, 3 or 4 in which that part of the segment periphery of the peripheral seg-ments which is surrounded by the matrix component is convex and substantially rounded in shape.
8. A process as claimed in claim 1, in which that part of the segment periphery of the peripheral segments which is surrounded by the matrix has an irregular form.
9. A process as claimed in claim 1, in which that part of the segment periphery of the peripheral segments which is surrounded by the matrix has an irregular, indented form.
10. A process as claimed in claim 1, in which the peripheral segments are symmetrically arranged in the fibre cross-section.
11. A process as claimed in claim 8 or 9, in which the peripheral segments are asymmetrically arranged in the fibre cross-section.
12. A process as claimed in claim 1, 3 or 4, in which, in addition to the peripheral segments, a centrally arranged segment of the same polymer or of a third polymer, which is completely separated from the peripheral segments by the matrix polymer, is present in the fibre cross-section.
13. A process as claimed in claim 1, 3 or 4, in which said organic agent is one in which the induction time for the shrinkage of the polymers used for the matrix is shorter or longer than that of the polymers used for the peripheral segments.
14. A process as claimed in claim 1, 3 or 4, in which further segments completely surrounded by the matrix component are present in a regular or irregular arrangement in the fibre cross-section.
15. A process as claimed in claim 1, 3 or 4, in which said organic agent is one in which the shrinkage rate of the matrix is higher or lower than that of the peripheral segments.
16. A process as claimed in claim 1, in which the treating shrinks the matrix at least 10%.
17. A process as claimed in claim 1, in which the treating shrinks the segments at least 10%.
18. A process as claimed in claim 16 or 17, in which the shrinkage amounts to at least 15%.
19. A process as claimed in claim 1, 3 or 4, in which said organic agent is one which reduces the zero shrinkage temperature of the matrix polymer or of the segment polymer by at least 200°C.
20. A process as claimed in claim 1, 3 or 4, in which the organic agent is selected from the group consisting of methylene chloride, 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, 1,1,2-tri-chloroethane and chloroform.
21. A process as claimed in claim 1, in which the polymer of said matrix component is a polyester based on terephthalic acid and the segment component comprises a polyamide.
22. A process as claimed in claim 1, in which the polymer of said matrix component is a polyamide and the polymer of said segment component is a polyester based on terephthalic acid.
23. A process as claimed in claim 21 or 22, in which said polyamide is a mixed polyamide.
24. A process as claimed in claim 21 or 22, in which said polyamide is a mixed polyamide of a copolymer based on .epsilon.-caprolactam and hexamethylene diamine/adipic acid.
25. A process as claimed in claim 1, in which the sur-face area of a peripheral segment in the fibre cross-section amounts to at most one fifth of the total surface area.
26. A process as claimed in claim 25, in which the sur-face area of the peripheral segment in the fibre cross-sec-tion amounts to at most one eighth of the total surface area.
27. A process as claimed in claim 1, 3 or 4, in which the treatment with the organic agent is combined with a dyeing process.
28. A process as claimed in claim 1, in which during the treatment with the organic agent, the multicomponent fibres are subjected to an additional mechanical treatment.
29. A process as claimed in claim 28, in which the multicomponent fibres are treated using ultra-sound.
30. A process for making fiber structures by splitting multicomponent fibres by treatment with an organic shrinkage-initiating agent, comprising treating shrinkable, essentially non-set multicomponent fibers comprising at least two incom-patible polymer components, which are arranged over the cross-section of the fibre so as to form a matrix and a plurality of segments, said segments comprising from about 20% to about 80%
of the total cross section and at least three segments being arranged peripherally without being completely embedded in the matrix component, with a liquid or gaseous organic shrinkage-initiating agent effective to shrink polyester, which will lower the zero shrinkage temperature of one of the matrix polymer or the segment polymer by at least 160°C., and in which the poly-mer components of the fiber exhibit a differential shrinkage, said treatment being carried out at a temperature and for a time sufficient to shrink one of said components by at least 10% so as to entirely or partly split said multicomponent fibres into separate segments, said treatment having a short shrinkage induction time.
of the total cross section and at least three segments being arranged peripherally without being completely embedded in the matrix component, with a liquid or gaseous organic shrinkage-initiating agent effective to shrink polyester, which will lower the zero shrinkage temperature of one of the matrix polymer or the segment polymer by at least 160°C., and in which the poly-mer components of the fiber exhibit a differential shrinkage, said treatment being carried out at a temperature and for a time sufficient to shrink one of said components by at least 10% so as to entirely or partly split said multicomponent fibres into separate segments, said treatment having a short shrinkage induction time.
31. The process of claim 30, wherein said organic agent is a chlorinated lower alkane.
32. The process of claim 30, wherein at least 20% of the circumference of the peripheral segments is not encased in the matrix component.
33. m e process of claim 32, wherein at least 50% of the circumference of the peripheral segments is not encased in the matrix component.
34. The process of claim 32, wherein the circum-ferential portion of the peripheral segment encased in the matrix component has a substantially convex shape.
35. The process of claim 32, wherein the peripheral segments are symmetrically arranged over the cross section.
36. The proces3 of claim 34, wherein the peripheral segments are symmetrically arranged over the cross section.
37. The process of claim 30, wherein the fiber cross section also comprises a central segment of the same polymer as the peripheral segments or of a third polymer, completely separated from said peripheral segments by the matrix polymer.
38. The process of claim 30, wherein the time of induction of the shrinkage of the matrix polymer in said organic agent differs from that of the polymer of the peripheral segments.
39. The process of claim 30, wherein the shrinkage rate of the matrix in said organic agent is lower or higher than the shrinkage rate of the peripheral segments in said solvent.
40. The process of claim 30, wherein the shrinkage of the matrix or of the peripheral segments is at least 10%.
41. The process of claim 30, wherein the shrinkage of the peripheral segments is at least 10%.
42. The process of claim 30, wherein the shrinkage of the matrix of the peripheral segment is at least 15%.
43. The process of claim 30, wherein the zero shrinkage temperature of elther matrix polymer or segment polymer is lowered by at least 200°C by said organic agent.
44. The process of claim 30, wherein said organic agent is selected from the group consisting of methylene chloride, 1,1,2-tetrachloroethane, 1,1,2-trichloro-ethane and chloroform.
45. The process of claim 30, wherein said organic agent is methylene chloride.
46. The process of claim 30, wherein said organic agent is 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane.
47. The process of claim 30, wherein said organic agent is 1,1,2-trichloroethane.
48. The process of claim 30, wherein said organic agent is chloroform.
49. The process of claim 30, wherein said matxix component is polyalkylene terephthalate and said segment component is a polyamide.
50. The process of claim 30, wherein the matrix component is polyamide and the segment component is polyalkylane terephthalate.
51. The process of claim 49, wherein said segment component is a mixed polyamide.
52. The process of claim 50, wherein said matrix component is a mixed polyamide.
53. The process according to claim 51 or 52, wherein said polyamide blend is a copolymer based on E-caprolactam and hexamethylene diamine/adipic acid.
54. The process of claim 32, wherein the surface area of a peripheral segment in the fibre cross-section represents up to 1/5th of the total surface area.
55. The process of claim 30, wherein said multi-component fibers are dyed simultaneously with said treat-ment with the organic agent.
56. The process of claim 30, wherein the multi-component fibers are subjected to a mechanical treatment simultaneously with said solvent treatment.
57. The process of claim 30, for the manufacture of fiber structures comprising processing said multi-component fibers into a woven, warp knit or circular knit fabric, setting selected areas of said fabric and sub-sequently treating said fiber structure with said organic agent.
58. Process according to claim 57, wherein said selected areas are set by embossing with hot calender rolls having raised portions corresponding to said selected areas.
59. A process for the manufacture of a fibrillated fiber comprising treating a differentially shrinkable, es-sentially nonset, multicomponent fibres, each fibre con-sisting of a matrix component and a segment component com-prising a plurality of segments, said matrix and segment components being of different polymers incompatible with each other, at least one of the two components being a poly-ester component, the segments occupying from 20 to 80% of the total cross-section and at least three segments being peripherally arranged without complete envelopment by the matrix component, with a liquid or gaseous chlorinated lower alkane shrinkage-initiating agent effective to shrink poly-ester, which will lower the zero shrinkage of one of said polymers by at least 160°C. and in which the polymer components exhibit a differential shrinkage, said treatment having a short shrinkage induction time and being carried out at a temperature and for a time sufficient to shrink one of said components by at least 10% so as to entirely or partly split said multicomponent fibres into separate segments.
60. The process of claim 59, wherein said agent is selected from the group consisting of methylene chloride, 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, 1,1,2-trichloroethane and chloroform.
61. In a process for the manufacture of fibre struc-tures having split multicomponent fibres comprising treating a shrinkable, essentially nonset multicomponent fibre com-prising at least two mutually incompatible polymer compo-nents, at least one of said components being a polyester component which are arranged over the cross-section of the filament so as to form a matrix and several segments, said segments comprising from about 20 to 80% of the total cross-section and at least three segments arranged peripherally without being completely embedded in the matrix component with a liquid or gaseous organic shrinkage-initiating agent effective to shrink polyester, which will lower the zero shrinkage temperature of one of the segment polymer or the matrix polymers by at least 160°C and in which the polymer components of the fibre exhibit a differential shrinkage to shrink one of said components by at least 10% in a short shrinkage induction time, the improvement comprising sub-jecting said multicomponent fibres to a mechanical treatment during said treatment with said shrinkage-initiating agent.
62. The process of claim 61, wherein said mechanical treatment comprises the application of ultra-sonic waves.
63. The process of claim 61, wherein said mechanical treatment comprises agitation.
64. A fibre structure consisting completely or in part of split multicomponent fibres of at least two in-compatible polymer components, at least one of said compo-nents being a polyester component, of the matrix-segment type, having a matrix fibre and at least three segment fibres, split off completely or in part therefrom, one of said components being shrunk by at least 10% in relation to the other.
65. A fibre structure as claimed in claim 64, in which said matrix fibre is of a polyalkylene terephthalate and said segment fibres are of a polyamide.
66. A fibre structure as claimed in claim 64, in which said matrix fibre is of a polyamide and said segment fibres are of a polyalkylene terephthalate.
67. A fibre structure as claimed in claim 64, 65 or 66, in which said matrix fibre is shrunk by at least 10% in relation to the segment fibres.
68. A fibre structure as claimed in claim 64, having a woven or knitted arrangement of the multicomponent fibres to form a sheet-form structure and segment or matrix fibres projecting upwards and downwards from the plane of the sheet-form structure.
69. A fibre structure as claimed in claim 64, 65 or 66, having a matrix and segment fibres of finite length in a random arrangement and curved to different extents, the segment fibres being curved to a greater extent than the matrix fibres.
70. A fibre structure as claimed in claim 64, having fixed areas containing unsplit multicomponent fibres.
71. A fibre structure as claimed in claim 70, having consolidated, regularly arranged fixed areas.
72. A fibre structure as claimed in claim 64, having an arrangement of the multicomponent fibres to form a fleece.
73. A fibre structure as claimed in claim 72, having an arrangement of the multicomponent fibres to form a needle-punched fleece.
74. A fibre structure as claimed in claim 72, having bonded multicomponent fibres, the fibres being bonded with polyamide or copolyester at their intersections and segment fibres crossing bonded or unbonded segment fibres, segment fibres crossing bonded matrix fibres and matrix fibres crossing unbonded or bonded matrix fibres at the fibre intersections.
75. A fibre structure as claimed in claim 64, having a matrix fibre containing one or more core segments of polyalkylene terephthalates.
76. A fibre structure as claimed in claim 74, having a matrix fibre or segment fibres of a mixed polyamide.
77. A fibre structure as claimed in claim 76, wherein the mixed polyamide is based on .epsilon.-caprolactam and hexa-methylene diamine/adipic acid.
78. A fibre structure as claimed in claim 64, having a flock-like arrangement of the multicomponent fibres.
79. A fibre structure as claimed in claim 68, having completely or partly opened segment or matrix fibres.
80. A fibre structure as claimed in claim 64, having complete and/or partial splitting into matrix fibres and segment fibres, the only partly split multicomponent fibres still showing mechanical cohesion between the matrix and segment components, some having slots between the matrix and segment fibres and some only longitudinal grooves, corres-ponding to the phase boundaries, along the edge of the multicomponent fibres.
81. A process according to claim 1 in which the unfixed multicomponent is in the form of a woven or knitted fabric, the multicomponent fibres in the thus treated fabric having fixed zones containing unsplit multicomponent fibres.
82. A process as claimed in claim 81, in which, for fixing the multicomponent fihres in zones, patterns are applied by hot calendering.
83. A fibre structure consisting completely or in part of split multicomponent fibres of at least two in-compatible polymer components, at least one of said compo-nents being a polyester component of the matrix-segment type, having a matrix fibre and at least three segment fibres, split off completely or in part therefrom, one of said components being shrunk by at least 10% in relation to the other, prepared in a process which comprises treating shrinkable substantially unfixed multicomponent fibres having at least two incompatible polymer components arranged in the form of a matrix and several segments in the fibre cross-section, at least one of said two components being a polyester compo-nent, the segmentsoccupying from 20 to 80% of the total cross-section and at least three segments being peripherally arranged without complete envelopment by the matrix compo-nent, with a liquid or gaqeous organic shrinkage-initiating agent effective to shrink polyester, which reduces the zero shrinkage temperature of the matrix polymer or of the segment polymer by at least 160°C. and in which the polymer components forming the fibres show different shrinkage behaviour, to shrink one of said components by at least 10%, said treating having a short shrinkage induction time.
84, A fabric in the form of a woven or knitted fabric, comprising multicomponent fibres fixed in zones on the woven or knitted fabric, the multicomponent fibres having been produced in a process which comprises treating shrinkable substantially unfixed multicomponent fibres having at least two incompatible polymer components arranged in the form of a matrix and several segments in the fibre cross-section, at least one of said two components being a polyester compo-nent, the segments occupying from 20 to 80% of the total cross-section and at least three segments being peripherally arranged without complete envelopment by the matrix compo-nent, with a liquid or gaseous organic shrinkage-initiating agent effective to shrink polyester, which reduces the zero shrinkage temperature of the matrix polymer or of the segment polymer by at least 160°C. and in which the polymer components forming the fibres show different shrinkage behaviour, to shrink one of said components by at least 10%, said treating having a short shrinkage induction time, said fabric having been treated with agent.
Applications Claiming Priority (6)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| DEP2809346.1 | 1978-03-03 | ||
| DE19782809346 DE2809346C2 (en) | 1978-03-03 | 1978-03-03 | Process for the production of fiber structures |
| DEP2856091.0 | 1978-12-23 | ||
| DE19782856091 DE2856091C2 (en) | 1978-12-23 | 1978-12-23 | Process for the production of fiber structures |
| DE19792902758 DE2902758C2 (en) | 1979-01-25 | 1979-01-25 | Process for the production of fiber structures by splitting multi-component fibers |
| DEP2902758.5 | 1979-01-25 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1137265A true CA1137265A (en) | 1982-12-14 |
Family
ID=27187474
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000322710A Expired CA1137265A (en) | 1978-03-03 | 1979-03-02 | Fibre structures of split multicomponent fibres |
Country Status (24)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| JP (1) | JPS54125793A (en) |
| AR (1) | AR217146A1 (en) |
| AU (1) | AU525860B2 (en) |
| BR (1) | BR7901299A (en) |
| CA (1) | CA1137265A (en) |
| CH (1) | CH640096B (en) |
| DD (1) | DD142209A5 (en) |
| ES (1) | ES478109A1 (en) |
| FI (1) | FI70732C (en) |
| FR (1) | FR2418820A1 (en) |
| GB (1) | GB2015421B (en) |
| HK (1) | HK12483A (en) |
| IE (1) | IE48241B1 (en) |
| IN (1) | IN151234B (en) |
| IT (1) | IT1114959B (en) |
| LU (1) | LU80983A1 (en) |
| MX (1) | MX154255A (en) |
| NL (1) | NL7901475A (en) |
| NO (1) | NO790708L (en) |
| PL (1) | PL120447B1 (en) |
| PT (1) | PT69265A (en) |
| RO (1) | RO81872A (en) |
| SE (1) | SE441839B (en) |
| YU (1) | YU40363B (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US5958548A (en) * | 1996-08-14 | 1999-09-28 | Nyltec Inc. | Carpet tufted with bulked continuous filament carpet face yarns utilizing new sheathed core filaments and related selection techniques to produce cost savings |
Families Citing this family (15)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE2907623A1 (en) * | 1979-02-27 | 1980-09-04 | Akzo Gmbh | METHOD FOR PRODUCING FIBRILLED FIBER STRUCTURES |
| JPS5926579A (en) * | 1982-07-30 | 1984-02-10 | 東レ株式会社 | Production of flexible leather-like sheet |
| FR2546536B1 (en) * | 1983-05-25 | 1985-08-16 | Rhone Poulenc Fibres | PROCESS FOR THE TREATMENT OF NONWOVEN TABLECLOTHS AND PRODUCT OBTAINED |
| GB2183540B (en) * | 1985-12-10 | 1990-01-31 | Christopher Francis Coles | Improvements in or related to fibres |
| US4987030A (en) * | 1987-10-07 | 1991-01-22 | Toray Industries, Inc. | High-tenacity conjugated fiber and process for preparation thereof |
| KR920005730B1 (en) * | 1990-03-30 | 1992-07-16 | 동양나이론주식회사 | Separating type conjugated yarn |
| JPH0417890A (en) * | 1990-05-10 | 1992-01-22 | Brother Ind Ltd | Data making device for embroidering machine |
| JP2506994Y2 (en) * | 1990-11-19 | 1996-08-14 | ユニチカ株式会社 | Non-woven cloth |
| GB2324758B (en) * | 1997-05-03 | 2002-04-17 | Secr Defence Brit | Adaptive yarn |
| JP5272229B2 (en) * | 2007-05-24 | 2013-08-28 | Ｅｓファイバービジョンズ株式会社 | Split type composite fiber, aggregate thereof, and fiber molded body using the split type composite fiber |
| JP5863231B2 (en) * | 2010-09-27 | 2016-02-16 | ユニ・チャーム株式会社 | Non-woven fabric, absorbent article containing the non-woven fabric, and method for forming the non-woven fabric |
| JP6054502B2 (en) * | 2015-12-21 | 2016-12-27 | ユニ・チャーム株式会社 | Non-woven fabric, absorbent article containing the non-woven fabric, and method for forming the non-woven fabric |
| JP6336015B2 (en) * | 2016-11-30 | 2018-06-06 | ユニ・チャーム株式会社 | Non-woven fabric, absorbent article containing the non-woven fabric, and method for forming the non-woven fabric |
| JP6897085B2 (en) * | 2016-12-20 | 2021-06-30 | 東レ株式会社 | Split type composite fiber |
| JP7047593B2 (en) * | 2018-05-23 | 2022-04-05 | 東レ株式会社 | Wet non-woven fabric |
Family Cites Families (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPS5230629B2 (en) * | 1973-12-14 | 1977-08-09 | ||
| JPS5158578A (en) * | 1974-11-15 | 1976-05-21 | Kanebo Ltd | Fushokufu oyobisono seizoho |
-
1979
- 1979-02-20 AU AU44410/79A patent/AU525860B2/en not_active Ceased
- 1979-02-22 PT PT69265A patent/PT69265A/en unknown
- 1979-02-23 CH CH180079A patent/CH640096B/en unknown
- 1979-02-26 NL NL7901475A patent/NL7901475A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 1979-02-27 ES ES478109A patent/ES478109A1/en not_active Expired
- 1979-02-28 IT IT48157/79A patent/IT1114959B/en active
- 1979-03-01 IN IN187/CAL/79A patent/IN151234B/en unknown
- 1979-03-01 AR AR275669A patent/AR217146A1/en active
- 1979-03-01 LU LU80983A patent/LU80983A1/en unknown
- 1979-03-01 RO RO7996753A patent/RO81872A/en unknown
- 1979-03-02 DD DD79211358A patent/DD142209A5/en unknown
- 1979-03-02 FI FI790713A patent/FI70732C/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 1979-03-02 SE SE7901887A patent/SE441839B/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 1979-03-02 MX MX176788A patent/MX154255A/en unknown
- 1979-03-02 YU YU523/79A patent/YU40363B/en unknown
- 1979-03-02 JP JP2348779A patent/JPS54125793A/en active Pending
- 1979-03-02 CA CA000322710A patent/CA1137265A/en not_active Expired
- 1979-03-02 BR BR7901299A patent/BR7901299A/en unknown
- 1979-03-02 NO NO790708A patent/NO790708L/en unknown
- 1979-03-02 PL PL1979213853A patent/PL120447B1/en unknown
- 1979-03-02 FR FR7905532A patent/FR2418820A1/en active Granted
- 1979-03-02 GB GB7907424A patent/GB2015421B/en not_active Expired
- 1979-08-08 IE IE1021/79A patent/IE48241B1/en unknown
-
1983
- 1983-04-14 HK HK124/83A patent/HK12483A/en not_active IP Right Cessation
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US5958548A (en) * | 1996-08-14 | 1999-09-28 | Nyltec Inc. | Carpet tufted with bulked continuous filament carpet face yarns utilizing new sheathed core filaments and related selection techniques to produce cost savings |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| GB2015421B (en) | 1982-10-27 |
| SE441839B (en) | 1985-11-11 |
| NL7901475A (en) | 1979-09-05 |
| NO790708L (en) | 1979-09-04 |
| FR2418820A1 (en) | 1979-09-28 |
| HK12483A (en) | 1983-04-22 |
| IN151234B (en) | 1983-03-12 |
| RO81872B (en) | 1983-05-30 |
| AR217146A1 (en) | 1980-02-29 |
| PL213853A1 (en) | 1980-01-02 |
| IT7948157A0 (en) | 1979-02-28 |
| FI790713A (en) | 1979-09-04 |
| DD142209A5 (en) | 1980-06-11 |
| MX154255A (en) | 1987-06-29 |
| AU525860B2 (en) | 1982-12-02 |
| IT1114959B (en) | 1986-02-03 |
| FR2418820B1 (en) | 1982-11-05 |
| ES478109A1 (en) | 1980-07-01 |
| SE7901887L (en) | 1979-09-04 |
| IE791021L (en) | 1979-09-03 |
| IE48241B1 (en) | 1984-11-14 |
| FI70732C (en) | 1986-10-06 |
| FI70732B (en) | 1986-06-26 |
| PL120447B1 (en) | 1982-02-27 |
| JPS54125793A (en) | 1979-09-29 |
| LU80983A1 (en) | 1979-06-18 |
| AU4441079A (en) | 1979-09-06 |
| CH640096B (en) | |
| YU40363B (en) | 1985-12-31 |
| PT69265A (en) | 1979-03-01 |
| RO81872A (en) | 1983-06-01 |
| YU52379A (en) | 1983-01-21 |
| GB2015421A (en) | 1979-09-12 |
| CH640096GA3 (en) | 1983-12-30 |
| BR7901299A (en) | 1979-10-09 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
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| MKEX | Expiry |