CA1172526A - Sewing thread and method for manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method for manufacturing a sewing thread comprising the following steps: drawing an undrawn polyester multifilament yarn; preliminarily heat treating the drawn yarn at an effective heat treating temperature before false twisting; then, false twisting the heat treated synthetic multi-filament yarn at a temperature of at least 150°C.; subjecting the false twisted yarn to a fluid jet treatment under the slackened condition so as to intermittently interlace in a lengthwise direction constituent filaments of the yarn and so as to form protruded portions protruding from the surface of the yarn; and post-heat treating the interlaced yarn at an effective heat treating temperature being higher than the heat treating temperature of the false twisting. By this method, a thread suitable for sewing can be obtained. The produced sewing thread comprises at least one polyester multifilament yarn, in which thread constituent filaments of the multifilament yarn are intermittently interlaced along the lengthwise direction thereof, and a part of the constituent filaments of the multi-filament yarn protrudes from the surface of the multifilament yarn; and the torque of the sewing thread is very small in spite of the fact that substantially all filaments constituting the sewing thread have been subjected to the same false twisting.

Description

1:172S26 The present invention relates to a novel sewing thread com-prising one or more thermoplastic synthetic multifilament yarns, and it also relates to a method for manufacturing the same.
Conventionally known are various types of synthetic sewing threads, typically sewing thread made of spun yarn or false twist textured yarn. It is also known that a plurality of such spun yarns or false twist textured yarns are utilized as com-ponent yarns to form a sewing thread.
However, such conventional sewing threads have many disad-vantages when they are actually used for sewing. For example, a sewing thread comprising one or more spun yarns as component yarns has a large variation in yarn strength. This variation results in frequent breakage of the sewing thread during sewing operations; and an inferior appearance in the sewn products because of inherent irregular thread thickness. Contrary to this, a sewing thead comprising one or more ordinary false twist textured yarns, or ordinary drawn yarns, as component yarns has inferior sewability to that of a sewing thread com-prising spun yarns. In addition, when a sewing thread compris-ing spun yarns is used in an industrial sewing machine at a high speed, thread breakage frequently occurs due to frictional heat. Based on this fact, it is generally believed that a thread having fluffs is preferable for a sewing thread.
Taking the background described above into consideration, it has been confirmed that an appropriate sewing thread must have good sewability, produce beautiful seams and that a sewing thread having an excessively small torque, being cohered in one body and being provided with fluffs or fluff-like protruded fibers, achieves these results.
A sewing thread which complies with the above requirements cannot be realized by utilizing spun yarns or ordinary false twist textured yarns, because they have unsuitable torque or protruded structures. It has been found that the torque ~1725Z6 possessed by an ordinary false twist textured yarn causes problems during sewing operations, and thereforel the torque is believed to be unsuitable for sewing thread. Furthermore, in some cases, the false twist crimps and the twist structure caused thereby are unnecessary for the sewing operation.
If a sewing thread has torque therein, a snarl is gener-ated in the thread portion just before it enters the fabric to be sewn. If the sewing thread is slackened, snarls are gener-ated and deteriorate the sewability of the thread. Especially when such a thread is used in a sewing machine, a number of dis-advantages occur, such as: skipped stitches; an increase of thread breakage caused by a looper end; and an increase of thread breakage due to the entanglement between other parts of the sewing machine and the thread.
Accordingly, in conventional techniques, various attempts described in the following items (1) through (5) have been ap-plied in order to reduce torque. However, these attempts at re-ducing torque have many industrial disadvantages when they are applied to sewing threads utilized in sewing machines for home use and industrial use.
(1) In order to balance torques, a yarn false twisted in an "S" direction and a yarn false twisted in a "Z" direction are doubled and interlaced to form a single yarn. Although this yarn is splendid as a sewing thread, because torque therein can completely be diminished, disadvantages occur in that the pro-cess for manufacturing the yarn is highly complicated and the cost for manufacturing the yarn is rather expensive.

(2) A false twisted yarn is again subjected to a heat treatment in dry or wet heat in order to decrease torque, and a sewing thread is produced. A te~tured yarn produced in this manner is generally well known; however, there is a natural limitation for decreasing torque based on the conventional re~
setting treatment. Accordingly, a sewing thread having suit-able properties cannot be produced within the usual conditions, 1~72S'~6 even if the conditions are carefully selected. More specifi-cally, it should be pointed out that the heat treatment after the false twisting operation in the conventional method is not carried out at such a high temperature or under such a stretch-ing condition, because the heat treatment in the conventional method is intended to maintain: the thread strength; resis-tance to elongation under a low tension; and crimps in the thread. Therefore, the treatment is incompatible with the high temperature or stretching heat treatment.
~3) If additional twists are supplemented to a thread, it is possible to diminish torque, but only under certain special conditions, for example, under a condition of free tension.
However, under other conditions, for example, the condition wherein the thread is subjected to a heat treatment, another tension, or further release of such a tension, then torque may be developed, and therefore, the thread is not suitable for use as a sewing thread. The behavior of this yarn can be explained by the difference in properties of torques generated by false twists and real twists.
(4) A sewing thread having a two folded thread structure may be desirable by balancing the initial twist and the final twist, if a component yarn does not have torque. Accordingly, if the single yarn described in item (1) above is used to form a two folded thread, a suitable sewing thread can be produced.
However, this sewing thread has disadvantages which exceed those inherent to the single yarn in item (l); more specifi-cally, the manufacturing process is more complicated and the manufacturing cost becomes more expensive. If a three or more folded thread structure, or a structure including initial, inter and final twists, is applied, the sewing thread has similar disdvantages.
(5) It is also possible to use a plurality of yarns having false twist torques in order to balance the three torques generated by false twist, initial twist and final 11~7Z526 twist. However, this thread had disadvantages similar to those described in item (3) above.
An object of the present invention is to provide a sewing thread which is composed of one or more polyester multifilament yarns and which is superior to a conventional sewing thread, and a method for effectively manufacturing the sewing thread through a false twisting process.
The present inventors have succeeded in obtaining a novel sewing thread which is superior to a conventional sewing thread and comprising one or more polyester false twisted multi-filament yarns, the torque of which thread is at most 4 turns/
50 cm, in spite of the fact that substantially all filaments constituting said yarns have torque in the same direction.
This is accomplished by combining the texturing conditions ap-plied to a false twisting step and the heat treating conditions applied to various heat treating steps.
According to the present understanding of the invention, a sewing thread with torque of at most 4 turns/50 cm is superior to any other conventional sewing threads when it is used for a sewing operation and does not result in significant increases in the manufacturing cost and the manufacturing steps. Con-trary to this, a sewing thread with torque exceeding 4 turns/50 cm is inappropriate for a sewing thread.
sased on the present understanding that the most appropri-ate sewing thread is cohered and has protruded portions, the present invention utilizes the capability of false twisted filaments for developing crimps and torque as a mechanism for forming the protruded portions.
The sewing thread of the present invention has a construc-tion characterized in that the torque of the sewing thread is at most 4 turns/50 cm, in spite of the fact that substantially all filaments constituting the sewing thread have been sub-jected to the same false twisting. The sewing thread of the present invention has a very low torque. The low torque of the ~17Z5~6 present invention has not been obtained through a conventional method wherein textured yarns having opposite korques are doubled to form a yarn. The sewing thread of the present inven-tion can basically be produced by using a single yarn manufac-tured in a single false twisting unit. According to the present invention, the yarn can be used in the form of a single yarn to form a sewing thread as explained above, and, in addi-tion to this, a plurality of such textured yarns also can be used, in the form of a folded thread, as a sewing thread. Fur-thermore, this yarn can be used as a sewing thread for giving such stitching on the fabric a decorative appearance.
The sewing thread, and method for manufacturing the same according to the present invention, will now be explained in more detail, having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIGS. 1 through 3 are model views illustrating steps for measuring torque as defined in the present invention.
The expression "the torque of a sewing thread is at most 4 turns/50 cm" used herein is based on the following definition, from the point of view that certain trouble might be created in carrying out the sewing operation if the sewing thread is pro-vided with a high torque under free relaxed conditions during a sewing process wherein the sewing thread is tensioned intermit-tently.
The expression means that the number of turns of a loop around a vertical axis until the loop becomes stationary is ob-tained by the following two steps (1) and (2), respectively:
a first step (1) wherein a sewing thread is formed in a single loop, said loop having a circumference of 1 m and being suspended from a thread made of the same material, as illus-trated in Fig. 1, wherein 1 denotes a test piece sewing threadformed in a single loop, said loop having a circumference of 1 m, and 2 denotes a yarn suspended from the loop and made of the same material;

~72526 a second step (2) wherein a weight W of 1 gram/denier is applied to the lower end of the loop via a thread made of the same material, as illustrated in Fig. 2, wherein 3 denotes a weight W, which is hung from the loop by means of a yarn 2' made of the same material as the thread test piece; thereafter the weight is removed from the loop, as illustrated in Fig. 3.
In the above-mentioned measuring process, "the torque of a sewing thread is at most 4 turns/50 cm" which is defined in the present invention means that the number of turns of a loop around a vertical axis until the loop becomes stationary is at most 4 turns, in respective conditions, that is, the relaxed condition as shown in Fig. 1 and the relaxed condition after taking off the weight as shown in Fig. 3.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the component yarn of the sewing thread is characterized by: por-tions protruding from the surface of the sewing thread; and an alternate structure consisting of an interlaced portion and a non-interlaced portion alternately arranged along the length-wise direction of the yarn. Furthermore, the yarn is charac-terized in that it has substantially no twists therein, and in addition, it is characterized in that it is constituted of fila-ments having the same length.
It is preferable that the component yarn is made of a polyester. It is also preferable that the intrinsic viscosity (IV) of the yarn is in a range between 0.65 and 1.30, and that the average molecular weight is between about 21,000 and 41,000 (measuring conditions: at a temperature of 25~C in o-chlorophenol solution having a concentration of 8% by weight). If the intrinsic viscosity tIV) of the yarn is included in that range, the strength of the produced thread is sufficiently high and is suitable for a sewing thread used in a sewing machine.
A preferably produced sewing thread of the present inven-tion has an elongation of a remarkably small value, i.e., equal ~172526 to or less than 3~, relative to the original length after the operations, wherein each operation, consisting of tensioning with 1 g/denier and releasing thereof, is repeated ten times.
This supports the fact that the base portions of the protruded portions are fixedly secured within the thread, and the fact that the sewing thread has resistance to plastic or mechanical deformation. The sewing thread having a low elongation due to the tension and a high dimensional stability results in the in-crease in capability of a sewing thread to be sewn and the beautiful finish of the sewn product.
In another preferred embodiment of a polyester sewing thread according to the present invention, the sum of elonga-tion of the thread relative to the original length as measured by tensioning the thread with 1 g/denier and releasing the ten-sion from the thread ~epeatedly ten times, and the shrinkage in dry heat (180C for 30 minutes) or in wet heat (130C for 30 minutes) is at most 5%, preferably at most 3%. The resultant sewing thread is stable to heat and tension and provides splen-did results when used in sewing.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for manufacturing the above-explained sewing thread is provided, which method comprises:
(1) preliminarily heat treating a synthetic multifilament yarn;
(2) false twisting the heat treated polyester multifilament yarn;

(3) subjecting the false twisted yarn to a fluid jet treatment under the slackened condition so as to interlace partially with each other, along a lengthwise direction, constituent filaments of the yarn and so as to form protruded portions protruding from the surface of the yarn; and

(4) post-heat treating the interlaced yarn.
The effective heat treatment temperatures which will be used in this specification are defined as follows:

~1725Z6 (1) when a running yarn is heat treated by means of a con-tact type dry heater, the temperature of the contact type dry heater is the effective heat treating temperature;
(2) when a running yarn i5 heated treated by means of a straight hollow dry heater, the temperature lower than that of the straight hollow dry heater by 15C is the effective heat treating temperature;
(3) when a running yarn is heat treated by m~ans of a steam heater, the temperature higher than that of the steam heater by 30C is the effective heat treating temperature; and (4) when a yarn package is heat treated by means of steam or in water, the temperature higher than that of the steam or water by 60C is the effective heat treating tempera-ture.
The method of the present invention will now be explained in more detail. The method of the present invention comprises a preliminary heat treatment step, a false twisting step and a post-heat treatment step. Please note that the preliminary heat treatment is carried out at an effective temperature high-er than that of the false twisting step. The method will speci-fically be described. The sewing thread of the present inven-tion is manufactured by a false twisting step and a heat treat-ment in a slackened condition occurring subsequent to the false twisting step for forming protruded portions by relying on the capabilities of the component yarn for developing crimps and torque. The sewing thread is then subjected to a fluid inter-lacing treatment so as to interlace constituent filaments and so as to alternately form interlaced portions and non-inter-laced portions along the lengthwise direction, and accordingly, a suitable coherency is achieved in the sewing thread. Further-more, the sewing thread is subjected to special heat treatments which are so adjusted that the effects created by the heat treatments are expected to have a particular relationship with the effects created by the false twisting heat set operation.

~:17ZSZ6 g .

The characteristics of such a manufacturing process are that: the mechanism to form the protruded portions relies on the capabilities of the individual constituent filaments for developing crimps and torque, which capabilities are created by false twisting; the alternate interlacing treatment provides the sewing thread with coherency and the protruded portions with security within the thread; and an intensive post-heat treatment is effected at an effective heat treating temperature higher than that of the false twisting step and diminishes the effects generated by false twisting, and the process serves to manufacture an especially textured sewing thread. In such a manufacturing process, it is also effective, for production of a sewing thread of the present invention with decreased false twisted effects, to subject the thread to a preliminary heat treatment before the false twisting step, which treatment is effected at an effective heat treating temperature higher than that of the false twisting step. This is because, in some cases, the false twist crimps and the twist structure caused thereby are unnecessary for a sewing thread.
In conclusion, a polyester multifilament yarn of the present invention is subjected to at least two heat treatments in addition to that of the false twisting, i.e., the first one being performed before the false twisting operation and the second one being performed after the fluid jet treatment. It is very important that the effective heat treatment tempera-tures in both cases are higher than that of the false twistingoperation.
The above-explained process will now specifically be ex-plained. A polyes-ter multifilament yarn is subjected to a false twist texturing process comprising twisting, heat setting and detwisting, and then it is treated by means of a fluid jet interlacing device serving for intermittently interlacing the thread. The protruded portions are mainly formed by slackening the thread after it is false twisted. In a simple way, the ~7ZSZ~;

thread is fed into a fluid jet interlacing device at a certain over-feed ratio after it is false twisted so as to be brought into a slackened condition at a portion upstream from the fluid jet interlacing device, and accordingly, filaments constituting the component yarn protrude by themselves because of the capa-bilities thereof for developing crimps and torque, and there-after the base portions of the protruded portions are secured by the interlaced filaments caused by the intermittently inter-lacing treatment, and a component yarn, and accordingly, a thread, having protruded portions fixedly secured thereto, is produced. Since the protruded portions are formed not bybroken ends of filaments, but by continuous portions of fila-ments, the withdrawal of such protruded portions does not occur easily. In addition, since the base portions of the protruded portions are fixedly secured, the displacement of such pro-truded portions is sufficiently prevented. The shape of theprotruded portions may be formed in a bow-like shape, a loop or a snarl, or a combination of these shapes.
Since the filaments constituting the single polyester multifilament yarn are made of the same material and are sub-jected to the same treatment, as is apparent from the protrudedportion forming mechanism the filaments have substantially the same length on which the protruded portions are formed. Due to the substantially same length of the constituent filaments, the probabilities for forming the protruded portions are the same Eor all the filaments, and therefore, all the filaments are equally exposed to an external force due to the rubbing opera-tion of the protruded portions. Because of the combination of this effect and the intermittent interlaced effect, the pro-truded portions are almost completely prevented from being dis-placed when they are subjected to an external force, such as arubbing operation. Accordingly, the generation of neps is re-duced. In addition, the strength efficiency of the component yarn can be remarkably enhanced because of the special construction oE the thread. In comparison with this, if the thread is composed of two polyester multifilament yarns as com-ponent yarns and if only one of the component yarns is overfed to form protruded portions, the protruded portions may easily be moved and may be changed into neps. The strength efficiency of the component yarn is naturally low and is insufficient for a sewing thread, because yarn breakages occur frequently.
The capabilities of a component yarn, including the pro-truded portions, for developing crimps and torque are related to the false twisting conditions, especially the number of the false twists. If the number of false twists is small, thecrimp configuration becomes large and results in large pro-truded portions, and at the same time, the capabilities for developing crimps and torque are weakened. If the number of false twists is further reduced, almost no protruded portions are formed. Contrary to this, if the number of false twists are large, although there are capabilities for developing crimps and torque, the crimp configuration becomes small and very small protruded portions are formed. As the number of false twists increases, the size of the protruded portions becomes small, and finally the protruded portions diminish.
The range of the number of false twists, by which the usual false twist textured yarns are manufactured, substantially cor-responds to the range of the number of false twists wherein no protruded portions are formed. Accordingly, in the method of the present invention, the number of false twists must be setrelatively smaller than the number of false twists utilized for manufacturing the usual false twist textured yarns.
According to the present invention, the range of the number T (turns/m) of false twists wherein protruded portions are preferably formed is expressed as follows, 2000 < T.(D/p)~ < 7000 In this equation, D denotes the denier of the polyester multifilament yarn which is to be false twisted, and p denotes 1~725A:6 the specific gravity of the filament.
It is preferable that -the slackened condition for creating protruded portions be in the range set forth below which is expressed as the slackened percentage in an embodiment wherein, after a component yarn is false twisted, it is overfed into a fluid jet interlacing device.
4 < {(Vl/V2) - 1} x 100 < 20 In this equation, Vl denotes the take-up speed upon false twisting, and V2 denotes take-up speed upon inter-lacing. When an additional zone, wherein a component yarn is slackened after it i5 false twisted, is partitioned from a fluid interlacing zone via a take-up roller, it is preferable to also apply an over-feed ratio of between 4 and 20~ which ratio is similarly derived from the above-mentioned equation.
Similarly when a slackened zone is formed by means of other pro-cesses, it is basically preferable that the slackened percen-tage or over-feed ratio be selected in the range described above.
It is also possible to carry out a process for stretching a component yarn which has been false twistd by subjecting the yarn to a draft before, during or after the fluid treatment.
Due to such stretching, the number and the size of the pro-truded portions can also be adjusted. For example, when a component yarn is once stretched after it is false twisted and before it is slackened, the number of the protruded portions can be more and the size thereof can be smaller relative to those produced when the yarn is not stretched. When a yarn is stretched during or after the fluid interlacing treatment, poorly held protruded portions may be diminished, and only the rigidly held protruded portions may selectively remain. Accor-dingly, sewing thread having a high resistance against a pulling force can be obtained, because the protruded portions are rigidly held.

~72526 The textured yarn produced through the above-explained process and having protruded portions rigidly secured thereto is superior to other yarns of the present invention, in neps and strength efficiency thereof. Other yarns produced through other processes, for example, two component yarns formed by two polyester multifilament yarns, one of which is overfed and is subjected to a false twisting operation or a fluid interlacing operation, have protruded portions that are formed in the fila-ments constituting the overfed yarn.
According to the present invention, a yarn having at least 200 protruded portions per one meter may be effectively usedfor a sewing thread, regardless of the mechanism used for forming the protruded portions. The number of protruded por-tions serve to reduce the coefficient of friction between the thread and sewing machine members, made of metal or other materials, such as a needle, or a guide. Accordingly, thecapability of the thread to be sewn is remarkably enhanced. As a result, the sewing thread of the present invention, which is composed of filaments, is provided with the properties and the 2G appearance of a sewing thread made of a spun yarn.
It is preferable that the number of interlaced portions be equal to or more than 40 per one meter, and that the length of a non-interlaced portion be equal to or less than about 15 mm.
Through the above-described processes, the yarn having pro-truded portions, base portions of which are rigidly secured within the yarn, is subsequently subjected to an intensive post-heat treatment, by which the torque and crimp properties ap-plied through the false twisting step are decreased.
The intensive post-heat treatment is very important in pro-ducing the yarn of the present invention. The post-heat treat-ment must achieve heat treatment effects which are at least superior to those effected by the heat set effects achieved in the false twisting step, and, as a result, the molecular structures in the constituent filaments are returned to the condition before they were false twisted. When the post-heat treatment satisfies the requirement described above, a sewing thread of the present invention is produced and is characterized in that the torque of the component yarn is at most 4 turns/50 cm, in spite of the fact that substantially all filaments constituting the yarn have been subjected to the same false twisting and have torque in the same direction.
Accordingly, the heating condition of the post-heat treatment must be so selected that the heat treatment effects are superior to the heat set effects achieved by the false twisting, i.e., the temperature during the post-heat treatment must be substantially higher than the temperature during the false twist heat set treatment. However, it should be noted that the heat treatment effects of the post-heat treatment relate to the post-heat treatment system. In general, a continuous heat treatment, wherein a running yarn is treated, has inferior heat treatment effects to those achieved by a batch heat treatment, wherein a lot of packages are treated for a long time period, and therefore, the temperature difference of about 30C must be taken into consideration. Similarly, the temperature difference of about 30C must be taken into consideration between a dry heat treatment and a wet heat treatment, because the dry heat treatment achieves inferior heat treatment effects to those achieved by wet heat treatment.
Furthermore, when the heat treatment is carried out by means of a hollow tubular heater, the temperature of the hollow tubular heater should be higher than that of a contact type heater.
Although there is no substantial difference between a heat treatment under a slackened condition, wherein a yarn is heat treated while crimps in the yarn are being developed, and a heat treatment under a stretched condition, wherein a yarn is heat treated while crimps in the yarn are not being developed, when these heat treatments are used as ~17ZSZ6 a post-heat treatment, the stretched condition heat treatment is preferable in order to maintain the resistance of the yarn against the tensile force, because of the reasons described above. As explained above, the post-heat treatment can be carried out in dry heat or wet heat, and continuously or discontinuously (i.e., in batch system).
When the conditions for the post-heat treatment are suitably selected, a sewing thread having a torque egual to or less than 4 turns/50 cm can be produced. When a wet heat treatment is applied to the post-heat treatment, the post--heat treatment may take place when the dyeing step is carried out. When a wet heat treatment is carried out, a textured yarn in a form of a single yarn may be subjected to such a wet heat treatment. Alternatively, if a sewing thread is used in a form of a folded thread, such as a two-folded thread or a three-folded thread, the sewing thread may be subjected to such a wet heat treatment, after such a folded t~read is formed. When a folded thread is manufactured, it is unnecessary to take into consideration the special combination between an S-false twisted yarn and a Z-false twisted yarn, and accordingly, a plurality of substantially the same textured yarns can be utilized.
The present invention is applicable to any synthetic fibers, and the kind of the fiber material is not limited.
However, a polyester fiber is preferable because of the heat treatment effects clearly achieved therein, since the present invention utilizes particular heat treatments, as explained above. In addition, a sewing thread made of a polyester has splendid properties, superior to those of sewing thread made of other materials, in that, for example, elongation is relatively small.
When a sewing thread of the present invention is composed of one or more polyester multifilament yarns, according to the present inventors' experiences, it is preferable that, when the false twisting step is carried out by means of a contact type heater, and when the post--heat treatment is continuously carried out in dry heat by 1~7;2,5Z6 means of a hollow tubular heater, tl) the post-heat treatment is in a slackened condition, (2) the temperature of the post-heat treatment is equal to or higher than 210C, (3) the temperature of the false twisting step is at least 150C, and (4) the difference in the temperatures of the post-heat treatment and the false twisting step is equal to or more than 15C. The temperatures should be suitably selected so that they satisfy the above-described requirements, And it has been confirmed that the torque in the constituent filaments is effectively reduced, if the difference in the temperatures is large.
When a packa~e is heat treated, it is necessary that an intensive wet heat $reatment, for achieving the heat treatment effects higher than the heat set effects achieved during the false twisting step, be carried out. More specifically, it is necessary that the heat treatment temperature of the false twisting stepbe equal to or lower than the sum of the temperature of the wet heat treatment and 60~C. Generally speaking, torque in constituent filaments is effectively decreased, if the difference in the false twisting temperature and the sum is large.
From the point concerning heat treatment effects, that is, concerning a wet heat treatment, it is equally possible to carry out either: a slackened heat treatment wherein the heat treatment takes place while crimps are being developed;
or a stretched heat treatment wherein heat treatment occurs while crimps are not being developed. Because of the reasons described above, in order to maintain the resistance of the yarn against tensile force, the wet post-heat treatment is preferably carried out in the stretched condition heat treatment. Incidentally, in order to reduce the steps, it is also possible to carry out the wet heat treatment together with a dyeing operation, such as a cheese dyeing operation. In this case, the slackened condition heat treatment is actually carried out.
When dry heat treatment is carried out, intensive and appropriate post-heat treatment conditions should be ~ - 17 -selected. More specifically, it is at least necessary to adjust such conditions so that an intensive post-heat treatment achieves heat treatment effects superior to those achieved by the false twisting heat set. If the false twisting is carried out by means of a contact heater, and if the post-heat treatment is carried out by means of hollow tubular heaters, the temperature of the post-heat treatment should be equal to or higher than the sum of the temperature of the false twisting heater and 15C. A
thread suitable for sewing can be produced when the differ-ence between the temperature of the post-heat treatment and the sum is large. It is preferable that the temperature of the post-heat treatment be egual to or higher than 210C.
Furthermore, it is necessary that the post-heat treatment is carried out under a continuous under-feed condition, in other words, in a stretched condition.
Although there is no significant difference in heat treatment effects achieved by the post-heat treatment between the slackened heat treatment, wherein crimps are fully developed, and the stretched heat treatment, wherein crimps are not fully developed, the stretched heat treatment performed in an under-feed condition is preferable in order to obtain a sewing thread having resistance against tensile force, because of the reasons described above.
It is also effective for the present invention to carry out a preliminary heat treatment performed before the false twisting step together with a post-heat treatment carried out after the false twisting. It is preferable that the temperature of the preliminary heat treatment be at least 210C and be equal to or higher than the tempera-ture of the false twisting step. In this case, it is also preferable that the temperature of the false twist heater be equal to or higher than 150C. The preliminary heat treatment achieves advantages in increasing the strength of the component yarn and resistance to elongation, - and in stabilizing the thermal properties of the component yarn, such as thermal shrinkage. Due to the preliminary ~17ZS~,6 heat treatment, the effects such as crimps and torque, achieved by false twisting which is carried out at a temperature lower than that of the preliminary heat treatment are made temporary.
In other words, when a component yarn has been subjected to a preliminary heat treatment, the effects achieved by false twist-ing can easily be diminished later, and therefore, torque in a component yarn can be diminished when the yarn is subjected to a post-heat treatment, even under a slackened condition. In other words, even when a batch of packages are heat treated in a post-heat treatment, the yarn can maintain strength and resis-tance to elongation.
In the present invention, the preliminary heat treatmentmay be performed in a drawing zone in which an undrawn yarn or a partially drawn yarn is drawn under heated conditions or may be performed in a stretch heat treatment or a relaxed heat treatment applied just after the drawing process.
If polyester fibers besides polyester fibers having an intrinsic viscosity (IV) of between 0.65 and 1.30 determined at a temperature of 25C in o-chlorophenol solution having a con-centration of 8~ by weight is utilized to produce a sewing thread, the above-explained characteristic effect could not be attained.
When the polyester multifilament yarn is subjected to the combined heat treatment, including the preliminary heat treat-ment, the false twisting and the wet post-heat treatment, it is preferable that the temperature of the false twisting be equal to or lower than the sum of the temperature of the wet post-heat treatment and 60~, and that the temperature of the pre-liminary heat treatment be equal to or higher than the sum, and in addition, that the temperature of the preliminary heat treatment be equal to or higher than another sum of the tempera-ture of false twisting and 20C.
When the polyester multifilament yarn is subjected to the combined heat treatment, including the preliminary heat treat-ment, it is preferable that the temperature of the preliminaryheat treatment be equal to or higher than the sum of the temper-ature of the false twisting and 20C, and that the temperature of the dry post-heat treatment in a stretch condition be equal to or higher than a further sum of the temperature of the false twisting and 15C.
As described above, it is important in the present inven-tion that the temperature in each heat treatment that performed before the false twisting process and that performed after the fluid jet treatment, should be such an effective heat treating temperature as to provide more heat-setting effect to said fila-ments than the heat-setting effect obtained at the effective heat treating temperature provided in said false twisting pro-cess. However, these heat set conditions must be different from each other as mentioned above, and the suitable heat setting temperature should be varied in accordance to the heat setting medium adopted in this process. That is, in using a contact type dry heat system, as the yarn directly contacts said heater, the temperature of said heater is equal to the yarn temperature. So that, the temperature of said heater seems to be the effective yarn setting temperature. On the other hand, in the case of using a tubular heater with the yarn passing therethrough without contacting the inside wall of said heater, generally the yarn temperature will be 15C below the temperature of the heater. Therefore, if a certain temperature is required as the most suitable heat setting temperature of the yarn, the temperature of said tubular heater must be set forth at 15C higher than that of the required yarn heat set-ting temperature. In the case of using a steam heater or heat-ing system of yarns in a package form with steam or hot liquid, the effective yarn setting temperature will usually be 30C

1172~26 and 60C higher than that of each heating system, respectively.
Accordingly, in the present invention the basic concept of controlling the heating temperature of said heater is mainly dependent upon the heating system of using the contact type dry heating method, and in the case of using another heatinq svstem, the controlling method of the heat temperature is performed by using a temperature conversion formula, along with the basic concept given in the case of using the contact type dry heater.
The most suitable heat setting temperature required by a yarn which should be treated represents TC, and, the conversion temperature required in the respective heat treatment system TnC is represented in the following formulas.

Conversion System of heat set treatment Temperature [T

The temperature of the heater in a contact type dry heating system : Tl T=T

25 The same temperature in a non-contact type tubular heater system : T2 T=T2-15C

The same temperature in a steam heating system : T3 T=T3+30C

The same temperature in a yarn heat setting system in a package form in steam or hot liquid : T4 T=T4+60C

A component yarn according to the present invention substantially has no twists therein and is suitable for a sewing thread, even if it is used as a single yarn. The yarn of the present invention has intermittently interlaced por-tions along the length of the yarn, so that the yarn has the appropriate coherency. The above-mentioned phrase "substan-tially has no twists" includes a twisted condition in a yarn which is twisted by a draw-twister, and, more specifically, includes a twist of at most 25 T/m. According to the inven-tors' experiences, the number of interlaced portions is prefera-bly about 40 per meter and the length of a non-interlaced por-tion is preferably, at most, about 15 mm. As mentioned above, a component yarn of the present invention is very splendid for a sewing thread in comparison with known conventional yarns.
A sewing thread according to the present ivnention does not have irregularities in the thickness thereof, as compared with conventional yarns, and since a component yarn of the present invention is uniform in size, the sewing thread has the strength to be sewn and has the appropriate elongation, and therefore, when the thread of the present invention is utilized for sewing, the sewing operation can be carried out smoothly.
Further, because the sewing thread of the present invention is uniform in thickness the seam formed is uniform and has a good appearance and the shrinkage of the seam is very small, so that stretch puckers will not occur, and the effect of the stitches is beautiful.
According to a sewing thread of the present invention, the material of the thread is soft and the thread has many pro-truded portions, so that the thread has a bulkiness and does not have resistance against friction and bending. Therefore, the sewing thread of the present invention can be easily made compatible with the cloth to be sewn.
Further, according to the sewing thread of the present in-vention, the dropping of fluffs seldom occurs, so that the cloth to be sewn and the throat plate of the sewing machine are not dirtied by fluffs. The thread of the present invention is resistant to the friction which is caused by contact of the thread with the eye of a sewing needle, so that changes in the 1~7ZS26 properties of the sewing thread are very small. In the thread of the present invention, protruded portions of each of the com-ponent yarns are entangled with each other, so that the coher-ency of the component yarns with each other is splendid. Conse-quently, when the thread is cut, component yarns in the threadare not loosed at the cut end, and it is easy to thread the cut portion of the sewing thread into the eye of a sewing needle.
The present invention will now be explained with reference to some Examples of the present invention.
Example 1 A drawn multifilament yarn of polyethylene terephthalate (200 denier; 72 filaments; intrinsic viscosity (IV), 0.70;
average molecular weight Mn, 23,200; strength, 7.1 g/denier;
and breaking elongation, 18~) was subjected to a preliminary I~eat treatment at a temperature of 190C in a stretched condi-tion and was false twisted at a temperature of 175C withtwists of 1400 T/m. Thereafter, while the yarn was slackened by 13.5%, it was interlaced by means of a fluid jet intermit-tent interlacing device. Then, it was heat set at a temperature of 220C using an under-feed condition, the under-feed ratio of which was 6%.
The thus produced yarn had a torque of at most 2.4 turn/50 cm determined by the above-explained two measuring steps, and also had many protruded portions. When this yarn was utilized for sewing, the sewability was splendid. The yarn had an elongation, measured as mentioned previously, of 1.4% and a shrinkage of 4.5% at dry heat of 180C.
Example 2 Subsequent to the drawing process by which the supply yarn utilized in Example 1 was produced, the yarn was dry heat treated at a temperature of 230C using an over-feed condi-tion, the over-feed ratio of which was 0.6%. The thus produced polyethylene terephthalate multifilament yarn (200 denier; 72 filaments) was false twisted at a temperature of 170C with twists 1500 T/m. Thereafter, while the yarn was slackened by 13.6%, it was interlaced by means of a fluid jet intermittent interlacing device, and it was wound into a package. The thus produced package was heat treated in boiled water having a tem-perature of 130C for 40 minutes in a cheese dyeing machine.
Thus, the produced yarn had a torque of at most 1.0 turn/50 cm. When this yarn was utilized for sewing, the sewability was splendid. The elongation of this thread, measured as mentioned previously, was 2.0%, and its shrinkage at a dry heat of 180C was 3.0%.
Comparison 1 A yarn was produced by the substantially same manner as indicated in Example 1, except for a temperature of 210C upon false twisting and no preliminary heat treatment. The thus pro-duced yarn had a torque of 24 turns/50 cm measured by the above-explained first measuring step (the direction of false twisting being an "S" direction; the direction of said torque being an "S" direction). Said yarn was not suitable for sewing because the yarn had such a large torque.
Comparison 2 A yarn produced by the above-mentioned Comparison 1 was twisted by 70 T/m in an S direction, and its torque was measured according to two measuring steps mentioned above. The following results were obtained.
First measuring step (without a weight): 0 turn/50 cm Second measuring step (loading weight and thereafter removing this weight): 18 turns/50 cm ("S" twist) Consequently, it was confirmed from the above-mentioned results that, when tension was applied to the yarn, torque was developed in the yarn. In an actual sewing operation, tension is applied to a sewing thread. Therefore, the above-mentioned yarn is not suitable for sewing.

1~17Z5~:6 Example 3 A drawn multifilament yarn of polyethylene terephthalate (100 denier; 36 filament; intrinsic viscosity (IV), 0.71; aver-age molecular weight Mn, 23,800; strength, 7.2 g/denier; and breaking elongation, 19%) was subjected to a preliminary heat treatment at a temperature of 200C under a stretched condi-tion, and then was false twisted at a temperature of 180C
with twists of 1500 T/m. Thereafter, while the yarn was slac-kened by 13.6%, it was interlaced by means of a fluid jet inter-mittent interlacing device. Then, it was dry heat set at a tem-perature of 220C using an under-feed condition, the under-feed ratio of which was 6%.
A three-folded thread was made of the thus obtained com-ponent yarns, with the initial twist being an "S" twist of 750 T/m and the final twist being a "Z" twist of 500 T/m. Then the folded thread was dyed at a temperature of 130C in a cheese dyeing machine.
The thus produced thread had a torque of at most 2.2 turns/50 cm determined by the above-explained two measuring steps, and also had many protruded portions. When this thread was utilized for sewing, the sewability was excellent. The elongation, measured as mentioned above, of this sewing thread was 1.9%, and its shrinkage at a dry heat of 180C was 2.9%.
Example 4 Subsequent to the drawing process by which the supply yarn, utilized in Example 3, was produced, the yarn was dry heat treated at a temperature of 230C under an over-feed con-dition, the over-feed ratio of which was 0.6~. The thus pro-duced polyethylene terephthalate multifilament yarn (100 denier; 36 filaments) was false twisted at a temperature of 170C with an "S" twist of 1500 T/m. Thereafter, while theyarn was slackened by 13.6~, it was interlaced by means of a fluid jet intermittent interlacing device, and it was wound into a package.
A three folded thread was made of the thus obtained ~7ZSZ6 component yarns, where the initial twist was an "S" twist of 750 T/m and the final twist was a "Z" twist of 500 T/m. Then, the folded thread was dyed at a temperature of 130C in a cheese dyeing machine.
The thus produced thread had a torque of 1.8 turns/50 cm in an "S" direction measured by the above-explained first measuring step, and a torque of 3.2 turns/50 cm in an "S" direc-tion measured by the second measuring step.
Comparison 3 Three kinds of three-folded threads were respectively made of the following three kinds of yarns A, s and C, where the initial twist was an "S" twist of 750 T/m and the final twist was a "Z" twist of 500 T/m. Each of the three-folded threads was dyed at a temperature of 130C in a cheese dyeing machine.
Yarn A: A drawn multifilament yarn of polyethylene terep-hthalate having an intrinsic viscosity of 0.62 (100 denier; 36 filaments) Yarn B: A false twisted yarn composed of the above-mentioned yarn A, which was false twisted at a temperature of 215C with an "S" twist of 3Q00 T/m Yarn C: A yarn produced by heat setting the above-mentioned yarn B at a temperature of 205C under an over-feed condition, the over-feed ratio of which was 18~.
The three-folded thread composed of yarns A had a torque of 0 turn/50 cm, another three-folded thread composed of yarns B
had a very large torque and the other three-folded thread com-posed of yarns C also had a very large torque.
3~ Consequently, it was confirmed from the result of the exam-ination of yarn A, i.e., the torque of yarn A being zero, that the initial twist of 750 T/m in an S direction was well bal-anced with the final twist of 500 T/m in a Z direction.
Further, it was confirmed from the results of the examinations of yarns B and C, i.e., their torques being very large, that a ~725Z6 folded thread composed of conventional false twisted yarns generally has a large torque. However, as mentioned above, the thread of the present invention obtained by Example 4 has a very small torque, in spite of the yarn having been subjected to a false twisting operation.
Furthermore, various three-folded threads composed of said yarns B or C were produced by changing the combination of the numbers of initial and final twists, in order to balance torques of the false-twist, initial twist and final twist. How-ever, threads having very small torques, determined by the above-mentioned two measuring steps, could not be produced.
The three-folded thread of yarn A was composed of conven-tionally drawn yarns, and such a folded thread is not suitable for sewing, as explained in conjunction with the prior art in this specification. The three folded threads of yarn B and of yarn C were not suitable for sewing, irrespective of the num-bers of initial and final twists.
Example 5 A sewing thread was produced by substantially the same man-ner as indicated in Example 4, except for the "Z" twist applied in the false twisting operation. Torques of this thread, examined by the above-explained two measuring steps, were re-spectively an "S" twist of 0.2 turns/50 cm in the first step, and a "Z" twist of 3.5 turns/50 cm in the second step.
Comparison 4 A three folded thread was made of the three drawn polyester multifilament yarns having an intrinsic viscosity of 0.6 (100 denier; 36 filaments) used in Example 3, where the initial twist was an "S" twist of 750 T/m and the final twist was a "Z"
twist of 500 T/m. Then the folded thread was dyed at a tempera-ture of 130C in a cheese dyeing machine. The thus producedyarn had a torque of 0 turn/50 cm.
This thread was similar to the thread in Example 3 in twist structure, but it was composed of drawn yarns. Therefore, the 3l17ZS26 thread was not suitable for sewing, as mentioned in connection with the prior art in this specification.
Comparison 5 A sewing thread was produced by substantially the same man-ner as explained in Example 3, except for a temperature of 210C in the false twisting operation with an "S" twist. The thus produced thread had torques in an "S" direction of 17 turns/50 cm, and 20 turns/50 cm, respectively, measured by the two measuring steps. This yarn was not suitable for sewing due to the large torque thereof.
Comparison 6 A sewing thread was produced by substantially the same man-ner as explained in Comparison 4, except for the twisting condi-tion. Namely, an initial twist of 800 T/m in an "S" direction, and a final twist of 450 T/m in a "Z" direction were used. The torques of this thread were examined based on the two measuring steps and the following results were obtained.
First step: 0 turn/50 cm Second step: 6 turns/50 cm in an "S" direction As a result, it was confirmed that, when tension was ap-plied to the thread, torque, which had been given to the yarn by false twisting, was developed in the thread. Because in an actual sewing operation tension is applied to a sewing thread, the above-mentined thread is not suitable for sewing.
Example 6 A multifilament yarn of polyethylene terephthalate having an intrinsic viscosity of 1.3 (70 denier; 24 filaments) was sub-jected to a preliminary heat treatment at a temperature of 210C under 3~ slackened condition and was false twisted at a 25~:6 temperature of 190C with twists of 1500 T/m. Thereafter, while the yarn was slackened by 14~, it was interlaced by means of a fluid jet intermittent interlacing device. Then, it was heat set at a temperature of 220C.
A three-folded thread was made of the thus obtained com-ponent yarns, where the initial twist was an "S" twist of 900 T/m and the final twist was a "Z" twist of 600 T/m. Then, the folded thread was dyed at a temperature of 130C in a cheese dyeing machine. The produced yarn had the following charac-teristics.
Shrinkage factor in dry heat (180C for 30 minutes) was 1.5%.
Number of torques was 5.0 turns/50 cm.
The elongation mentioned above, i.e., the elongation of the yarn relative to the original length after operations performed ten times, each operation consisting of tensioning with 1 g/denier and releasing thereof, was 1.0%.
The strength was 4.2 g/denier.
The number of protruded filaments was 250 per meter.
The produced thread was splendid as a sewing thread.
Example 7 A drawn multifilament yarn of polyethylene terephthalate (70 denier; 24 filaments having an intrinsic viscosity of 1~2) having been subjected to a preliminary heat treatment at a tem-perature of 190C in a stretched condition was false twisted at a temperature of 170C with twists of 1600 T/m. There-after, while the yarn was slackened by 13.6%, it was interlaced by means of a fluid jet intermittent interlacing device. Then it was wound into a package.
Then, a three-folded thread was made of the above-mentioned component yarns, where the initial twist was an "S" twist of 900 T/m and the final twist was a "Z" twist of 600 T/m. The folded thread was heat treated as a package in water having a temperature of 130C, for 40 minutes in a cheese dyeing machine.

~1 725Z6 The produced thread had a number of protruded portions of filaments and had a small torque. When this thread was uti-lized for sewing, the sewability was splendid. This thread had an elongation, measured as mentioned above, of 2.5% and a shrinkage in dry heat at 180C of 4.5%.
In addition to the above-mentioned experiment in Example 7, various experiments were carried out in the same manner as the above-mentioned experiment, while various temperatures were adopted during the false twisting operation, in order to con-firm the effects of the present invention. It was confirmed that, as the temperature was increased, the torque of the yarn was increased and that, when the temperature was over 190C, the torque of the yarn became too large to use the yarn as a sewing thread. When the temperature was decreased, the torque of the yarn was also decreased. However, in a case where the temperature was lowered below 150C, the number of protruded portions of filaments in the yarn was decreased, the protruded portions were irregularly distributed along the yarn, and some of the protruded portions were very long and large. Therefore, such a yarn was not suitable for sewing.
Example 8 Subsequent to the drawing process by which an undrawn multi-filament yarn of polyethylene terephthalate (intrinsic vis-cosity (IV), 0.75; average molecular weight Mn, 25,400) was drawn, the yarn was preliminary heat treated by running the yarn in contact with a heat plate having a temperature of 230C using an over-feed condition, the over-feed ratio of which was 0.6%. As a result, a multifilament yarn (100 denier;
36 filaments) was produced.
Then the multifilament yarn was false twisted at a tempera-ture of 200C with an "S" twist of 1500 T/m. Thereafter, while the yarn was slackened by 13.6%, it was interlaced by means of a fluid jet intermittent interlacing device. Then, it was post-heat treated at a temperature of 230C in dry heat using an under-feed condition, the under-feed ratio of which was 6%.

Z5; :6 Then, a two-folded thread was made of said produced com-ponent yarns, while the initial twist was an "S'l twist of 750 T/m and the final twist was a ~ Zll twist of 500 T/m. The folded thread was wet-heat treated at a temperature of 130C in a cheese dyeing machine.
The thus produced thxead had torques of an IlSll twist of 1.0 turn/50 cm and an '!S" twist of 2~8 turns/50 cm, said torques being respectively measured by the two measuring steps, and the thread had a number of protruded portions.
When this thread was utilizd as a sewing thread, it was con-firmed that the ability to be sewn thereof was splendid. The elongation mentioned above of this thread was 0.6%, and the shrinkage in dry heat at 180C thereof was 1.4%.
Comparison 7 Three kinds of three-folded threads were respectively made of the following three kinds of yarns A, B and C, where the initial twist was an 'ISll twist of 750 T/m and the final twist was a IlZl- twist of 500 T/m. Then, each of the three-folded threads was wet-heat treated at a temperature of 130C in a cheese dyeing machine.
Yarn A: A drawn multifilament yarn of polyethylene tereph-thalate tlO0 denier; 36 filaments having an intrin-sic viscosity of 0.60), which yarn was the same yarn as obtained before a preliminary heat treat-ment, i.e., just after the drawing process in Example 8.
Yarn B: A false twisted yarn composed of the above-mentioned yarn A, which was false twisted at a temperature of 215C with an IlSll twist of 3000 T/m.
Yarn C: A yarn produced by heat setting the above-mentioned yarn B at a temperature of 205C using an over-feed condition, the over-feed ratio of which was 18%.

~7Z52~

The three-folded thread composed of yarns A had a torque of 0 turn/50 cm, another three-folded thread composed of yarns s and still another three-folded thread composed of yarns C
respectively had very large torques.
Consequently, it was confirmed from the result of the examination of yarn ~, i.e., the torque of yarn A being zero, that the initial twist of 750 T/m in an "S" direction was well balanced with the final twist of 500 T/m in a "Z" direction.
Further, it was confirmed from the results of the examination of yarns B and C; i.e., their torques being very large, that a folded thread composed of conventional false twisted yarns generally has a large torque. However, as mentioned above, the thread of the present invention obtained by Example 4 has a very small torque, in spite of the yarn having been subjected to a false twisting operation.
Furthermore, various three-folded threads composed of said yarns B or C were produced by changing the combination of the number of initial and final twists in order to balance torques of a false-twist, an initial twist and a final twist. However, a yarn, having very small torques determined by the above-mentioned two measuring steps, could not be produced.

. ~ ,

Claims (44)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclu-sive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A sewing thread comprising at least one false twisted polyester multifilament yarn having an intrinsic viscosity of between 0.65 and 1.30 determined at a temperature of 25°C in o-chloro phenol solution having a concentration of 8% by weight, characterized in that: an individual constituent fila-ment of said multifilament yarn has portions partially inter-laced with other filaments constituting said multifilament yarn along the lengthwise direction thereof, and a part of the indi-vidual constituent filament of said multifilament yarn pro-trudes from the surface of said multifilament yarn; and the torque of said sewing thread, measured by each of the following two measuring steps, is at most 4 turns/50 cm, in spite of the fact that substantially all filaments constituting said sewing thread have been subjected to the same false twisting, wherein the torque is determined by counting the number of turns of a loop around a vertical axis until said loop becomes stationary in the following two steps (1) and (2):
(1) a sewing thread formed in a single loop having a circumference of 1 m is suspended by a thread made of the same material;
(2) then, a weight of 1 gram/denier is applied to the lower end of said loop via a thread made of the same material; thereafter, said weight is removed from said loop.

2. A thread according to claim 1 which consists of one single multifilament yarn substantially having no twists therein.

3. A thread according to claim 1 which consists of a plurality of multifilament yarns having initial twists therein, said yarns being doubled with each other in a direction reverse to the initial twist direction of each multifilament yarn.

4. A thread according to claim 1 which consists of a plurality of doubled yarns, each doubled yarn being composed of a plurality of the multifilament yarns, the twisting direction of said thread being reversed to the twisting direction of said doubled yarns.

5. A thread according to claim 5, which consists of a plurality of doubled yarns, each of which consists of a plurality of multifilament yarns having initial twists therein.

6. A thread according to claim 6, wherein the twisting direction of said doubled yarns is the same as the initial twist direction of said multifilament yarns.

7. A thread according to claim 6, wherein the twisting direction of said doubled yarns is reverse to the initial twist direction of said multifilament yarns.

8. A thread according to claim 1, the elongation of which, relative to the original length, is at most 3% as measured after tensioning the thread with 1 g/denier and releasing said tensioning from said thread repeatedly ten times.

9. A thread according to claim 1 having a shrinkage in dry heat (180°C for 30 minutes) of at most 2%.

10. A thread according to claim 1 having a shrinkage in wet heat (130°C for 30 minutes) of at most 2%.

11. A thread according to claim 1, wherein said multifilament yarn is intermittently interlaced along the axis thereof.

12. A thread according to claim 1, wherein all of the individual filaments constituting said multifilament yarn have substantially the same length.

13. A thread according to claim 1 wherein the sum of the elongation of said thread relative to the original length, as measured by tensioning the thread with 1 g/denier and releasing said tension from said thread repeatedly ten times, and the shrinkage in dry heat (180°C for 30 minutes) is at most 5%.

14. A thread according to claim 1, wherein the sum of the elongation of said thread relative to the original length, as measured by tensioning the thread with 1 g/denier and releasing said thread repeatedly ten times, and the shrinkage in wet heat (130°C for 30 minutes) is at most 5%.

15. A method for manufacturing a sewing thread comprising the following steps:
(1) preliminarily heat treating a polyester multi-filament yarn having an intrinsic viscosity of between 0.65 and 1.30 determined at a temperature of 25°C in o-chloro phenol solution having a concentration of 8% by weight;
(2) false twisting said heat treated polyester multi-filament yarn;
(3) subjecting said false twisted yarn to a fluid jet treatment under the slackened condition so as to interlace along a lengthwise direction constituent filaments of said yarn and so as to form protruded portions protruding from the sur-face of said yarn; and (4) post-heat treating said interlaced yarn.

16. A method according to claim 15, wherein said pre-liminary heat treatment is carried out under such condition that the heat setting effects thereof are at least better than those obtained in said false twisting operation.

17. A method according to claim 15, wherein said post-heat treatment is carried out under such condition that the heat setting effects thereof are at least better than those obtained in said false twisting operation.

18. A method according to claim 15, wherein said pre-liminary heat treatment is performed in a dry heating system.

19. A method according to claim 15, wherein said pre-liminary heat treatment is performed in a wet heating system.

20. A method according to claim 15, wherein said post-heat treatment is performed in a dry heating system.

21. A method according to claim 15, wherein said post-heat treatment is performed in a wet heating system.

22. A method according to claim 15, wherein the heat setting temperature of said false twisting operation is at least 150°C.

23. A method according to claim 15, wherein said pre-liminary heat treatment is carried out at an effective heat treating temperature which is higher than that of the heat treatment in said false twisting step.

24. A method according to claim 15, wherein said post-heat treatment is carried out at an effective heat treating temperature which is higher than that of the heat treatment in said false twisting step.

25. A method according to claim 23, wherein said effec-tive heat treating temperature of said preliminary heat treat-ment is at least 210°C.

26. A method according to claim 24, wherein said effec-tive heat treating temperature of said post-heat treatment is at least 210°C.

27. A method according to claim 20 or 21, wherein said post-heat treatment is performed under a stretching condition.

28. A method according to claim 20 or 21, wherein said post-heat treatment is performed under a slackened condition.

29. A method according to claim 15, wherein the twist num-ber of said false twisting operation is expressed in the follow-ing formula:
2000 < T.(D/p)? < 7000 wherein, T represents the number of false twists (turns/m);
D represents the denier of the yarn; and P represents the specific gravity of the filament.

30. A method according to claim 15, wherein the polyester filaments have an average molecular weight of between 21,000 and 41,000.

31. A method according to claim 17, wherein an over-feed condition in the fluid treatment after the false twisting opera-tion satisfies the following formula:
4 < {(V1/V2) - 1} x 100 < 20 wherein V1 represents a take-up speed in the false twisting operation, and V2 represents a take-up speed in the inter-lacing process.

32. A method according to claim 15, wherein a fluid treat-ment is performed by using a fluid jet nozzle in which an ejected fluid flow is impinged on the yarn, transversely to the axis of said yarn, so that interlaced portions and non-inter-laced portions are provided on the yarn intermittently along said yarn axis.

33. A method according to claim 32, wherein said ejected fluid flow is impinged on the yarn at a right angle to the axis of said yarn.

34. A method according to claim 15, wherein a twisting operation for twisting a plurality of synthetic multifilament yarns is performed after the post-heat treatment.

35. A method according to claim 15, wherein a twisting operation for twisting a plurality of multifilament yarns is performed before the post-heat treatment.

36. A method according to claim 15, wherein said pre-liminary heat treatment is performed coincidently with a heat treatment of the drawing operation of said multifilament yarn.

37. A method according to claim 15, wherein said pre-liminary heat treatment is performed following a drawing opera-tion of said multifilament yarn.

38. A method according to claim 15, wherein said pre-liminary heat treatment is performed at an effective heat treat-ing temperature being higher by 20°C than that of the false twisting operation and being higher than 210°C.

39. A method according to claim 38, wherein said post-heat treatment after said fluid jet treatment is performed under a stretching condition and at an effective heat treating temperature higher than that of the false twisting operation and below the effective heat treating temperature of said pre-liminary heat treatment.

40. A method according to claim 39, wherein a plurality of said multifilament yarns are twisted with each other resulting in a folded thread.

41. A method according to claim 23, 24 or 38, wherein said effective heat treating temperature, when a running yarn is heat treated by means of a contact type dry heater, is the temperature of said contact type dry heater.

42. A method according to claim 23, 24 or 38, wherein said effective heat treating temperature, when a running yarn is heat treated by means of a straight hollow dry heater, is the temperature lower than that of said straight hollow dry heater by 15°C.

43. A method according to claim 23, 24 or 38, wherein said effective heat treating temperature, when a running yarn is heat treated by means of a steam heater, is the temperature higher than that of said steam heater by 30°C.

44. A method according to claim 23, 24 or 38, wherein said effective heat treating temperature, when a yarn package is heat treated by means of steam or in water, is the temperature higher than that of the steam or water by 60°C.