Classifications

• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06M—TREATMENT, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE IN CLASS D06, OF FIBRES, THREADS, YARNS, FABRICS, FEATHERS OR FIBROUS GOODS MADE FROM SUCH MATERIALS
  • D06M11/00—Treating fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics or fibrous goods made from such materials, with inorganic substances or complexes thereof; Such treatment combined with mechanical treatment, e.g. mercerising
  • D06M11/32—Treating fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics or fibrous goods made from such materials, with inorganic substances or complexes thereof; Such treatment combined with mechanical treatment, e.g. mercerising with oxygen, ozone, ozonides, oxides, hydroxides or percompounds; Salts derived from anions with an amphoteric element-oxygen bond
  • D06M11/50—Treating fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics or fibrous goods made from such materials, with inorganic substances or complexes thereof; Such treatment combined with mechanical treatment, e.g. mercerising with oxygen, ozone, ozonides, oxides, hydroxides or percompounds; Salts derived from anions with an amphoteric element-oxygen bond with hydrogen peroxide or peroxides of metals; with persulfuric, permanganic, pernitric, percarbonic acids or their salts
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06L—DRY-CLEANING, WASHING OR BLEACHING FIBRES, FILAMENTS, THREADS, YARNS, FABRICS, FEATHERS OR MADE-UP FIBROUS GOODS; BLEACHING LEATHER OR FURS
  • D06L4/00—Bleaching fibres, filaments, threads, yarns, fabrics, feathers or made-up fibrous goods; Bleaching leather or furs
  • D06L4/10—Bleaching fibres, filaments, threads, yarns, fabrics, feathers or made-up fibrous goods; Bleaching leather or furs using agents which develop oxygen
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06L—DRY-CLEANING, WASHING OR BLEACHING FIBRES, FILAMENTS, THREADS, YARNS, FABRICS, FEATHERS OR MADE-UP FIBROUS GOODS; BLEACHING LEATHER OR FURS
  • D06L4/00—Bleaching fibres, filaments, threads, yarns, fabrics, feathers or made-up fibrous goods; Bleaching leather or furs
  • D06L4/50—Bleaching fibres, filaments, threads, yarns, fabrics, feathers or made-up fibrous goods; Bleaching leather or furs by irradiation or ozonisation
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06M—TREATMENT, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE IN CLASS D06, OF FIBRES, THREADS, YARNS, FABRICS, FEATHERS OR FIBROUS GOODS MADE FROM SUCH MATERIALS
  • D06M10/00—Physical treatment of fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics, or fibrous goods made from such materials, e.g. ultrasonic, corona discharge, irradiation, electric currents, or magnetic fields; Physical treatment combined with treatment with chemical compounds or elements
  • D06M10/001—Treatment with visible light, infrared or ultraviolet, X-rays
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06M—TREATMENT, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE IN CLASS D06, OF FIBRES, THREADS, YARNS, FABRICS, FEATHERS OR FIBROUS GOODS MADE FROM SUCH MATERIALS
  • D06M10/00—Physical treatment of fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics, or fibrous goods made from such materials, e.g. ultrasonic, corona discharge, irradiation, electric currents, or magnetic fields; Physical treatment combined with treatment with chemical compounds or elements
  • D06M10/04—Physical treatment combined with treatment with chemical compounds or elements
  • D06M10/06—Inorganic compounds or elements

Definitions

• WOOL AND WOOL-BLEND FABRIC TREATMENT The present invention relates to wool and wool blend fabric treatments and in particular to novel methods of treating fabrics to give good colour yields when printed and/or to reduce pilling.
• Wool and wool-blend fabrics have been processed and treated for many years to improve and/or enhance a wide range of characteristics.
• the pre-treatment of fabrics, such as wool, before printing is essential to achieve good colour yields, levelness and brightness.
• a range of processes and treatments have been proposed to reduce or eliminate pilling.
• DCCA Dichloroisocyanuric acid
• the batch method involves chlorination with 3-4% DCCA on mass of fibre (omf), at pH 3.5-4.5 and a temperature of 20-40 C for about 1 hour, followed by an antichlor aftertreatment with sodium bisulphite and acetic acid.
• the continuous process involves padding DCCA (35-50 gl ⁇ ) , followed by a dwell time of 2-5 minutes before rinsing and an antichlor treatment similar to the batch process.
• DCCA Chlorine reacts with water to give a mixture of hypochlorous and hydrochloric acids, which is sprayed directly onto the fabric with a wetting agent.
• the reaction is more rapid than DCCA, but a rinsing and antichlor treatment are still necessary. Processing speeds of 10-15 m min " at a chlorine dose rate of 4% omf are typical and give similar performance to fabrics treated with 4% DCCA.
• Typical problems with fabric chlorination include: yellowing, achieving an even application, and fibre damage. It is also very often necessary to bleach chlorine-treated fabrics, usually with hydrogen peroxide, to remove yellowness before printing. However, it is the environmental pressure on processes involving chlorine, particularly when absorbable organohalogens (AOX) are present in the plant effluent, which is leading to the replacement of chlorination by alternative technologies.
• AOX absorbable organohalogens
• Hercosett 125 (trade name)
• This polymer is applied to wool top after a prechlorination stage. Fabrics produced from treated top have an increased affinity for anionic dyes. The further mechanical processing which occurs during gilling, spinning and weaving results in a level preparation. However the colour yields tend to be lower since less chlorine is used. Further, care must be taken in washing off since treated wool has a high affinity for loose anionic dyes.
• This polymer may be applied to a fabric without the need for a prechlorination step.
• the treatment of fabrics with this polymer prior to printing provides the fabric with a high affinity for hydrophobic dyes.
• the lack of a chlorination step reduces the penetration of printing paste into the fibres, and control over the steaming conditions is critical. This method has been used to print wool/cotton blends, but not pure wool fabrics to date.
• Pilling is a term used to describe the formation of small, tight balls of fibre on a fabric surface. Pilling is highly detrimental to garments, resulting in a worn and unkempt appearance, and is a particular problem for knitwear.
• the pilling process is complex but can be described as four successive stages: (i) Fuzz Formation.
• the mild rubbing action which occurs during wear teases some surface fibres from their parent yarns, resulting in a fuzzy surface.
• Pill Formation and Growth Continued rubbing on loose entanglements causes some to roll into tighter balls. These tight balls resist further rubbing forces, and some of the weaker fibres in the pills break. The stronger fibres remain intact and anchor the pills to the fabric surface. Pills grow as they pick up loose fibres from the fabric surface, (iv) Pill Wear-Off. The anchor fibres finally succumb to the steadily increasing forces acting on the pill and undergo fatigue failure. As each anchor fibre breaks, those remaining have to withstand larger forces and the rate of anchor failure thus accelerates. Pill removal occures when the rate of anchor fibre breakage exceeds the rate of pill growth.
• U.K. Patent 811702 describes the use of ultraviolet radiation for modifying the rate of dye uptake of wool fabrics. This increases the colour yields of exposed fabric, depending on the nature of the dye used.
• This document also discloses that in the interest of shortening the period of irradiation it is advantageous to treat the fabric with an oxidising agent during UV exposure.
• this document does not describe or suggest the possible application of irradiation to fabric printing, or the method of oxidative bleaching of the fabric after subjecting the fabric to irradiation.
• the U.K. patent stresses the use of an oxidising agent during UV exposure to shorten the period of irradiation rather than as an essential, discrete step in a synergistic process to increase the affinity of the fabric to dyes.
• the present invention provides a method of modifying the surface of a fabric which comprises the successive steps of:
• the fabric may be irradiated by ultraviolet light from any suitable source.
• the fabric is subjected to ultraviolet radiation in the preferred range of 400-180 nm. More preferably the fabric is subjected to short-wavelength UV radiation (UV-C) having a wavelength of 280-200 nm and yet even more preferably having a wavelength near the absorption maximum of the disulphide bonds in wool (approximately 254 nm) .
• UV-C short-wavelength UV radiation
• the UV radiation may be provided by any suitable source.
• the source selected will depend on the intensity and wavelength of irradiation to be used in the method.
• Preferred sources of radiation for ultraviolet radiation include low; medium-and high-pressure mercury arcs, and xenon discharge tubes.
• a low-pressure mercury arc, producing 85% of emitted UV at 254 nm, may be used.
• the length of time for which the fabric is irradiated will depend upon the intensity and wavelength characteristics of the radiation source and the desired result. Depending on the source of radiation, the length of time required may range from a few seconds to 2 hours. For example, with a low intensity UV source, such as a low pressure mercury arc, irradiation times of 30-50 minutes may be required. With a suitable medium or high-pressure mercury arc of high UV intensity (typically 120W cm " ), irradiation times of a few seconds may be sufficient. Using a suitable elliptical or parabolic reflector to focus the UV radiation from a tube into a narrow strip or parallel beam allows fabric to be treated continuously, and this is clearly the most suitable commercial method for exposing large pieces of fabric. Alternatively a continuous irradiation process could be used to treat individual garments or lengths of fabrics for dyeing.
• the colour of the wool or wool-blend fabrics change from pale cream to pale olive-green, and this colour changes over an hour or so in room air to a pale yellow.
• Measurement by any conventional method of the yellowness of fabrics irradiated with UV-C after standing for 24 hours can be used to assess the degree of surface modification.
• the fabric may be oxidised by any suitable treatment.
• it may be oxidised by using any suitable oxidant such as hydrogen peroxide or permonsulphuric acid (PMS) .
• the fabric is bleached using hydrogen peroxide.
• hydrogen peroxide Preferably a solution of approximately 0.75% w/w hydrogen peroxide having a pH in the range 8-9 is used.
• the time period required for bleaching will be dependent upon the type of fabric and oxidant used and the desired result.
• the oxidant may be stabilised by any suitable stabiliser. For example, if a hydrogen peroxide solution is used then this may be stabilised by a tetrasodium pyrophosphate.
• UV-irradiated fabric can be stored for several months before bleaching without any reduction in colour yields or anti-pilling properties.
• a fully continuous process using a more rapid oxidant such as PMS may be used. It is also possible to undertake continuous bleaching by use of hydrogen peroxide pad/steam methods.
• tone-in-tone designs from a compouter to a wool fabric.
• a complex design or caption can be cut into a thin adhesive PVC film which is opaque to UV radiation.
• the design is transferred either directly onto the wool fabric or onto a clear polyethylene or polypropylene film (which is transparent to UV down to 220 nm) .
• the design can be developed by overprinting a large area with a suitable dye paste. Examples
• Pieces of scoured undyed shirting fabric were exposed to short wavelength UV using a low pressure mercury arc (30W) for periods ranging from 2-30 minutes by wrapping the fabrics around the UV tube.
• the fabrics were then bleached for one hour at 60°C using 0.75% w/w hydrogen peroxide solution stabilised by tetrasodium pyrophosphate (0.6% w/w) at pH 8-8.5.
• the fabric was printed using pastes of the following composition:
• Indalca PA3 10% stock solution 50% dye (e.g. Lanaset Blue 2R) 2% water 38% urea 10% Print pastes were prepared using Lanasol Black 5055, Lanasol Scarlet 3G and Drimarene Turquoise R-BLD dyes.
• dye e.g. Lanaset Blue 2R
• Print pastes were prepared using Lanasol Black 5055, Lanasol Scarlet 3G and Drimarene Turquoise R-BLD dyes.
• Test strips were printed using a Johannes Zimmer Sample Printing Machine Type MDK, using two passes of a magnetic squeegee bar. After printing, fabric was dried at room temperature, steamed at 100 C for 30 minutes in an autoclave, washed off in warm water and dried. All prints made on irradiated/bleached fabric were visibly more intense than those carried out using untreated, " bleached only and UV-exposed only fabric. The reflectance spectra of printed samples was measured, and the reflectance values at the centre of the strongest absorption band were recorded. These were converted to colour yield (K/S) values, which are related to the dye concentration at the surface, using the Kubelka-Munk equation.
• K/S colour yield
• Example 2 A piece fine glass fibre mesh was placed between a low pressure mercury arc and a sample of ecru shirting fabric. The sample was exposed to UV for 40 minutes, followed by peroxide bleaching as described in Example 1. The mesh design was not visible after bleaching, but after printing with Lanasol Black 5055, a fine-detailed black/grey tone-in-tone effect was observed.
• Example 3
• Scoured ecru wool fabric sampler were placed on a conveyor system and passed below a medium pressure mercury arc the UV radiation from which was focused at the fabric surface using an elliptical reflector.
• the conveyor speed was varied from 2 to 15 metres per minute, and a single UV source having a power of 120W/cm was used.
• Samples were given up to three passes under the UV source over a range of conveyor speeds, to simulate a machine having a series of UV tubes.
• the fabrics were then bleached, printed with Lanasol Black 5055 and steamed as per Example 1, and the colour yields measured.
• the colour yields of UV-exposed/bleached fabric varied with conveyor speed as shown in Figure 2.
• a company logo was generated using computer graphic arts software and the design was cut into a thin black adhesive PVC film.
• the design was affixed to a sheet of polyethylene film held taut on an aluminium frame.
• the frame was held firmly over a piece of wool challis fabric and a bank of low-pressure mercury arcs was positioned over the frame.
• the frame and fabric were exposed to UV for 40 minutes.
• the fabric was removed and bleached as described in Example 1.
• the entire area of the logo was printed with Drimarene Turquoise R-BLD paste, and the print was dried, steamed and washed off normally. Irradiated areas of the printed logo were far more intensely coloured than unexposed areas, and a high-quality tone-in-tone print was obtained.
• Example 5 Example 5
• Pilling performance was measured using an Atlas Random Tumble Pilling Tester (RTPT) using the standard procedure (ASTM D3512-82), with number of pills counted at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 60 minute intervals.
• Figure 3 shows the variation in the mean number of pills per sample throughout the pilling test. It is clear that only those samples treated with UV/peroxide bleaching show excellent anti-pilling performance.
• Figure 4 shows the variation of the mean number of pills observed for samples in each group with tumbling time. Clearly the extent of UV irradiation has a dramatic effect on the degree of pilling observed; zero pilling was found throughout the pilling test for all samples irradiated with UV for 50 minutes.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Toxicology (AREA)
• Coloring (AREA)
• Chemical Or Physical Treatment Of Fibers (AREA)
• Treatments For Attaching Organic Compounds To Fibrous Goods (AREA)
• Woven Fabrics (AREA)
• Treatments Of Macromolecular Shaped Articles (AREA)

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Publications (3)

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Family Applications (1)

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• 1994
  • 1994-02-08 IN IN75MA1994 patent/IN184221B/en unknown
  • 1994-02-08 TW TW083101102A patent/TW288066B/zh active
  • 1994-02-15 CA CA002156178A patent/CA2156178A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1994-02-15 NZ NZ262060A patent/NZ262060A/en unknown
  • 1994-02-15 DE DE69405717T patent/DE69405717T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1994-02-15 WO PCT/AU1994/000066 patent/WO1994019526A1/en active IP Right Grant
  • 1994-02-15 ES ES94908205T patent/ES2109678T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1994-02-15 JP JP6518472A patent/JPH08506632A/ja active Pending
  • 1994-02-15 CN CN94191197A patent/CN1074800C/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1994-02-15 AT AT94908205T patent/ATE158354T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1994-02-15 EP EP94908205A patent/EP0685013B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime

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