EP4656783A1

EP4656783A1 - Process to produce a textile yarn

Info

Publication number: EP4656783A1
Application number: EP25179151.3A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Massimo MONTELEONE
Original assignee: Filatura Di Sandigliano Srl
Current assignee: Filatura Di Sandigliano Srl
Priority date: 2024-05-28
Filing date: 2025-05-27
Publication date: 2025-12-03

Abstract

The present invention relates to a process for the production of a textile yarn comprising the steps of: a) providing a first roving of textile material to be spun, wherein either at least 2% of said textile material is dope-dyed or tops-dyed or at least 100% of said textile material is dope-dyed or tops-dyed; b) starting the spinning of the first roving of step a) so as to begin to obtain a basic thread; c) providing a second roving of textile material to be spun, wherein either at least 2% of said textile material is dope-dyed or tops-dyed or at least 100% of said textile material is dope-dyed or tops-dyed, starting the spinning of the second roving so as to obtain a bundle of fibres; d) continuing the spinning of step b) and step c), winding, for a determined period of time, the bundle of fibres of step c) onto the basic thread thereby obtaining a yarn with an aesthetic effect; e) optionally dyeing the yarn of step d). The present invention also concerns the yarn thus obtained and its uses as furnishing textile yarn for indoor and/or outdoor environments and/or for the making of furnishing fabrics for indoor and/or outdoor environments.

Description

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a process for the production of a textile yarn, a textile yarn thus obtained and the use of said textile yarn as a furnishing textile yarn for indoor and/or outdoor environments and for the making of furnishing fabrics for indoor and/or outdoor environments.

Prior art

The term spinning (or process for the production of a textile yarn) refers to the complex sequence of operations required for the transformation of textile fibres into textile yarn or thread.
The essential purpose of spinning consists in obtaining a final product as homogeneous as possible, namely endowed with uniform characteristics of strength, count, colour, cleanliness and elasticity. Essentially, spinning is a set of operations that transforms a raw fibre into a yarn. Yarn is a resistant, homogeneous filament and sufficiently long to be used both in the manufacture of fabrics, in knitting, and also as thread for sewing or embroidery. Given that fibres can appear in staple (wool, cotton, etc.) or continuous filament (silk and synthetic fibres) form, spinning can be carried out on: short staple fibre, long staple fibre, continuous filament fibre. It should also be specified that synthetic fibres can also be cut and transformed into staple; the purpose of this operation is to be able to process them together, for example, with other fibres not having unlimited length. The processing steps change depending on the type of the starting fibre, in particular on the basis of the fibre length.
To transform a mass of fibres into a yarn, the indispensable operation is twisting. Yarn is the product resulting from the union of a large quantity of textile fibres which, generally, has softness characteristics, unlike thread which is thin, of theoretically unlimited length, made of one or more filaments of silk or of synthetic or artificial fibres, spun continuously; compared to yarn, it usually has a more regular section, is smooth, rigid, shiny, but less soft and thermally less insulating.
Proper spinning, also called traditional spinning, is the set of operations required for the transformation of textile fibres (excluding silk) into yarn. Improper spinning typically describes the production of artificial and synthetic fibres using the spinneret.
Although, as described above, the essential purpose of spinning is to obtain a final product as homogeneous as possible in terms of colour, there is increasing demand on the market for yarns having non-homogeneous colour, mostly in the field of furnishing textiles, particularly for furnishing fabrics both for outdoor and indoor use.
There are spinning techniques which, as raw material, use dope-dyed acrylic (or PET), allowing the yarn thus obtained to be used for the production of indoor and outdoor furnishings; or spinning which, as raw material, uses dope-dyed polyester in order to create a uniform mélange effect on the entire obtained yarn.
These spinning techniques, however, do not allow the production of yarns having non-homogeneous colour along all the dimensions of the yarn.
In the prior art there exists a spinning technique that allows the obtaining of yarns having non-homogeneous colour; this technique consists in temporally and spatially alternating one coloured yarn with another. However, this technique is limited to a specific spinning count: NM 1/10000.
The possibility of having a spinning process that leads to the production of a yarn having non-homogeneous colour along all the dimensions of the yarn, without limitation of spinning count, is therefore a need felt on the market.

Summary of the invention

The object of the present invention is therefore to obtain a spinning process that leads to the production of a yarn having non-homogeneous colour along all the dimensions of the yarn.
This object is achieved by a process for the production of a textile yarn, by the yarn thus obtained and by its uses, as outlined in the appended claims, the definitions of which form an integral part of the present description.

Detailed description of the invention

A first subject of the present invention concerns a process for the production of a textile yarn comprising the steps of:

a) providing a first roving of textile material to be spun, wherein either at least 2% of said textile material is dope-dyed or tops-dyed or at least 100% of said textile material is dope-dyed or tops-dyed;
b) starting the spinning of the first roving of step a) so as to begin to obtain a basic thread;
c) providing a second roving of textile material to be spun, wherein either at least 2% of said textile material is dope-dyed or tops-dyed or at least 100% of said textile material is dope-dyed or tops-dyed, starting the spinning of the second roving so as to obtain a bundle of fibres;
d) continuing the spinning of step b) and step c), winding, for a determined period of time, the bundle of fibres of step c) onto the basic thread thereby obtaining a yarn with an aesthetic effect;
e) optionally dyeing the yarn of step d).

Advantageously therefore, the process according to the present invention comprises a spinning technique defined in jargon as "injection", in which the bundle of fibres of step c) is wound onto the basic thread thereby obtaining a yarn with an aesthetic effect. This advantageous feature of winding a bundle of fibres onto the basic thread differs from the known spinning technique called "mosaic", according to which two threads (derived from rovings) alternate with each other in an alternating manner, namely the spinning takes place for a certain period of time with a thread of one roving, then for another period of time with a thread of another roving, then again with the thread of the first roving, then again with the thread of the second roving and so on, alternating, precisely, the two threads without overlapping or winding them with each other. The process according to the present invention is therefore different from the "mosaic" spinning process with alternating threads.
With reference to the present description and the annexed claims, the term "dope-dyed" refers to a raw textile material (possibly a fibre) that is dyed before spinning or extrusion, i.e., the dye is added before spinning or extrusion. It is a type of dyeing that is mostly, but not exclusively, used for synthetic fibres such as acrylic, viscose, polyester, polyethersulfone (PES), PET (polyethylene terephthalate). Many synthetic polymers, especially acrylic resins, polyesters and polypropylene resins, are preferably coloured by adding the pigments before the formation of the fibres, i.e., by adding them in the molten mass or dissolved in a solvent before extrusion in the spinneret or weaving; in English this is called dope dyeing or solution dyeing.
With reference to the present description and the annexed claims, the term "tops-dyed" refers to a raw textile material (possibly a fibre) that is dyed before spinning or extrusion. In particular, tops dyeing is usually carried out on combed sliver of natural animal origin fibres, synthetic fibres or artificial fibres. In particular, the combed sliver is usually loaded onto dye rods consisting of perforated hollow tubes mounted on supports of dimensions suitable for the subsequent dyeing operation, which takes place in a variable number of sealed autoclaves consisting of vertical cylindrical tanks. Subsequently, the combed sliver, after unwinding from the dyeing support, is subjected to final rinsing, which takes place in tanks arranged in series. Then, it passes through a series of perforated cylinders (the intestecting) crossed by a flow of hot air, the purpose of which is to mix and even out the sliver and then rewind it.
With reference to the present description and the annexed claims, the term "roving" refers to a thin band of slightly twisted textile fibre, with cylindrical section.
According to a preferred embodiment of the process according to the present invention, in step a), or in step c), the components of the textile material to be spun (the roving) are mixed together, i.e., a raw base is mixed with a part dope-dyed or tops-dyed for a percentage of at least 2%. It follows therefore that, preferably, the remaining percentage of said textile material to be spun is raw, i.e., undyed, in particular not dope-dyed or tops-dyed. According to a preferred embodiment, the textile material to be spun of step a) therefore preferably comprises 2% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 98% of raw material. Even more preferably it comprises 10% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 90% of raw material. Even more preferably it comprises 20% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 80% of raw material. Even more preferably it comprises 30% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 70% of raw material. Even more preferably it comprises 40% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 60% of raw material. Even more preferably it comprises 50% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 50% of raw material. Even more preferably it comprises 60% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 40% of raw material. Even more preferably it comprises 70% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 30% of raw material. Even more preferably it comprises 80% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 20% of raw material. Even more preferably it comprises 90% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 10% of raw material. Even more preferably it comprises 98% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 2% of raw material.
Even more preferably it comprises 100% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material.
According to a preferred embodiment of the process according to the present invention, in step a), or in step c), the textile material to be spun is dope-dyed or tops-dyed for a percentage of at least 2% of said textile material to be spun. It follows therefore that preferably the remaining percentage of said textile material to be spun is raw, namely undyed, in particular not dope-dyed or tops-dyed.
According to a preferred embodiment, the textile material to be spun of step c) therefore preferably comprises 2% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 98% of raw material. Even more preferably it comprises 5% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 95% of raw material. Even more preferably it comprises 10% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 90% of raw material. Even more preferably it comprises 20% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 80% of raw material. Even more preferably it comprises 30% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 70% of raw material. Even more preferably it comprises 40% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 60% of raw material. Even more preferably it comprises 50% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 50% of raw material. Even more preferably it comprises 60% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 40% of raw material. Even more preferably it comprises 70% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 30% of raw material. Even more preferably it comprises 80% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 20% of raw material. Even more preferably it comprises 90% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 10% of raw material. Even more preferably it comprises 95% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 5% of raw material. Even more preferably it comprises 98% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material and 2% of raw material.
Even more preferably it comprises 100% of dope-dyed or tops-dyed material.
According to a preferred embodiment of the process according to the present invention, the dope dyeing or tops dyeing of step a) and/or of step c) preferably takes place with different colours or with the same colour (tone on tone).
According to a preferred embodiment of the process according to the present invention, each spinning step is preferably conducted by means of a spinning machine.
According to a preferred embodiment of the process according to the present invention, the yarn of step d) may be, but not exclusively, a slub yarn. As known to the person skilled in the art, the term slub (or flammé) refers to an irregular thickening, usually spindle-shaped, that forms as a technical defect on the yarn; by deliberately exploiting this defect, slub yarns are created that present thickenings at desired intervals, and which are used to make fancy knitwear or fabrics such as shantung; fabrics that feature knobs and stripes of vivid colours with particularly marked occasional thickenings are also referred to as slubbed.
According to a preferred embodiment of the process according to the present invention, the textile material of step a), and/or the textile material of step c), is selected from: acrylic, recycled acrylic, polyester, recycled polyester, flame-retardant polyester, recycled flame-retardant polyester, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET), viscose, recycled viscose, polyethersulfone (PES), recycled polyethersulfone (PES), metallised polyester (ME), recycled metallised polyester (ME) or mixtures thereof. Preferably, step e) of dyeing the yarn of step d) takes place when the textile material of step c) is polyester or viscose. According to a preferred embodiment of the process according to the present invention, the textile material of step a), and/or of step c), is preferably a dope-dyed textile material. According to another preferred embodiment of the process according to the present invention, the textile material of step a), and/or of step c), is preferably a tops-dyed textile material. Preferably, the textile material of step a), and/or of step c), is a material for outdoor use and/or for indoor use. Optionally, acrylic and polyester may be coloured acrylic and polyester. With reference to the present description and the annexed claims, the term "acrylic" refers to a synthetic fibre produced from acrylonitrile, a monomer that constitutes at least 85% of the repeating units in the polymer chain of the fibre.
According to a preferred embodiment of the process according to the present invention, the spinning of step b), and/or the spinning of step c), is carried out by means of a spinning machine.
According to a preferred embodiment of the process according to the present invention, the period of time of step d) is comprised between 0.01 seconds and 5 minutes.
According to a preferred embodiment of the process according to the present invention, step d) may be repeated several times within the claimed process, in particular, preferably, the period of time of step d) may be repeated several times during the entire claimed process.
Advantageously, the process according to the present invention may also be implemented on "open/end" spinning.
A second subject of the present invention concerns a textile yarn obtainable from the process as described above.
Advantageously, the textile yarn obtainable from the above-mentioned process is a yarn having any metric count (expressed in Nm).
Advantageously, furthermore, the yarn obtainable from the above-mentioned process is a UV-resistant yarn, this is preferably and advantageously achieved thanks to the use, within the above-mentioned process and in particular within the dope dyeing or tops dyeing steps, of pigments having high fastness that confer on the yarn a degree of fastness equal to 6/7 on the blue scale according to ISO 105 B04 test. This makes the yarn particularly suitable and resistant for outdoor use, without however excluding its suitable use also in indoor environments.
A third subject of the present invention concerns the use of the above-mentioned textile yarn as furnishing textile yarn for indoor and/or outdoor environments.
A fourth subject of the present invention concerns the use of the above-mentioned textile yarn for the making of furnishing fabrics for indoor and/or outdoor environments. Preferably, but not exclusively, said fabrics may be all fabrics of the sector, for example jacquard or velvet fabric, curtains in general and all the workings derived from the use of this yarn, both for outdoor and for indoor.
A fifth subject of the present invention concerns a fabric made with a textile yarn as described above.
Preferably, the process according to the present invention can be described in the following way: on the drawing roller of the spinning machine there is a roving, which is weighed and drawn based on the desired final product. On the same drawing roller another roving is inserted (also in this case weighed and drawn as needed). The resulting yarn will be composed of two elements, which will become a single product, a synthesis of two or more different materials and colours. Preferably the material used is selected from: acrylic, recycled acrylic, polyester, recycled polyester, flame-retardant polyester, recycled flame-retardant polyester, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET), viscose, recycled viscose, polyethersulfone (PES), recycled polyethersulfone (PES), metallised polyester (ME), recycled metallised polyester (ME) or mixtures thereof. Said material is preferably a dope-dyed material. Preferably the material is a material for outdoor use and/or for indoor use. The process according to the present invention allows a roving of (for example) dope-dyed acrylic to pass through the drawing roller of the spinning machine. Subsequently, the fibre of another roving (likely, for example, another dope-dyed acrylic) is wound, and an effect of colours in stretches more or less long, reproducible and controllable, will be obtained.
The yarns obtained from the known techniques described in the "Prior art" section allow the obtaining of yarns with colour uniformity. The process according to the present invention instead advantageously allows the use, in the drawing roller, of a preferably dope-dyed fibre onto which another fibre is wound, also preferably dope-dyed but treated differently, or another completely different fibre (but still preferably dope-dyed), in order to obtain, at the moment of spinning, colour effects in different stretches, thanks to the winding, for a determined period of time, of the bundle of fibres of step c) onto the basic thread of step b).
Differently from the known techniques of the prior art, the process according to the present invention does not provide for the alternation, either temporally or spatially, of one coloured yarn and another coloured yarn; the process according to the present invention comprises in fact a step in which the two threads are wound together (therefore overlapped), not alternated. The above-mentioned technique of the prior art also presents the constraint of being limited to a specific spinning count: NM 1/10000; the process according to the present invention is instead a process free of the aforesaid constraint, the process can indeed be carried out with any spinning count and the obtainable yarn is a yarn that may be slubbed or obtained with the so-called "injection" process, or both.
The process according to the present invention therefore advantageously allows the production of yarns having non-homogeneous colour along all the dimensions of the yarn, in particular the percentages of dope-dyed or tops-dyed textile material of step a) and/or of step c) used and claimed in the process according to the present invention allow the obtaining of yarns having a surprising shaded effect, in particular a very delicate shaded effect, not otherwise obtainable.
Advantageously, furthermore, this yarn may be used as furnishing textile yarn for indoor and/or outdoor environments and/or for the making of furnishing fabrics for indoor and/or outdoor environments.

Claims

Process for the production of a textile yarn comprising the steps of:
a) providing a first roving of textile material to be spun, wherein either at least 2% of said textile material is dope-dyed or tops-dyed or at least 100% of said textile material is dope-dyed or tops-dyed;

b) starting the spinning of the first roving of step a) so as to begin to obtain a basic thread;

c) providing a second roving of textile material to be spun, wherein either at least 2% of said textile material is dope-dyed or tops-dyed or at least 100% of said textile material is dope-dyed or tops-dyed, starting the spinning of the second roving so as to obtain a bundle of fibres;

d) continuing the spinning of step b) and step c), winding, for a determined period of time, the bundle of fibres of step c) onto the basic thread thereby obtaining a yarn with an aesthetic effect;

e) optionally dyeing the yarn of step d).
Process according to claim 1, wherein the textile material of step a), and/or the textile material of step c), is selected from: acrylic, recycled acrylic, polyester, recycled polyester, flame-retardant polyester, recycled flame-retardant polyester, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET), viscose, recycled viscose, polyethersulfone (PES), recycled polyethersulfone (PES), metallised polyester (ME), recycled metallised polyester (ME) or mixtures thereof.
Process according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the spinning of step b), and/or the spinning of step c), is carried out by means of a spinning machine.
Process according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the period of time of step d) is comprised between 0.01 seconds and 5 minutes.
Textile yarn obtainable from the process according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
Use of the textile yarn according to claim 5 as furnishing textile yarn for indoor and/or outdoor environments.
Use of the textile yarn according to claim 5 for the making of furnishing fabrics for indoor and/or outdoor environments, for example said fabrics are jacquard or velvet fabric, curtains in general and all workings derived from the use of said yarn, both for outdoor and for indoor.
Fabric made with a textile yarn according to claim 5.