JP2001347117A - Filter material - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an antimicrobial filter material having low pressure drop and high particle capturing efficiency. SOLUTION: The filter material which consists of a nonwoven fabric provided with the low pressure drop and the high particle capturing efficiency by having bulk and has an antimicrobial property is obtained by blending electret film split fibers and hot melt fibers having a crimp tendency.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a filter medium for efficiently removing aerosol that may have a bad effect on the human body such as pollen, bacteria, virus, tobacco smoke, air dust, etc. The present invention relates to a filter medium having an antibacterial property having a low pressure loss and a high particle collection efficiency, which is suitable for applications such as.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As disclosed in JP-A-61-272063,
For example, as a high particle collection efficiency mask, a filter medium made of a melt blown nonwoven fabric made into an electret has been widely used. Melt blown nonwoven fabric is composed of very thin fibers with a fiber diameter of several μm and has a dense structure, so high particle collection efficiency can be realized, but conversely, pressure loss increases and air permeability deteriorates . Therefore, when performing a violent operation in an environment that requires the use of a mask, such as in an atmosphere of a high-concentration aerosol, there is a problem in that the pressure loss is high, causing difficulty in breathing, and making long-term activities difficult.

[0003]

An object of the present invention is to provide a filter medium having low pressure loss, high particle collection efficiency, and antibacterial properties, and which is suitable for heavy-duty work under a high-concentration aerosol atmosphere or the like. To provide a filter medium for use.

[0004]

The electret film split fibers are used to split a charged film (electret film) with an opening cutter or the like.
It is a fiber obtained by This electret film split fiber is 10 times to 50 times as large as the fiber constituting the filter medium formed by electret melt blown nonwoven fabric.
It has twice the fiber surface charge density and forms a strong electric field around the fiber. Therefore, if the electret film split fiber is formed into a nonwoven fabric, it is possible to provide a masking filter material having a higher particle collection efficiency and a lower pressure loss than a masking filter material using a melt blown nonwoven fabric.

The electret film split fiber, which is an essential component of the present invention, has an average fiber fineness of 1 dtex or more and 16.5 dtex or less, preferably 3 dtex, in order to exhibit good particle collection efficiency while maintaining low pressure loss. that's all
It must be less than 10dtex. The reason why it is not possible to achieve both pressure loss and particle collection efficiency performance outside this range is that when it is smaller than 1 dtex, carding failure easily occurs in the filter medium molding process, and when it exceeds 16.5 dtex, the particle collection efficiency deteriorates That's why.

However, when the filling amount of the electret film split fibers is increased in order to achieve a high particle collecting efficiency, the particle collecting effect is improved as the filling amount is increased, but the pressure loss is also increased. The pressure loss suddenly rises above a certain value. Further, there is a problem that even if the filling amount is increased by a certain value or more, the particle collection efficiency does not increase any more.

[0007] This is because the former is caused by a decrease in porosity due to a high filling factor, and the latter is caused by the overlap of electret fibers.
a.Electret film split fiber surface area reduction b.
This is presumably because electret film split fibers overlap each other (neutralize) to cause a decrease in charge characteristics.

When the filling amount of the electret film split fiber exceeds 100 g / m ² , the phenomenon described in [0005] becomes remarkable. Therefore, as a result of intensive studies, the electret film split fiber was mixed with the heat-sealing fiber to prevent the filling rate of the electret film split fiber from increasing in the filter medium while increasing the filling amount of the electret film split fiber to increase the total charge amount. By increasing the particle size, a filter medium having a high particle collection efficiency can be realized.

When the electret film split fiber is mixed with the fiber, the content of the former is 50% by weight or more and 90% by weight or less, preferably 60% by weight or more.
When it is in the range of 70% by weight or less, the bonding point between fibers by fusion can be set to an optimum value, and a bulky web can be provided. As a result, a filter having a low pressure loss with respect to the particle collection efficiency can be obtained, and the particle collection effect can be improved. If the fiber to be mixed is less than 10% by weight, the bulkiness is low, and if it is more than 50% by weight, it is not preferable in terms of bulkiness. In the present invention, the heat-fused fiber is used as the fiber to be mixed with the electret film split fiber. However, the filter medium can be formed into a bulky material, and has a fiber diameter, fiber fineness, and strength according to claim 4. Then, it is not limited to this.

Further, by mixing, spreading and heat-sealing the heat-fused fibers having three-dimensional crimps to the electret film split fibers, it is possible to increase the filling rate, reduce the particle collecting area, and prevent the charge characteristics from being neutralized. However, it has become possible to provide a filter medium for a mask having a low pressure loss and a high particle collection efficiency. In this case, the filling amount of the electret film split fiber depends on the filling rate of the electret film split fiber.
A range from 0.02 to 0.06, preferably from 0.03 to 0.05 is good. If it is less than 0.02, the effect of collecting particles is small,
Further, the effect on the particle collection efficiency, pressure loss, and thickness by mixing the heat-fused fibers was examined. If the filter medium composition ratio (electret: mixed fibers) falls within the range of claim 2,
The effect is the same.

The fiber fineness to be mixed with the electret film split fiber is 0.1 dtex or more and 60 dtex or less, preferably 6 dtex or more and 20 dtex or less. If it is less than this, there is no effect on bulkiness, and if it is more than this, it becomes difficult to use it as a bulky filter medium.

[0012] If the fiber fineness of the heat-fusible fiber is too small than the fiber fineness of the electret film split fiber, it does not make sense to mix other fibers to reduce the filling rate. On the other hand, if the fiber fineness of the mixed fiber is too large, the filter medium storage space for use in a mask application is limited, resulting in excessive bulkiness. Therefore, the fiber fineness needs to be in the range described in claim 4.

When crimping properties are imparted to the fiber used for mixing with the electret film split fiber, the contribution to the bulky effect is large, and the number of crimps is 5/25 mm or more, 1
5 pieces / 25 mm or less, preferably 8 pieces / mm or more, 12
Pcs / mm or less. If the number of crimps of the fibers used for mixing with the electret film split fibers is too small, it does not make sense to mix other fibers to make the filter medium bulky. On the other hand, if the number of crimps is too large, the filling rate increases and the pressure loss increases.

By adjusting the bulkiness of the fiber mixed with the electret film split fiber by such crimping and fiber fineness, and by heat-sealing, the filling rate and the filling amount of the electret film split fiber can be reduced. Becomes possible.

The heat-sealing fiber used in the present invention is a composite fiber obtained by compounding thermoplastic resins of different materials in parallel (side-by-side, sea core, etc.) and eccentric. The heat-fused fiber is generally a composite fiber composed of a two-component polymer of a low-melting component and a high-melting component having a cross-sectional structure such as a core-sheath type, an eccentric core-sheath type or a side-by-side type, and is formed by a known method. Can be manufactured. Examples of the polymer of the low melting point component include polyethylene, ethylene vinyl acetate, copolymerized polyester, copolymerized polyamide, and a mixture thereof. The melting point of the low melting point polymer is suitably from about 100 ° C. to 130 ° C., and the high melting point polymer is preferably at least 30 ° C. higher than the low melting point polymer. or,
Examples of the combination of the low-melting component polymer and the high-melting component polymer include polyethylene / polypropylene, polyethylene / polyester, copolymerized polyester or a mixture / polyester, polyester, copolymerized polyamide / polyamide, and the like, but are not limited thereto. Absent. By mixing, spreading, and heat-sealing the heat-fusible fibers and the electret film split fibers, the filter medium can be given the most balanced functions (strength, bulkiness, feeling, etc.).

As a material of the heat-fused fiber, it was conceived to make the entire filter medium bulky with a smaller mixing amount, and to realize an increase in surface area (prevention of charge neutralization due to overlapping) by lowering the electret fiber filling rate. At this time, it is desirable to select a material having lower density and high crimp fastness.

In the present invention, the electret film split fiber has a high surface charge density even after being subjected to a heat treatment together with the heat-fusible fiber so that the electret film split fiber can exhibit good particle collection efficiency. Preferably 12
At an ambient temperature of 0 ° C., it is desired that the surface charge density be maintained at a retention of 70% or more of the initial surface charge density value. For this reason, it is recommended to add an additive to the polymer constituting the electret film, which has relatively low heat resistance, such as polyolefin, for the purpose of imparting heat resistance. Examples of the additives include fatty acid metal salts such as magnesium stearate, aluminum stearate, and aluminum laurate. The preferred amount of these additives can be appropriately changed depending on the type of the selected additive, but is generally 0.05% by weight or more and 5% by weight or less, preferably 0.5% by weight or more and 3% by weight or less based on the polymer. % By weight or less.

In the present invention, the fiber fineness is defined as follows. X = π × R × R × α × 10 ⁶ × 9000 × 1.1 [X: Fiber fineness (dtex) 2 × R: Fiber diameter (m) α: Fiber density (g / cm ³ )] Electret film of split fiber For the fiber diameter, the cross-sectional area is replaced by the area of a circle because the cross-section is rectangular,
The diameter was defined as the fiber diameter. The fiber diameter of the fiber to be mixed with the electret film split fiber was measured at a magnification of 150 times by using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) on a section obtained by bundling 50 fibers and cutting the fiber perpendicular to the fiber length direction. The measured cross-sectional area was replaced by the area of a circle, and the diameter was used as the fiber diameter. From the above formula, the density of the fiber having the fiber diameter and the fiber fineness is determined in the range according to claim 4, and if the fiber is a material having the density, the fiber is mixed with the electret film split fiber to reduce the fiber density. A filter material for a mask having a high particle collection efficiency due to a pressure loss can be obtained.

In the present invention, the heat-fused fiber is further provided with antibacterial properties. That is, in the case of side-by-side, at least on either side, in the case of sea core, the outer material is provided with antibacterial properties so that the heat-fused fiber having this antibacterial property always exhibits an antibacterial effect. is there. Preferably, an antibacterial material copolymerized with a polymer is safe and sanitary without bleed-out. Various methods for imparting antibacterial properties have been known for a long time (JP-A-54-86584, JP-A-61-245378, and JP-A-4-814365).
The antibacterial fiber used in the present invention may be treated by any method. In particular, those containing a polymer substance and a hydrophilic substance in which a phosphonium salt is bonded to a main chain and / or a side chain are preferable because of good durability. By imparting antibacterial properties, there is no generation of bacteria after use and a deodorizing effect can be obtained.

The electret film split fibers used in the present invention include polyolefin-based polymers such as polypropylene, polyethylene, and syndioctatic polystyrene, and α-olefins such as poly-4-methyl-1-pentene.
Examples include polyolefin-based polymers, fluorine-based polymers such as Teflon (registered trademark), polycarbonates, polyesters, and the like.

The filter medium of the present invention is manufactured by adjusting the filter medium molding and thickness by a usual method via a needle punching step.

For the purpose of using the filter medium for a mask in the present invention, it is necessary to store the filter medium in a limited storage space, and the thickness of the filter medium is limited. That is, as a means for reducing the thickness, performing a needle punching step on the filter medium,
Measures such as reducing the filling amount of the filter medium and reducing the fiber fineness of the filter medium constituent fibers can be cited.

[0023]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An unstretched film is prepared by melt-extrusion of a commercially available polypropylene resin, and then the unstretched film is stretched 5 to 10 times longitudinally and / or transversely to form a stretched film. I do. Then, electret film is formed by electrification, and split by an opening cutter to obtain electret film spirit fibers. Electretization of the film can be performed by a charging method such as corona discharge, electric field discharge, electron beam irradiation, and triboelectric charging, or a combination of these charging methods.

The fibers to be mixed with the electret film spirit fibers are crimped, the fineness of the fiber, the filling rate and the filling amount are set and mixed, and then a non-woven fabric is formed through a needle punching step. In this case, a copolymerized antibacterial agent,
Alternatively, a blend is used. In the present invention, tri-n-sulfoisophthalic acid dimethyl ester
A copolyester fiber containing 3 mol% of -butylhexadecylphosphonium salt was used. The filling amount of the electret film split fiber was 100 g / m ² .

Hereinafter, the contents and effects of the present invention will be described with reference to examples.
The present invention is not limited to the following embodiments. The numerical values defined in the present invention and the measuring methods used in the following examples will be described. 1. K value In order to comprehensively evaluate the performance of the filter media, it is expressed by the following formula.
The K value was calculated from the measured values of the particle collection efficiency and the pressure loss described above. It can be said that the larger the K value, the better the performance of the filter medium. K (1 / mmAq) =-[ln (1-particle collection efficiency / 1
00)] / Pressure loss Particle collection efficiency The particle collection efficiency of the filter medium is determined by measuring the concentration of air dust particles between 0.3 μm and 0.5 μm above and below the filter medium at a passing air velocity of 5 cm / sec with a laser particle counter (Rion
KC-01C) and expressed as a percentage of the value obtained by subtracting the downstream particle concentration from the upstream particle concentration by the upstream particle concentration. 3. Pressure loss The pressure loss of the filter medium was measured at a passing air velocity of 5 cm / sec by using a Manostar gauge to measure the pressure difference between the upstream side and the downstream side of the filter medium. 4. Antibacterial activity According to the JIS L 1902-1998 Established Manual for Testing Antibacterial Activity for Fiber Products (Unified Act). That is, 2 g of a sample was previously placed on the bottom of a closed container, and Staphylococcus aureus diluted with 1/50 broth, which had been pre-cultured on this sample, was placed in a bacterial solution of 0.1 g / ml.
After sowing the cells in 2 ml and leaving them in a 37 ° C. incubator for 18 hours, 20 ml of SCDLP medium is added, and the cells are shaken well to wash out the bacteria. This was placed on an ordinary agar plate, and the number of bacteria was measured 24 hours later. Then, the number of bacteria was compared with the number of bacteria on an unprocessed data cloth, and the antibacterial property was determined. At the same time, the odor was determined. Bacteriostatic activity value Bacteriostatic activity value was used as an index indicating antibacterial performance. Less than,
The bacteriostatic activity value will be described. S = Ma−Mb S: bacteriostatic activity value Ma: common logarithm of viable cell count (average of 3 samples) of unprocessed sample after 18 hours Mb: viable cell count of processed sample after 18 hours culture (3 Sample average)
Common logarithm of Filling rate The filling rate (g / m ² ) of the filter medium was determined by dividing the thickness (m) under a load of 7 g / cm ² by the density (g / cm ² ) of the substance constituting the filter medium.

A filter material for a mask, which is bulky by mixing, opening and heat-fusing the electret film split fibers with anti-bacterial heat-fused fibers according to the present invention;
[Example 1] Electret film split fiber (5dt) was compared with a filter medium in which a melt blown nonwoven fabric was electretized.
ex, 90 mm fiber length, 10 μm thick propylene film with 0.3% by weight of aluminum stearate added) and a core-sheath type heat-fused fiber (5-sulfo Tri-n-butylhexadecylphosphonium salt of dimethyl isophthalate 3mol
% Copolyester fiber, 10 dtex, fiber length 51m
m) is supplied to a roller card and mixed and spread at a ratio of 2: 1 to produce a card fleece. This fleece is folded and laminated while being slightly shifted at right angles to the direction of travel of the fleece, and the total filling amount of the filter medium is 150 g / m ² (electret film split fiber: heat fusion fiber = 100 g / m ² : 50 g / m ² ).
² ) The web was then heat treated in a 120 ° C. hot air oven (air through method) for 5 minutes, cooled, and then used as a filter medium. Comparative Example 1 A melt-blown nonwoven fabric was electretized to obtain a filter medium having a fiber diameter of 2.3 μm and a filling amount of 32 g / m ² . [Comparative Example 2] An electret film split fiber is supplied to a roller card, mixed and spread to prepare a card fleece. This fleece was folded and laminated into a web while being slightly shifted at right angles to the direction of travel of the fleece, and was subjected to a needle punching process to obtain a filter medium having a filling amount of 100 g / m ² . That is, [Comparative Example 2] is different from [Example 1] in that the mixed fiber was not used, and the filter medium was made of only electret film split fiber, and the antibacterial property was not necessarily imparted. is there. [Comparative Example 3] Electret film split fiber (5
dtex, 90mm fiber length, 10μm thick propylene film with 0.3% by weight of aluminum stearate)
Core-sheath type heat-fused fiber (polyester fiber, 10 dtex, fiber length 5) consisting of two components polymer, low melting point component and high melting point component
1mm) is supplied to a roller card and mixed and spread at a ratio of 2: 1 to create a card fleece. This fleece is folded and laminated while being slightly shifted at right angles to the direction of travel of the fleece, so that the total filling amount of the filter medium is 150 g / m ² (electret film split fiber: heat fusion fiber = 10 g / m ² : 50 g /
m ² ), and the web was heat-treated in a 120 ° C. hot air oven (air through method) for 5 minutes, cooled, and then used as a filter medium. That is, [Comparative Example 3] differs from [Example 1] in that the heat-fused fiber, which is a mixed fiber, is used as a filter medium without imparting antibacterial properties. [Comparative Example 4] Electret film split fiber (5
dtex, 90mm fiber length, 10μm thick propylene film with 0.3% by weight of aluminum stearate)
A core-sheath type heat-fused fiber composed of a two-component polymer having a low melting point component and a high melting point component (tri-n-butylhexadecylphosphonium salt of dimethyl 5-sulfoisophthalate 3mo
Copolyester fiber containing 1%, 1dtex, fiber length 51m
m) is supplied to a roller card and mixed and spread at a ratio of 2: 1 to produce a card fleece. This fleece is folded and laminated while being slightly shifted at right angles to the direction of travel of the fleece, and the total filling amount of the filter medium is 150 g / m ² (electret film split fiber: heat fusion fiber = 100 g / m ² : 50 g /
m ² ), and the web was heat-treated in a 120 ° C. hot air oven (air through method) for 5 minutes, cooled, and then used as a filter medium. [Comparative Example 4] is different from [Example 1] in that the fiber fineness of the fiber mixed with the electret film split fiber is 1/10 of [Example 1] and the fiber diameter is 1/3. At one point.

[0027]

[Table 1]

Table 1 shows [Example 1] and [Comparative Example] when the air dust particle diameter was 0.3 μm or more and less than 0.5 μm at a wind speed of 5 cm / sec passing through the filter medium.
1]-[Comparative Example 2]-[Comparative Example 3]-The filter medium performance of [Comparative Example 4] was shown. From the K values of [Example 1] and [Comparative Example 1], it was found that the present invention has higher performance than the filter medium in which the melt blown nonwoven fabric is electretized. From the K values of [Example 1] and [Comparative Example 2], when the filling amount of the electret film split fiber is 100 g / m ² or more, the heat fusion fiber is mixed with the electret film split fiber as in the present invention. -It was found that the performance of the filter medium was improved by fiber opening and heat fusion. From the K values of [Example 1] and [Comparative Example 3],
It was confirmed that the filter medium of the present invention, which uses a copolymer polyester containing 3 mol% of tri-n-butylhexadecylphosphonium salt of dimethyl 5-sulfoisophthalate as an antibacterial agent, has an antibacterial effect. From the K values of [Example 1] and [Comparative Example 4], it was confirmed that when the fiber diameter ratio of the fiber mixed with the electret film split fiber was within the range of claim 4, high performance was exhibited.

[0029]

According to the present invention, the filter material for a mask having a high collection efficiency has a smaller pressure loss than a filter material obtained by converting a melt-blown nonwoven fabric into an electret, which has been conventionally used for a mask, and a high-concentration aerosol environment requiring a violent movement. It is a filter medium suitable for long-term activities underneath. Also, by mixing a substance having an antibacterial property into the filter medium, it has become possible to protect the human body from bacteria and viruses even when working in an unsanitary poor working environment. As described above, it is considered that the present invention provides a filter material for a mask having industrially excellent performance. Further, by changing the filling amount of the electret film split fiber, specifications suitable for various application purposes can be realized.

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) D04H 13/02 D04H 13/02 F term (reference) 4C080 AA09 BB05 HH05 JJ05 NN27 4D019 AA01 BA13 BB03 BB08 BC01 BC06 CA10 DA03 DA05 DA08 DA10 4D054 AA13 AA20 BA16 BC10 BC16 EA22 4L047 AA14 AA28 AB02 AB05 AB07 BA05 BA09 CB10 CC03 CC12

Claims (7)

[Claims] The K value of a filter medium, which is a nonwoven fabric in which electret film split fibers and fibers are mixed, is 8 or more and antibacterial property in air dust particles of 0.3 μm or more and less than 0.5 μm under a wind velocity of 5 cm / sec passing through the filter medium. A filter medium comprising: 2. The filter medium according to claim 1, wherein the mixing ratio of the electret film split fibers and the fibers is from 5: 5 to 9: 1. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the filling amount of the electret film split fibers is 100 g / m ² or more, and the filling ratio of the electret fibers in the filter medium is 0.02 or more and 0.06 or less. Kano filter media. 4. The fiber diameter ratio of the fiber mixed with the electret film split fiber is from 2: 1 to 1: 2,
The filter medium according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the fiber fineness of the fibers to be mixed is 0.1 dtex or more and 60 dtex or less, and the number of crimps is 5/25 mm or more and 15/25 mm or less. 5. The filter medium according to claim 1, wherein the fiber mixed with the electret film split fiber is a heat fusion fiber. 6. The filter medium according to claim 1, wherein the fatty acid metal salt is contained in the electret film split fiber in an amount of 0.05 to 5.0% by weight. 7. The filter medium according to claim 1, wherein the fiber mixed with the electret film split fiber has an antibacterial property.