JP2005048324A - Apparatus for producing nonwoven fabric - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for producing a nonwoven fabric in which tensile strength in vertical direction of a nonwoven fabric is enhanced and production process is simplified without dividing the production process into several stages and further, adhesive force in the horizontal direction of the nonwoven fabric is remarkably enhanced and to provide an apparatus for producing the nonwoven fabric. <P>SOLUTION: The method for producing a nonwoven fabric comprises an extrusion step for forming fiber lines by discharging a plurality of thread-like fibers directly below closely in longitudinally parallel by extrusion and a drawing step for drawing the fiber lines by passing a drawing roller set and a conveying and stacking step for receiving the drawn fiber lines from beneath and stacking the fiber lines while horizontally conveying the fiber lines. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a nonwoven fabric and an apparatus therefor.

  First, as shown in FIG. 10, the conventional nonwoven fabric 1 is a first stage in which fibers 11 are bonded to each other while being stretched in the longitudinal direction by extruding a plurality of thread-like fibers 11 in parallel. The fiber layer is formed first, and the product is completed in the second stage of depositing the fiber layer as a substrate. Such a nonwoven fabric 1 not only has a low tensile strength in the longitudinal direction (that is, the fiber stretching direction), but also has an adhesive force between the fibers 11 in the lateral direction of the uncured fiber liquid at the moment of extrusion. Since it consists only of viscosity, the lateral tensile strength is quite weak, and there is a drawback that it is easily torn when a little tensile force is applied. In order to eliminate this drawback, the following manufacturing method has been proposed.

  This manufacturing method uses a die 2 as shown in FIG. 11 for the extrusion molding of the fiber layer in the first stage. Specifically, the plurality of discharge ports of the die 2 are arranged downward to discharge the plurality of filamentous fibers 31 downward, and the wind is blown downward from the blower ports opened between the discharge ports. Then, the air flow 32 that flows downward in parallel is generated on both sides of each fiber 31. When the jet speed of the air flow 32 is somewhat higher than the discharge speed of the fibers 31, there is an effect of forcibly guiding the fibers 31 downward, so that the fibers can be stretched to increase the longitudinal tensile strength of the fibers. it can. And since the air pressure between the fibers 31 is changing due to the presence of this air flow, the fiber 31 being cured is swung, and a distorted curve is scattered along the longitudinal direction, while adjacent to each other. Since not only the fibers 31 but also other fibers 31 are bonded to each other and become entangled, the lateral adhesive force of the whole nonwoven fabric can be increased.

  However, in this manufacturing method, the determination of the velocity of the airflow sometimes contradicts that the fiber 31 is bent and the fiber 31 is stretched. That is, if the speed of the air flow 32 is too slow, the stretching effect is almost lost. In addition, if the velocity of the air flow 32 is too high, the fiber 31 is stretched downward and the swinging action and the bending effect are reduced. Therefore, sometimes the balance between the longitudinal strength and the lateral strength is sometimes achieved when determining the product standard. There is a drawback of meeting the dilemma of what to take. Moreover, since the jet direction of the air flow 32 is parallel to the discharge direction of the fibers 31, even if the fibers 31 are bent, the degree of bending is limited, so the effect on the improvement of the adhesive force is limited, Even if the effect of stretching is ignored and only the improvement in lateral strength is pursued, a remarkable effect cannot be achieved. In addition, even if only the air flow is strengthened, the component force that guides and stretches the fiber is considerably limited. Even if the improvement in the transverse strength is ignored and only the stretching effect is pursued, the same remarkable effect is achieved. I can't.

  And, conventionally, in the spinning industry, in order to increase the tensile strength in the longitudinal direction of the yarn, there is a technique in which a plurality of fibers discharged from a plurality of discharge ports of a die are twisted while being combined and then drawn by a drawing roller. . Such technology is also applied to the production of non-woven fabrics. However, as in the previous example, the process first forms a fiber layer as a first step, specifically, a plurality of fibers are discharged. The fiber layer is discharged from the outlet, and then the plurality of discharged fibers are each stretched by a stretching roller to produce a fiber layer. The fiber layer is conveyed to a deposition device until a non-woven fabric product is completed. Therefore, there are disadvantages that it takes time and the manufacturing speed is low.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a method for manufacturing a nonwoven fabric and a manufacturing apparatus for the same that increase the longitudinal tensile strength of the nonwoven fabric and simplify the manufacturing process of the nonwoven fabric without steps. A second problem is to provide a method for manufacturing a nonwoven fabric and a manufacturing apparatus therefor that further increase the lateral adhesive strength of the nonwoven fabric.

  In order to solve the above problems, the inventor firstly, an extrusion process in which a plurality of thread-like fibers are closely extruded in parallel in the front-and-rear direction to form a fiber row by extrusion, and the fiber row is drawn into a roller set. A method for producing a nonwoven fabric, comprising: a stretching step of passing the stretched fiber through and a transporting and depositing step of receiving the stretched fiber row from below and depositing it while being transported horizontally is provided.

  According to the manufacturing method, the longitudinal tensile strength of the fiber row (equal to the fiber layer) can be greatly increased by stretching the stretching roller set.

  Also, for example, the transport and deposition step is a conveyor whose transport speed is slower than the speed at which the fiber array is received, and receives the fiber array from below and transports while depositing on the upper surface thereof, or other transport while transporting Continue to carry out the transport and deposition process by receiving and laminating fibers or fiber rows / fiber layers, and manufacturing the nonwoven fabric from the discharge of the fibers to the deposition of the fiber rows (fiber layers) to complete the nonwoven fabric product, It can be simplified without grading.

  Then, between the stretching step and the transporting and depositing step, an air flow guide step for generating an air flow from top to bottom and forcibly guiding the stretched fiber row directly below, and guiding in parallel directly below A wavy generating step for generating an air current that swings back and forth while flowing from top to bottom on at least one side of the left and right sides of the stretched fiber row, and generating a wave shape while shaking the fiber row back and forth. It is preferable to include.

  In addition, the stretching step includes a first roller group composed of a plurality of rollers arranged in parallel vertically and a plurality of rollers arranged below the first roller group and arranged in parallel vertically. Using a stretching roller set consisting of a roller and a second roller group whose rotational speed is faster than the first roller group, due to the rotational speed difference between the first roller group and the second roller group It is preferable to stretch the fiber train.

  Furthermore, it is preferable to further include a cooling step of cooling the fiber rows by injecting cold air to the discharged fiber rows between the extruding step and the stretching step.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that the method further includes a heating step of warming the fiber rows by spraying hot air onto the fiber rows between the first roller group and the second roller group during execution of the stretching step.

  In addition, based on the manufacturing method of the said nonwoven fabric, an inventor provides the manufacturing apparatus of a nonwoven fabric further. The nonwoven fabric manufacturing apparatus includes an extruder including a die having a plurality of discharge holes that form a fiber row by closely discharging a plurality of yarn-like fibers in front and rear in parallel and forming a fiber array; and on the fiber discharge direction of the die A drawing roller set that guides the fiber row and stretches it while moving downward, and a cooling unit that is provided beside the plurality of discharge holes and cools the discharged fiber row, Arranged together with the rollers of the drawing roller set, the heating means for heating the cooled fiber row, and installed so as to flow while receiving the fiber row flowing in the left-right direction below the plurality of rollers It consists of a conveyor.

  In this manufacturing apparatus, the stretching roller set is provided below the first roller group and a first roller group composed of a plurality of rollers arranged in parallel in the vertical direction, and is arranged in parallel in the vertical direction. Preferably, the second roller group is composed of a plurality of rollers that are faster in rotation speed than the first roller group.

  And between the extending | stretching roller set and the said conveyor, the 1st blowing means which is installed in the at least one side of the right and left both sides of the said fiber discharge direction of the said die, and blows down, The said 1st blowing means It is preferable that the apparatus further includes second blowing means that is installed on at least one side of the right and left sides of the die in the fiber discharge direction and generates an air flow that swings back and forth while flowing downward.

  The cooling means includes a pair of opposed cold air outlets that are provided on the left and right sides of the die in the fiber discharge direction, respectively, and blow cold air right below the plurality of discharge holes. It is provided on each of the left and right sides of the die in the fiber discharge direction, and has a pair of opposed hot air outlets for blowing hot air between the first roller group and the second roller group. preferable.

  According to the nonwoven fabric manufacturing method and the apparatus thereof, since it can be performed continuously at a stretch from fiber ejection to fiber stretching and fiber deposition, the longitudinal tensile strength of the nonwoven fabric can be increased. In addition, the production rate of the nonwoven fabric can be greatly increased, and the cost can be reduced.

  Then, the second blowing means generates an air flow that swings back and forth while flowing from the top to the bottom, and the curving fiber is forcibly generated to form a wavy fiber. It is much larger than that of the parallel airflow that flows from top to bottom. That is, the fiber produced by the conventional production method has a so-called low wave shape having a small amplitude and a long wavelength, whereas the fiber produced by the production method of the present invention has a large amplitude and a short wavelength. Since it becomes a narrow wave shape, the entanglement effect is much better, and the lateral adhesive force of the nonwoven fabric can be greatly enhanced.

  In addition, since there is an air current that fluctuates before and after generated by the second air blowing means, the speed of the air flow from the top to the bottom generated by the first air blowing means does not adversely affect the bending effect of the fibers. . Therefore, it is not necessary to consider the balance between the speed of the airflow and the bending effect as in the prior art, and the speed of the airflow can be increased to further increase the production efficiency of the nonwoven fabric.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. In the following description, regardless of the size, components having substantially the same function and configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is performed only when necessary.

  FIG. 1 is a front view showing a preferred embodiment of the nonwoven fabric manufacturing apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view of a part of the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a part of this embodiment. As shown in the figure, this nonwoven fabric manufacturing apparatus includes an extruder provided with a die 4, a drawing roller set 5, a cooling means 61, a heating means 62, a pair of first blow means 71 and 71, and a pair. The second squirting means 72, 72, the conveyor 81, and the extraction means 82.

  Specifically, the die 4 has a plurality of discharge holes 41 arranged in a row in the front-rear direction (referenced to the front view of FIG. 1). These discharge holes 41 form a fiber array 91 by discharging a plurality of thread-like fibers in a line in close contact in parallel in the front and rear and directly below.

  The drawing roller set 5 is provided on the fiber discharging direction of the die 4 and extends while guiding the fiber row 91 and moving it downward. If it demonstrates in detail, the said extending | stretching roller set 5 will be provided under the 1st roller group 51 which consists of the several roller 511 arrange | positioned in the up-and-down parallel, and the said 1st roller group 51, and arrange | positioned in the up-and-down parallel. And a second roller group 52 whose rotational speed is faster than that of the first roller group 51. The fiber row 91 sequentially passes through the first roller group 51 and the second roller group 52, and the rotational speed difference between the first roller group 51 and the second roller group 52. Are drawn into a fiber row 92 (stretched fiber row).

  The cooling means 61 is provided near the plurality of discharge holes 41 and cools the discharged fiber array 91. In the present embodiment, the cooling means 61 is provided on each of the left and right sides of the die 4 in the fiber discharge direction, and has a pair of opposed cold air outlets 611 and 611 that blow cold air right below the plurality of discharge holes 41. I have.

  The heating means 62 is disposed together with the rollers 511 and 521 of the stretching roller set 5 and heats the cooled fiber array 91. In the present embodiment, the heating means 62 are respectively provided on the left and right sides of the die 4 in the fiber discharge direction, and emits hot air between the first roller group 51 and the second roller group 52. A pair of opposed hot air outlets 621 and 621 for blowing out are provided.

  The pair of first squirting means 71, 71 are respectively located on the left and right sides of the fiber ejection direction of the die 4 below the second roller group 52 (that is, the front and rear fiber rows ejected by the die 4). On both the left and right sides) and blows downward to generate airflows 711 and 711 from top to bottom. The pair of second squirting means 72, 72 are installed on the left and right sides of the die 4 in the fiber discharge direction below the pair of first squirting means 71, 71, respectively, from top to bottom. An airflow 722 that swings back and forth while flowing is generated.

  Specifically, a blade unit 721 having a guide blade 7211 that swings in the front-rear direction is provided in the air outlet of each second air jet means 72 as shown in FIGS. The guide blade 7211 may be composed of only one sheet, but the present embodiment is composed of a plurality of sheets. In the present embodiment, there are a plurality of the guide blades 7211, and they are pivotally arranged in parallel in the front-rear direction in the air outlets of the second air blowing means 72. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the blade unit 721 includes a motor 7212 provided in front of the plurality of guide blades 7211, a turntable 7213 fixed on the rotation shaft of the motor 7212, and A first link 7214 that is rod-shaped and has one end pivoted at an eccentric position of the rotating disk 7213, and substantially rod-shaped and one end pivoted to the other end of the first link 7214, except for the one end This portion further includes a second link 7215 pivoting on the same side surface of each of the plurality of guide vanes 7211.

  As a result, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the second link 7215 is swung back and forth via the first link 7214 by the rotation of the rotating plate 7213 driven by the motor 7212. The plurality of guide blades 7211 can be interlocked and swung back and forth simultaneously.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the conveyor 81 flows from the left to the right under the pair of second squirting means 72, 72 just below the plurality of discharge holes 41, and the plurality of fibers. It is installed to carry while receiving. The conveyor 81 has a mesh structure and receives the fiber rows 93 discharged and lowered from the die 4 on the upper surface 811 thereof.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bleeder 82 is installed below the conveyor 81 in the middle of the discharge hole 41 and generates an air flow 821 that flows from top to bottom. Thereby, the discharged fiber array 93 can be sucked from below the discharge holes 41 and guided to settle (adsorb) on the upper surface 811 of the conveyor 81.

  In the present embodiment, the discharge fiber array 91 is normally discharged using polyethylene or polypropylene, but other plastic materials may be used as necessary.

  Hereinafter, a method for producing a nonwoven fabric using the nonwoven fabric production apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 7.

  First, after a plastic material such as polyethylene or polypropylene is melted by an extruder, a plurality of thread-like continuous fiber arrays 91 are discharged from the discharge holes 41 in parallel in the front-rear direction by extrusion (extrusion process). Then, the cooling means 61 cools the fiber rows 91 by injecting cold air onto the discharged fiber rows 91 (cooling step). Thereafter, the cooled fiber array 91 is passed through the first roller group 51 and the second roller group 52 of the stretching roller set 5 to pass the first roller group 51 and the second roller group 52. And a layered fiber array 92 is formed by a difference in rotational speed between the two (stretching step).

  As shown in the drawing, during the execution of the stretching step, hot air is sprayed onto the fiber row 91 between the first roller group 51 and the second roller group 52 by the heating means 62 and the stretching step is performed. The heating process which warms the fiber row 91 is included.

  Then, the stretched fiber 92 is forcibly guided directly below by the upper to lower airflows 711 and 821 generated from the pair of first blowing means 71 and 71 and the extraction means 82 (airflow guiding step). . Further, the stretched fiber row 92 being cured is guided back and forth by the air flow 722 generated from the pair of second blowing means 72 and 72 swaying back and forth while flowing from top to bottom. A wave shape is generated while shaking to form a wave-like fiber array 93 as shown in FIG. 2 (wave shape generation step). Finally, the wavy fiber array 93 is received and deposited on the upper surface 811 of the conveyor 81 from below, and is conveyed while being laid on the conveyor 81 (conveying deposition step), thereby forming the nonwoven fabric 9 as shown in FIG.

  In the conveyance and deposition step, the fiber row 93 is received from below by the conveyor 81 whose conveyance speed is slower than the speed at which the wavy fiber row 93 is received, and is conveyed while being deposited on the upper surface thereof.

  The nonwoven fabric 9 formed by the manufacturing method and the apparatus is stretched in the stretching step to become fiber rows 92, and in the wave generating step, the stretched fiber rows 92 are forcibly generated and curved. Is much greater than that of a conventional parallel airflow flowing from top to bottom. Therefore, the tensile strength in the vertical direction is increased, the entanglement effect between the fibers is much better, and the adhesive force in the horizontal direction can be greatly increased.

  In other words, the fiber produced by the conventional production method has a so-called low wave shape having a small amplitude and a long wavelength, whereas the fiber produced by the production method of the present invention has a large amplitude. A so-called narrow wave shape having a short wavelength can be obtained.

  Also, since there is an airflow that oscillates back and forth during manufacturing, not only does the speed of the airflow from the top to the bottom not adversely affect the bending effect of the fibers, but also increases the speed of the airflow, The production efficiency of the nonwoven fabric can be increased.

  And depending on the manufacturing method, the longitudinal tensile strength of the fiber row 91 (equal to the fiber layer) can be greatly increased by stretching the stretching roller set 5 and the lateral adhesive strength can be greatly increased by the wavy generation, respectively. . In addition, the transport and deposition step is performed by receiving the fiber array 93 from below by the conveyor 81 having a transport speed slower than the speed at which the fiber array 93 is received, and transporting the wavy fiber array 93 while being deposited on the upper surface 811 thereof. Since the production of the nonwoven fabric is made only in one stage from the ejection of the fiber to the deposition of the fiber train (fiber layer) that completes the nonwoven fabric product, it can be simplified without dividing into stages. That is, since it can be carried out at a stretch from fiber ejection to fiber drawing, wavy generation, and fiber deposition, the production rate of the nonwoven fabric is greatly increased compared to the conventional staged production method, Cost can be reduced.

  FIG. 9: is a front view which shows other embodiment of the manufacturing apparatus of the nonwoven fabric of this invention. In this embodiment, the deposition process precedent is mainly different. That is, a plurality of the dies 4 are arranged side by side, and at least one of the stretching roller set 5, the pair of first squirting means 71, 71, and the pair of second squirting means 72, 72, respectively. One is selectively installed. Further, the conveyor 81 flows directly below the plurality of discharge holes 41 of each die 4 in the direction from left to right from next to next.

  As a result, the wavy fiber array 93 is received on the upper surface 811 of the conveyor 81 and conveyed while being received and spread on the conveyor 81, and another unstretched wavy fiber array 94 and stretched fibers are being conveyed. Rows 92 and normal fibers 91 can be laminated thereon to form a laminated nonwoven fabric.

  Thus, since the nonwoven fabric manufacturing method and apparatus of the present invention can complete the nonwoven fabric in only one step, the manufacturing speed of the nonwoven fabric can be greatly increased and the cost can be reduced. Further, the fiber row was drawn by the drawing roller set 5, and the stretched fiber row was forcibly generated in the stretched fiber row by an air flow swaying back and forth. The nonwoven fabric has a high tensile strength in the vertical direction and a good entanglement effect between the fibers, so that the adhesive strength in the horizontal direction is also high.

  The embodiment described above is intended to clarify the technical contents of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to such specific examples and is not construed in a narrow sense. Various modifications may be made within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

The front view which shows preferable embodiment of the manufacturing apparatus of the nonwoven fabric of this invention 1 is a side view of a part of FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the blade unit of FIG. Side view of FIG. FIG. 5 is a side view showing a swinging state of a plurality of blades in the blade unit. The flowchart which shows preferable embodiment of the manufacturing method of the nonwoven fabric of this invention. Schematic showing the nonwoven fabric produced by the production method The front view which shows other embodiment of the manufacturing apparatus of the nonwoven fabric of this invention Perspective view of conventional nonwoven fabric Partial perspective view of a manufacturing apparatus used in a conventional method for manufacturing a nonwoven fabric

Explanation of symbols

4 Die 41 Discharge hole 5 Stretching roller set 51 First roller group 511 Roller 52 of first roller group Second roller group 521 Roller 61 of second roller group Cooling means 611 Cold air outlet 62 Heating means 621 Hot air outlet 71 First squirting means 72 Second squirting means 721 Blade unit 7211 Guide blade 7212 Motor 7213 Rotary plate 7214 First link 7215 Second link 81 Conveyor 811 Conveyor upper surface 82 Extraction means 91 Discharge fiber array 92 Stretched Fiber array 93 Wavy fiber array 9 Non-woven fabric 711, 722, 821

Claims (10)

An extrusion process in which a plurality of thread-like fibers are closely extruded in parallel in the front-and-rear direction and discharged directly below to form a fiber row;
A stretching step of stretching the fiber row through a stretching roller set; and
The manufacturing method of the nonwoven fabric characterized by including the conveyance deposition process which receives the said stretched fiber row | line | column from the bottom, and deposits it conveying horizontally.   The nonwoven fabric according to claim 1, wherein the transporting and depositing step is a conveyor whose transport speed is slower than a speed of receiving the fiber train, and receives the fiber train from below and transports the fiber train while depositing on the upper surface thereof. Manufacturing method. Between the stretching step and the transport deposition step,
An air flow guide step for generating an air flow from the top to the bottom to forcibly guide the stretched fiber row directly below;
At least one of the left and right sides of the stretched fiber row guided directly below in parallel, an air current that swings back and forth while flowing from top to bottom is generated, and a wave shape is generated while the fiber row is swung back and forth. The method for producing a nonwoven fabric according to claim 1, further comprising a wavy generation step.   The stretching step includes a first roller group composed of a plurality of rollers arranged in a vertical direction and a plurality of rollers provided below the first roller group and arranged in a vertical direction. Using a stretching roller set consisting of a second roller group whose rotational speed is faster than that of the first roller group, and the fiber array due to the rotational speed difference between the first roller group and the second roller group The method for producing a nonwoven fabric according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the nonwoven fabric is stretched.   5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a cooling step of cooling the fiber rows by injecting cold air to the discharged fiber rows between the extruding step and the stretching step. The manufacturing method of the nonwoven fabric of item 1.   The said extending process further includes the heating process which injects a hot air to the fiber row which exists between the said 1st roller group and the said 2nd roller group, and warms a fiber row. Manufacturing method of non-woven fabric. An extruder including a die having a plurality of discharge holes forming a fiber row by closely discharging a plurality of thread-like fibers in front and back in parallel and discharging directly below;
A drawing roller set provided on the fiber discharge direction of the die and extending while guiding and moving the fiber row downward;
A cooling means which is provided near the plurality of discharge holes and cools the discharged fiber array;
A heating means that is disposed together with the rollers of the drawing roller set, and that heats the cooled fiber array;
An apparatus for producing a nonwoven fabric, comprising: a conveyor installed so as to flow under the plurality of rollers in a horizontal direction and receive the fiber row. The stretching roller set is
A first roller group consisting of a plurality of rollers arranged in parallel vertically;
It consists of a plurality of rollers provided below the first roller group and arranged in parallel vertically, and a second roller group whose rotational speed is faster than that of the first roller group. The manufacturing apparatus of the nonwoven fabric of Claim 7. Between the stretching roller set and the conveyor,
A first jetting means installed on at least one side of the right and left sides of the fiber discharging direction of the die and jetting downward;
Below the first jetting means, the second jetting means is further provided on at least one side of the right and left sides of the die in the fiber discharge direction, and generates a current that sways back and forth while flowing downward. The non-woven fabric manufacturing apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, wherein The cooling means is provided on each of the left and right sides of the die in the fiber discharge direction, and includes a pair of opposed cold air outlets that blow cold air directly below the plurality of discharge holes,
The heating means is provided on each of the left and right sides of the die in the fiber discharge direction, and has a pair of opposed hot air outlets for blowing hot air between the first roller group and the second roller group. The non-woven fabric manufacturing apparatus according to claim 8, comprising: a non-woven fabric manufacturing apparatus according to claim 8.

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