JP2007247094A - Conductive polyester fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide conductive polyester fibers which have an electric resistance value in a specific range, little have the irregularity of the electric resistance value in the longitudinal direction of the fibers, can be obtained in good operability, and are used not only for clothing uses such as antistatic working clothes and uniforms, interior uses such as curtains, and industrial material uses, but also for charged brushes and cleaner brushes used in electrophotographic recording type dry copying machines, facsimiles, printers and the like. <P>SOLUTION: The conductive polyester fibers including a multifilament yarn comprising a plurality of single filaments in which at least one part of components for the single filaments is a polyester that has repeating units consisting mainly of ethylene terephthalate units, contains a polyalkylene glycol in an amount of 3 to 15 mass%, and contains carbon black in an amount of 8 to 15 mass%. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a polyester fiber comprising at least a part of a polyester containing polyalkylene glycol and carbon black, having an electric resistance value in a specific range and having a conductive performance in the length direction (electric resistance). (Charges) used for electrophotographic recording dry copying machines, facsimiles, printers, etc., as well as for clothing such as anti-static work clothes and uniforms, interior use such as curtains, and industrial materials. The present invention relates to a conductive polyester fiber that is preferably used for a static elimination brush and a cleaner brush.

  Fibers made of hydrophobic polymers such as polyester, polyamide, and polyolefin have many advantages such as mechanical properties, chemical resistance, and weather resistance, and are widely used not only for clothing but also for industrial materials. . However, since these fibers generate significant static electricity due to friction, etc., they attract air dust to reduce the aesthetics, or give an electric shock to the human body to cause discomfort. It may cause problems such as obstacles and flammable explosions on flammable substances. Therefore, in order to solve these problems, it has been proposed to impart conductivity to the fiber, and many studies have been made.

  Patent Document 1 describes a core-sheath type composite fiber in which a conductive component containing conductive particles such as carbon black and metal powder is wrapped with a nonconductive polymer. With such a core-sheath type composite fiber, the conductive particles are present only inside the fiber, so troubles during operation are unlikely to occur, and it is possible to obtain good operability. However, since the conductive particles exist only inside the fibers, the conductive performance is insufficient.

  On the other hand, Patent Document 2 describes a core-sheath type conductive composite fiber in which a conductive component containing conductive particles is arranged in a sheath part. Compared with the fiber described in Patent Document 1, such a conductive conjugate fiber was prone to trouble during operation, but the conductivity performance was quite satisfactory.

  In recent years, conductive yarns are often used in fields other than clothing applications, particularly in the fields of electrophotographic recording type dry copying machines, facsimiles, printers, and the like.

  Conventionally, cellulose fibers have been often used as conductive yarns used in such fields, but many have been proposed for polyester and polyamide fibers.

However, composite fibers such as Patent Documents 1 and 2 (fibers having conductive parts and non-conductive parts)
Then, since the resistance value is different between the cross section and the side surface, it is difficult to obtain a uniform electric resistance value, and it is difficult to obtain stable conductive performance. In addition, the fiber wears during repeated use, and a part of the fiber is lost, so that it is not possible to show the same electrical resistance value as at the beginning of use, and stable conductive performance cannot be obtained over a long period of time. There was also.

  In order to solve such a problem, as shown in Patent Document 3, a single component type (not a composite fiber but a polyester conductive fiber containing carbon black in the whole fiber) is being studied. In the case of polyester, there is a problem that not only the operability is remarkably deteriorated, but also the variation in electric resistance value (the variation in electric resistance value in the yarn length direction of the fiber) becomes very large.

Furthermore, in the case of a polyester-based conductive yarn containing carbon black, the electrical resistance value is usually 1 × 10 ⁶ to 1 × 10 ⁹ Ω / cm, and a stable electrical resistance value cannot be obtained unless it is within this range.

However, in the fields of electrophotographic recording type dry copying machines, facsimiles, printers, etc., they are used for various purposes such as charging brushes, static elimination brushes, cleaning brushes, etc. The range of values will also be different. In particular, it is very difficult to obtain a polyester fiber having a stable electric resistance value in a region where the electric resistance value is 5 × 10 ^{8 to} 5 × 10 ¹³ Ω / cm, and it has not been developed yet. .
JP 09-143821 A WO2002 / 075030 JP 2004-183180 A

  The present invention solves the above problems, has a specific range of electrical resistance, has little variation in electrical resistance in the longitudinal direction of the fiber, and can be obtained with good operability, It is a technical problem to provide conductive polyester fibers that can be suitably used not only for materials but also for charging brushes and cleaning brushes for electrophotographic recording type dry copying machines, facsimiles, printers, etc. is there.

  As a result of investigations to solve the above problems, the present inventors have reached the present invention.

  That is, the present invention is a multifilament composed of a plurality of single yarns, wherein at least part of the components of the single yarn has ethylene terephthalate as a main repeating unit, contains 3 to 15% by mass of polyalkylene glycol, and The gist is a conductive polyester fiber characterized by being a polyester containing 8 to 15% by mass of carbon black.

  The conductive polyester fiber of the present invention has an electrical resistance value in a specific range, has little variation in the electrical resistance value in the longitudinal direction of the fiber, and can be obtained with good operability. In addition, it can be suitably used for charging brushes and cleaning brushes for electrophotographic recording type dry copying machines, facsimiles, printers, and the like.

  The conductive polyester fiber of the present invention is a multifilament composed of a plurality of single yarns, and the single yarns are made of polyester. And as polyester which comprises single yarn, it is the polyester (it is set as polyester A) which uses ethylene terephthalate as the main repeating unit and contains 3-15 mass% of polyalkylene glycol, Comprising: Carbon black is 8-15 in polyester A What is contained by mass is used at least in part.

  That is, even if the single yarn constituting the fiber of the present invention is composed only of polyester A containing carbon black (single component type), it consists of polyester A containing carbon black and other components. Any of those (composite type) may be used. In the case of a composite type fiber, a core-sheath type composite fiber in which polyester A containing carbon black is contained in the sheath component, or polyester A containing carbon black in the island component is arranged, and at least a part thereof Is preferably a sea-island type composite fiber exposed on the fiber surface. Examples of other components include polyester, polyamide, polyolefin, and the like, but it is preferable to use polyester.

  Above all, when the fibers of the present invention are used in electrification, static elimination brushes, cleaner brushes used in electrophotographic recording type dry copying machines, facsimiles, printers, etc., the fibers wear out during repeated use. Therefore, it is preferable to use a single-component fiber as one that can have the same conductive performance as that at the beginning of use even if a part of the fiber is lost.

  Polyester A contains ethylene terephthalate as a main repeating unit and contains 3 to 15% by mass of polyalkylene glycol, and preferably 5 to 10% by mass. Examples of the polyalkylene glycol include polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycol, and polytetramethylene glycol. The molecular weight of the polyalkylene glycol is not particularly limited, but a molecular weight of 300 to 10,000 is preferable.

  These polyalkylene glycols may be copolymerized or may lose copolymerization due to end capping. When copolymerized, two or more types of random copolymers or block copolymers may be used.

Thus, in the present invention, by using a polyester containing an optimal amount of polyalkylene glycol and carbon black, the dispersibility of carbon black is improved and the electric resistance value is 5 × 10 ^{8 to} 5 × 10 ^13. It can be made into the polyester fiber which is (omega | ohm) / cm and the variation (standard deviation) of the electrical resistance value of the longitudinal direction of a fiber is 0.3 or less. The electrical resistance value is preferably 1 × 10 ^{10 to} 9 × 10 ¹² Ω / cm, and more preferably 1 × 10 ^{11 to} 5 × 10 ¹² Ω / cm.

That is, normally, the electrical resistance value of the polyester conductive yarn containing carbon black is determined by the conductive properties of the carbon black used, the carbon concentration in the fiber, and the properties of the polyester, but 1 × 10 ⁶ to 1 × 10. Unless the region is ⁹ Ω / cm, it is difficult to obtain stable conductive performance (small variation in electrical resistance value in the longitudinal direction of the fiber). In particular, the electrical resistance value required for use in electrification, static elimination brushes, cleaner brushes, etc. used in electrophotographic recording type dry copying machines, facsimiles, printers, etc. is 5 × 10 ^{8 to} 5 × 10 ¹³ Ω / In the cm region, it was very difficult to obtain stable conductive performance.

  Carbon black basically constitutes a connection (structure) between carbon black particles, and the more uniform the structure of the carbon black structure is in the fiber, the more stable the conductive performance is. . In addition, a conductive yarn having a more stable electric resistance value can be obtained as the structure is more developed and the distance between the particles is shorter.

In the present invention, by containing polyalkylene glycol which is a hydrophilic group in the gap between carbon black particles in the conductive yarn, the distance between the particles is separated from that of the normal conductive yarn, and the electric resistance value is 5 × 10. Conductive polyester fibers having a stable electric resistance value in the region of ^{8 to} 5 × 10 ¹³ Ω / cm can be obtained.

  In addition, the electrical resistance value of the conductive polyester fiber in the present invention was obtained by collecting 20 test pieces having a length of 10 cm every 100 m in the fiber length direction, and 500 V between these 10 cm test pieces (between both ends). Measurement is performed using a resistance value measuring machine “SM-10E” manufactured by Toa Denpa Kogyo Co., Ltd. under a measurement environment of 20 ° C. and 20% RH. And it is set as the average value of 20 test pieces.

  In addition, the standard deviation, which is an index indicating the variation in the electrical resistance value in the longitudinal direction of the conductive polyester fiber in the present invention, is obtained by collecting 500 test pieces as described above, and measuring the electrical resistance value in the same manner as described above. The standard deviation is calculated.

  The variation (standard deviation) in the electrical resistance value in the longitudinal direction of the conductive polyester fiber is preferably 0.3 or less, more preferably 0.2 or less, and further preferably 0.15 or less. If the variation in electrical resistance value exceeds 0.3, the electrical resistance value is not uniform in the longitudinal direction, so it is particularly suitable for electrification, static elimination brushes and cleaner brushes used in electrophotographic recording type dry copying machines, facsimiles, printers, etc. During use, charging spots and charge removal spots occur, and uniform cleaning becomes difficult.

  If the content of polyalkylene glycol in polyester A is less than 3% by mass, the hydrophilic group is insufficient, so that the dispersibility of carbon black is deteriorated and a conductive fiber having a stable electric resistance value cannot be obtained. The variation (standard deviation) in the electrical resistance value in the longitudinal direction of the fiber exceeds 0.3.

  On the other hand, when the content of polyalkylene glycol in polyester A exceeds 15% by mass, the amorphous region of the polyester increases, so that the arrangement of carbon black is disturbed and a conductive fiber having a stable electrical resistance value can be obtained. In other words, the variation (standard deviation) in the electrical resistance value in the longitudinal direction of the fiber exceeds 0.3.

Further, if the content of carbon black in the polyester A is less than 8% by mass, the electrical resistance value becomes high, and a product having a range of 5 × 10 ^{8 to} 5 × 10 ¹³ Ω / cm cannot be obtained. On the other hand, if it exceeds 15% by mass, the electric resistance value becomes low, and a product in the range of 5 × 10 ^{8 to} 5 × 10 ¹³ Ω / cm cannot be obtained. In addition, the operability is extremely poor.

  The carbon black used in the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it is a powder having conductivity, such as furnace black, acetylene black, and ketjen black, but furnace black is preferable from the viewpoint of dispersibility. If the conductive carbon particles are large, the filtration pressure during spinning will increase, the yarn breakage during spinning will increase, or the strength of the fiber will decrease, so it is preferable to use a powder with the smallest possible particle size .

  As a method of incorporating carbon black into polyester A, a method of blending and melting carbon black into polyester A pellets containing polyalkylene glycol, or a master containing polyester A pellets and high-concentration carbon black. Preparation of pellets (which may or may not contain polyalkylene glycol) in advance, blending the master pellets and polyester resin pellets and melting them, the polyester A polymer in the molten state Examples thereof include a method of adding carbon black and kneading. In particular, in order to disperse carbon black more uniformly in polyester A, a method of blending carbon black into polyester A pellets and melting it is preferable.

  In addition, the third component may be contained (copolymerized or blended) in the conductive polyester fiber of the present invention as long as the object of the present invention is not impaired. Such third components include phthalic acid, isophthalic acid, 5-alkali metal isophthalic acid, naphthalenedicarboxylic acid, diphenyldicarboxylic acid, diphenoxyethanedicarboxylic acid, adipic acid, sebacic acid, azelaic acid, decanedicarboxylic acid, cyclohexane And dicarboxylic acid components such as dicarboxylic acid. And these may be used individually by 1 type and may use 2 or more types together.

The conductive polyester fiber of the present invention is preferably used for a charging brush, a static eliminating brush, a cleaning brush, etc. in the field of electrophotographic recording type dry copying machines, facsimiles, printers, etc. From the standpoint of properties, the single yarn fineness is preferably 0.5 to 4.0 dtex. Among them, the single yarn fineness is preferably 1.5 to 3.5 dtex.
The number of single yarns is not particularly limited, but is preferably 10 to 200.

Next, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples. Measuring methods and evaluation methods for various values in the examples are as follows.
1. Electric resistance value It measured by said method.
2. Dispersion of electric resistance value (standard deviation)
It measured by said method.
3. Operability
Spinning was performed continuously for 24 hours, and the evaluation was made in the following three stages according to the number of cut yarns during this period.
○: No cutting thread △: Cutting thread 1 to 2 times ×: Cutting thread 3 or more times

Example 1
A slurry of terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol having a molar ratio of 1 / 1.6 is continuously fed to an esterification reaction vessel in which bis (β-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate and its low polymer (BHET) are present, at a temperature of 250 ° C. The esterification reaction was carried out under conditions of a pressure of 0.05 kg / cm ² and a residence time of 8 hours, and BHET having an esterification reaction rate of 95% was continuously obtained. Transfer 50 kg of this BHET to a polymerization tank, add polyethylene glycol having a number average molecular weight of 6000, heat to 275 ° C., add antimony trioxide as a catalyst and triethyl phosphate as a phosphorus compound, and reduce the pressure by a conventional method. Polyethylene terephthalate (polyester A) containing 6% by mass of polyethylene glycol 0.64 with intrinsic viscosity (measured at a temperature of 20 ° C. using an equimolar mixture of phenol and ethane tetrachloride as a solvent) Obtained and formed into a chip by a conventional method.
Carbon black having an average particle size of 0.2 μm was added to the above chip as conductive particles so as to be 8% by mass, and melt-kneaded to form a chip by a conventional method to obtain a conductive chip.
The conductive chip is dried by a conventional method, then supplied to an extruder at 270 ° C., and melt spinning is performed using a normal melt spinning apparatus (36 spin holes having a hole diameter of 0.25 mm are formed in the spinneret). It was. The spun yarn was cooled by an air flow, passed through an oiling device, and an oil agent was applied so that the amount of adhesion was 0.5% by mass. Subsequently, the film was taken up with a roller having a speed of 800 m / min, wound with a winder, and an undrawn yarn of 264 dtex / 36 f was obtained. The unstretched yarn was stretched 2.64 times with a 95 ° C. heat roller, and further heat-treated with a heat plate at 180 ° C., and wound to obtain 100 dtex / 36 f conductive polyester fiber. .

Examples 2-5 Comparative Examples 1-4
The same procedure as in Example 1 was conducted except that the content of polyethylene glycol and the content of carbon black in polyester A were changed as shown in Table 1.

Example 6
The same procedure as in Example 5 was performed except that a spinneret having 72 spinning holes having a hole diameter of 0.2 mm was used.

  Table 1 shows the characteristic values and evaluation of the conductive polyester fibers obtained in Examples 1 to 6 and Comparative Examples 1 to 4.

As is clear from Table 1, the conductive polyester fibers obtained in Examples 1 to 6 can be obtained with good operability and have an electric resistance value in the range of 5 × 10 ^{8 to} 5 × 10 ¹³ Ω / cm. In addition, the variation in electric resistance value was small, and it had stable conductive performance.

  On the other hand, the conductive polyester fiber of Comparative Example 1 had a large variation in electric resistance value because the content of polyethylene glycol in polyester A was small. Since the conductive polyester fiber of Comparative Example 2 had a low carbon black content, the electrical resistance value could not be measured. Since the conductive polyester fiber of Comparative Example 3 contained too much polyethylene glycol in Polyester A, the conductive polyester fiber of Comparative Example 4 was too poor in operability because both contained too much carbon black. In addition, the variation in electric resistance value was large.

Claims (2)

A multifilament composed of a plurality of single yarns, wherein at least part of the components of the single yarn contains ethylene terephthalate as a main repeating unit, contains 3 to 15% by mass of polyalkylene glycol, and contains 8 to 15 carbon black. Conductive polyester fiber characterized by being a polyester containing by mass. 2. The conductive polyester fiber according to claim 1, wherein the electrical resistance value is 5 × 10 ^{8 to} 5 × 10 ¹³ Ω / cm, and the variation (standard deviation) of the electrical resistance value in the longitudinal direction of the fiber is 0.3 or less.