JP2010185162A - Multi-spindle drawing machine for ultrafine filament - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multi (multi-spindle) drawing machine enabling continuously and stably producing ultrafine filaments from original filaments of any thermoplastic polymer on multi spindles even up to nanofilaments with a simple means without requiring a special, high accuracy and high-level apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: In the multi (multi-spindle) drawing machine in which the original filament 1 is supplied to an orifice 2 at P1 atmospheric pressure and heated with a carbon dioxide laser beam 4 right under an orifice at P2 atmospheric pressure (P1>P2), the ultrafine filaments are produced from multi-spindle (multi) original filaments by using a laser-beam fairing element 5, a polygon mirror, a galvanometer mirror or a parallel mirror, a collecting guide etc. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a multi-stretching apparatus for ultrafine filaments, and in particular, in a stretching apparatus that enables ultrafine stretching to nanofilaments by irradiating a carbon dioxide gas laser beam and performing ultra-high stretching magnification. The present invention relates to a multi-stretching apparatus that enables a number of ultrafine filaments to be stretched from original filaments by simple means, and further relates to an apparatus for producing a nonwoven fabric with uniform formation from these multi-strand stretched filaments.

  In recent years, fibers with a fiber diameter of less than 1 μm, that is, in the nanometer (several nanometers to several hundreds nanometers) range, are attracting attention as future innovative materials in a wide range of fields such as IT, biotechnology, and environmental fields. As a means for producing the nanofiber, an electrospinning method (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as ES method) is typical (US Pat. No. 1,975,504, Journal of Applied Polymer Science, vol. 95, p.193-200, 2005). However, in this ES method, it is necessary to dissolve the polymer in a solvent, and the finished product also needs to be desolvated, so that the production method is complicated, and there is no molecular orientation of the filament. There were many problems in terms of quality, such as small masses of resin called lumps and shots mixed in the aggregate.

  The inventor of the present invention invented a means for obtaining ultrafine filaments and nonwoven fabrics with an ultrahigh draw ratio of 1,000 times or more with molecular orientation by an infrared method (JP 2003-166115, JP 2004). -107851, international publication number WO2005 / 083165A1, etc.). These were obtained by simple means to obtain ultrafine molecularly oriented filaments and non-woven fabrics composed thereof. In addition, the inventors have invented a means for producing ultrafine filaments, which has been developed and further enabled to be ultrafine to the nanofilament region (International Publication WO2008 / 084797A1). The present invention relates to a means that enables continuous and stable production of multi-stretching of ultrafine filaments leading to the nanofilament.

US Pat. No. 1,975,504 (page 1-2, FIGS. 1 and 4) JP 2003-166115 A (page 1-2, FIGS. 4 and 5). JP 2004-107851 A (page 1-2, FIGS. 1 and 3). International Publication Number WO2005 / 083165A1 (page 1-2, FIGS. 1 and 3) International Publication WO2008 / 084797A1 (page 1-2, Fig. 1-3)

Akiyasu Suzuki and 1 other "Journal of Applied Polymer Science", vol. 88, p. 3279-3283, 2003 (USA). Akiyasu Suzuki and 1 other "Journal of Applied Polymer Science", vol. 92, p. 1449-1453, 2004 (USA). Akiyasu Suzuki and 1 other "Journal of Applied Polymer Science", vol. 92, p. 1534-1539, 2004, (USA). You Y., et, al "Journal of Applied Polymer Science, vol. 95, p. 193-200, 2005, (USA). Akiyasu Suzuki and 1 other "European Polymer Journal", vol. 44, p. 2499-2505, 2008, (UK).

  The present invention is a further development of the inventor's conventional technology, and the object of the present invention is to easily perform nano-scale by simple means without requiring a special, high-precision and high-level device. The present invention relates to a stretching apparatus that enables multi-stretching of filaments composed of ultrafine filaments reaching the filament region. The present invention also relates to an apparatus for obtaining a nonwoven fabric having a uniform formation from an aggregate of filaments drawn in the multi-drawing. Furthermore, the present invention relates to an apparatus for obtaining a filamentous material from an aggregate of filaments stretched in these mulches (multiple spindles).

  The present invention has been made in order to achieve the above object, and is provided in an original filament supply chamber under P1 atmospheric pressure having an original filament delivery means, and the original filament supply chamber. An orifice passing therethrough and connected to the original filament supply chamber by the orifice, and the original filament that has passed through the orifice is stretched by being heated by a carbon dioxide laser beam (under P2 atmospheric pressure (P1> P2)) An ultrafine filament manufacturing apparatus comprising a drawing chamber and a carbon dioxide laser oscillating device that emits a carbon dioxide laser beam. The shape of the carbon dioxide laser beam emitted from the A beam shaping element to radiate to, and having a an integrated device filaments drawn is integrated in the stretching chamber, to multi (Tatsumu) stretching apparatus of the ultrafine filament. Further, in the present invention, when the flow direction of the original filament at the outlet of the orifice is az axis and the irradiation direction of the carbon dioxide laser beam that has passed through the beam shaping element is the y direction, the beam produced by the beam shaping element is , Y direction is at least three times wider in the perpendicular direction (x direction), that is, the beam shaping element Bz <3Bx where Bz is the beam spread in the z direction and Bx is the beam spread in the x direction. The present invention relates to a multi-stretching apparatus for the ultrafine filament. Further, the present invention provides an original filament supply chamber under P1 pressure having an original filament delivery means, an orifice through which the original filament passes, and an original filament by the orifice. A stretching chamber connected to the supply chamber and stretched by heating the original filament that has passed through the orifice by the carbon dioxide laser beam, and carbon dioxide that emits the carbon dioxide laser beam. In an ultrafine filament manufacturing apparatus comprising a gas laser oscillator, a multi-spindle original filament supply means to which an original filament is supplied, and a carbon dioxide laser beam emitted from the carbon dioxide laser oscillator are connected to an orifice. Crossing in the direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the original filament at the exit A polygon mirror for irradiating the original filament of the multi spindle, and having a an integrated device filaments drawn is integrated in the stretching chamber, to multi (Tatsumu) stretching apparatus of the ultrafine filament. The present invention also provides an original filament supply chamber under P1 pressure having an original filament delivery means, an orifice through which the original filament passes, and an original filament supply chamber by the orifice. And a carbon dioxide laser that emits a carbon dioxide laser beam, and a stretching chamber under P2 atmospheric pressure (P1> P2) in which the original filament that has passed through the orifice is drawn by being heated by the carbon dioxide laser beam. In an ultrafine filament manufacturing apparatus having an oscillation device, a multi-filamentary original filament supply means to which the original filament is supplied and the carbon dioxide laser beam irradiated from the carbon dioxide laser oscillation device at the outlet of the orifice Cross in the direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the original filament, A galvanometer mirror for irradiating the original filament, and having a an integrated device filaments drawn is integrated in the stretching chamber, to multi (Tatsumu) stretching apparatus of the ultrafine filament. The present invention also provides an original filament supply chamber under P1 pressure having an original filament delivery means, an orifice through which the original filament passes, and an original filament supply chamber by the orifice. And a carbon dioxide laser that emits a carbon dioxide laser beam, and a stretching chamber under P2 atmospheric pressure (P1> P2) in which the original filament that has passed through the orifice is drawn by being heated by the carbon dioxide laser beam. In an ultrafine filament manufacturing apparatus comprising an oscillation device, a plurality of original filament supply means to which an original filament is supplied and a carbon dioxide laser beam irradiated from the carbon dioxide laser oscillation device are reflected a plurality of times, A pair of mirrors installed in parallel to irradiate the multifilamentary original filament And over, filaments stretched in the stretching chamber and having a an integrated device to be integrated, to multi (Tatsumu) stretching apparatus of the ultrafine filament. Further, the present invention provides a right angle mirror at the opposite end to the side where the laser beam is incident on the pair of mirrors installed in parallel, and further returns the reflected laser beam to the parallel mirror side, The present invention relates to a multi-stretching apparatus for ultra-fine filaments in which the original filament of the multi-cylinder is disposed at the intersection of an incident laser beam and a laser beam reflected by a right-angle mirror. Further, the present invention provides a new carbon dioxide laser oscillation device at the opposite end to the side where the laser beam is incident on the pair of mirrors installed in parallel, and the carbon dioxide gas irradiated from this oscillation device. The laser beam is obliquely incident on the pair of mirrors and reflected by the parallel mirror multiple times. At the intersection of the first incident laser beam and the laser beam emitted from the new carbon dioxide laser oscillator. The present invention relates to a multi-stretching apparatus for ultrafine filaments in which the multifilamentary original filament is disposed. The present invention also provides an original filament supply chamber under P1 pressure having an original filament delivery means, an orifice through which the original filament passes, and the original filament by the orifice. A stretching chamber connected to the supply chamber and stretched by heating the original filament that has passed through the orifice by the carbon dioxide laser beam, and carbon dioxide that emits the carbon dioxide laser beam. In an ultrafine filament manufacturing apparatus having a gas laser oscillation device, a multi-spindle original filament supply means to which original filaments are supplied, and a winding in which filaments drawn in a drawing chamber are wound around a rotation axis The multifilamentary stretched filament group descends to the outside of this machine and the rotating shaft. Has a width corresponding to the width, the collecting guide is curved along the rotational axis, and having a relates to a multi (Tatsumu) stretching apparatus of the ultrafine filament. The present invention also relates to the above-mentioned multifilament drawing apparatus for ultrafine filaments, wherein the drawn filament collecting device is a web winder. The present invention also relates to a multi-stretching device for ultrafine filaments, wherein the stretched filament collecting device is a conveyor running in a stretching chamber. In the present invention, the entire stretching chamber can be moved in at least one direction of the XY axis in the horizontal plane and the Z-axis direction in the height direction, or on a fine adjustment moving pedestal that can rotate in the plane XY horizontal plane. The present invention relates to a multi-stretching apparatus for the ultrafine filament. The present invention also relates to the above-mentioned ultrafine filament multi-stretching device having a converging tool for converging the stretched filament group in the previous stage of the stretched filament accumulation device. Further, in the present invention, when the direction in which the original filament flows at the exit of the orifice is the z-axis, the irradiation direction of the carbon dioxide laser beam is the y-direction, and the direction perpendicular to the z-direction and the y-direction is the x-direction, The present invention relates to a multi-filament stretching device for the ultrafine filaments, in which the stretched filaments are accumulated while being swung in the filament accumulating device when the chamber is swung in the x direction. In the present invention, when the flow direction of the original filament at the exit of the orifice is the z-axis, the irradiation direction of the carbon dioxide laser beam is the y-direction, and the direction perpendicular to the z-direction and the y-direction is the x-direction, The multi-stretching apparatus for ultrafine filaments, in which the stretched filaments are accumulated while being swung in the filament accumulating apparatus by swinging the stacking apparatus in the x direction. The present invention also relates to a multi-filament drawing device for the ultrafine filaments, in which the drawn filaments are reflected on a swinging reflecting plate and accumulated in the filament collecting device. The present invention also relates to a multi-stretching apparatus for the ultrafine filament, wherein the laser beam is shaped by a beam shaping element. Further, the present invention provides a heat treatment roll in which a plurality of stretched original filament groups accumulated on the conveyor are heat-treated to form a sheet, and a sheet winding device for winding the heat-treated sheet in the drawing chamber. And a multi-stretching device for the ultrafine filament. The present invention also provides a heat treatment roll in which a plurality of stretched original filament groups accumulated on the conveyor are heat-treated to form a sheet, and the heat-treated sheet in the drawing chamber are converged into a fiber bundle. The present invention relates to a multi-filament drawing device for the ultrafine filament, which has a focusing tool and a winding device for winding the fiber bundle. The present invention relates to a multi-stretching apparatus for ultrafine filaments, wherein a difference in air pressure between P1 and P2 before and after the orifice is P1 ≧ 2P2. The present invention also relates to a multi-stretching apparatus for the ultrafine filament, wherein a pressure difference is provided so that the flow velocity in the orifice is 150 m / sec or more. The present invention also relates to a multi-filament drawing apparatus for the ultrafine filament, wherein the original filament supply chamber is in the atmosphere and the drawing chamber is under reduced pressure. In the present invention, the multifilament of the ultrafine filament is configured such that the original filament is irradiated within 30 mm from the exit of the orifice at the center of the beam from the carbon dioxide laser beam irradiation apparatus. The present invention relates to a stretching apparatus. Furthermore, the present invention provides the ultrafine filament configured such that the beam from the carbon dioxide laser beam irradiation device is irradiated within the upper and lower 4 mm along the axial direction of the filament at the center of the original filament. The present invention relates to a multi-stretching device.

  The present invention provides a stretching apparatus in which an original filament is stretched so as to be ultrafine to the nanofilament region. The original filament in the present invention is already manufactured as a filament and wound on a reel or the like. In the spinning process, the melted or melted filaments that have become filaments by cooling or coagulation are subsequently used in the spinning process and become the original filament of the present invention. Here, the filament is a substantially continuous fiber, and is distinguished from a short fiber having a length of several millimeters to several tens of millimeters. The original filament is desirably present alone, but it can be used even if it is assembled into several to several tens.

  In the present invention, all the filaments drawn are expressed as filaments, but those that belong to the fiber region as a result of drawing are also included. In most cases, the stretched filament in the present invention is stretched for several minutes without being stretched. Therefore, considering the fact that the length of the filament is several meters or more and the filament diameter d is small, it is substantially continuous. In most cases, it can be regarded as a filament. However, depending on conditions, short fibers belonging to the above-mentioned fiber region can also be produced.

  The filament in the present invention includes a single filament composed of a single filament and a multifilament composed of a plurality of filaments. The tension applied to a single filament is expressed as “per filament”, but in the case of a single filament, it means “per filament”, and in the case of a multifilament, the “individual filaments” that compose it. It means "per one".

  The original filament in the present invention is characterized in that it can be used with highly molecularly oriented filaments having an orientation degree measured by birefringence of 30%, or 50% or more. Even from such highly oriented original filaments, Even in the point that an ultra-high draw ratio of several hundred times can be realized, it is a point that is markedly different from other drawing methods. Thus, when the original filament is highly oriented, it is often drawn with an expanded portion that is larger than the original filament diameter at the drawing start point.

  The raw filament of the present invention includes polyethylene terephthalate, polyester containing aliphatic polyester and polyethylene naphthalate, polyamide including nylon (including nylon 6, nylon 66), polyolefin including polypropylene and polyethylene, polyvinyl alcohol polymer, acrylonitrile polymer, Use filaments made of thermoplastic polymers such as fluoropolymers including tetrafluoroethylene / perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer (PFA), vinyl chloride polymers, styrene polymers, polyoxymethylene, ether ester polymers can do. In particular, polyethylene terephthalate, nylon (including nylon 6, nylon 66) and polypropylene have good stretchability and good molecular orientation, and are particularly suitable for the production of the ultrafine filament and the nonwoven fabric comprising the ultrafine filament of the present invention. In addition, biodegradable polymers such as polylactic acid and polyglycolic acid, biodegradable and absorbable polymers, and high-strength and high-elastic polymers such as polyarylate and aramid also have good stretchability by the infrared beam of the present invention. It is particularly suitable for the production of ultrafine filaments and ultrafine nonwoven fabrics according to the invention. In addition, composite filaments such as core-sheath filaments made of these polymers can also be used as the original filament. When the polymer is contained in an amount of 85% (weight percent) or more, it may be expressed as a polyester “system” or a polyester “main component”.

  In the present invention, the original filament sent out from the filament sending means is stretched. As the delivery means, various types can be used as long as the filament can be delivered at a constant delivery speed, such as a combination of a nip roller and several stages of driving rollers.

  In the present invention, the original filament delivered from the delivery means is multi (multiple spindle). The term “multiple” means that there are a plurality of filaments or bundles of filaments that act independently. A plurality of lines means two to several hundred.

  The multi-filamentary original filaments fed from the filament feeding means are further fed through the orifices by the gas flowing in the running direction of the original filaments. Until the original filament is sent to the orifice through this filament delivery means, it is performed in an atmosphere of P1 atmospheric pressure, and the place kept under the P1 atmospheric pressure is defined as the original filament supply chamber. When P1 is atmospheric pressure, there is no need for an enclosure that keeps the pressure constant. When P1 is under pressure or pressure reduction, an enclosure (room) for maintaining the pressure is required, and a pressure pump or pressure reduction pump is also required. In the present invention, the orifice inlet portion needs to be P1, but the storage portion of the original filament and the delivery portion of the original filament do not necessarily need to be P1 atmospheric pressure. However, since it is cumbersome to provide separate rooms for them, it is preferable that those portions have the same atmospheric pressure.

  After the outlet of the orifice, a P2 atmospheric pressure is maintained, and a drawing chamber is drawn by heating the original filament coming out of the orifice with a carbon dioxide laser beam. The original filament is sent through the orifice by the flow of air flowing through the orifice caused by the pressure difference (P1-P2) between the original filament supply chamber at P1 atm and the stretching chamber at P2 atm. When P2 is at atmospheric pressure, an enclosure that keeps the pressure constant is not particularly necessary. However, when P2 is under pressure or pressure reduction, an enclosure (room) is required to maintain the pressure. A vacuum pump is also required.

  The difference in pressure between P1 and P2 is P1> P2. As a result of experiments, it was found that P1 ≧ 2P2, more preferably P1 ≧ 3P2, and most preferably P1 ≧ 5P2.

  In the present invention, P2 is desirably performed under reduced pressure (pressure less than atmospheric pressure). By doing so, P1 can be carried out at atmospheric pressure, the apparatus can be remarkably simplified, and decompression is a relatively simple means. Furthermore, since air is ejected from the orifice under reduced pressure, it is not disturbed by the air at normal atmospheric pressure, so the ejected air and the accompanying filament are very stable. It seems that is stable and can be stretched to the nanofilament region. The present invention is characterized in that a filament in the nanomicron region can be obtained by such a simple means.

  Note that air at room temperature is usually used as P1 or P2. However, heated air is used when it is desired to preheat the original filament or to heat the drawn filament. Further, in order to prevent the filament from being oxidized, an inert gas such as nitrogen gas is used, and in the case of preventing the scattering of moisture, a gas containing water vapor or moisture is also used.

  In the present invention, the original filament supply chamber and the drawing chamber are connected by an orifice. In the orifice, a high-speed gas flow generated by a pressure difference of P1> P2 is generated in a narrow gap between the original filament and the orifice inner diameter. In order to generate this high-speed gas flow, the inner diameter D of the orifice and the diameter d of the fiber should not be too large. Experimental results show that D> d and D <30d, preferably D <10d, more preferably D <5d and D <2d.

  The orifice inner diameter D in the above refers to the diameter at the outlet of the orifice. However, if the orifice cross section is not a circle, the diameter of the narrowest part is D. Similarly, when the cross section of the filament is not a circle, the smallest diameter value is d, and 10 points are measured and averaged based on the smallest cross section. In addition, the inner diameter of the orifice is not a uniform diameter but is preferably tapered and narrowed at the outlet. In addition, since the original filament usually passes from the top to the bottom at the outlet of the orifice, the lower part of the vertically arranged orifice is the outlet, but when the original filament passes from the bottom to the top, it is above the orifice. There is an exit. Similarly, when the orifice is placed laterally and the original filament passes laterally, there is an outlet laterally of the orifice.

  As described above, since a high-speed gas flows through the orifice, it is desirable that the inside of the orifice has a structure with low resistance. The orifices according to the present invention may be used independently of each other, but a large number of orifices may be formed by opening a large number of holes in a plate-like object. A circular cross section inside the orifice is desirable, but when a plurality of filaments are allowed to pass, or when the filament has an oval or tape shape, an oval or rectangular cross section is also used. Further, it is preferable that the orifice entrance is large so that the original filament can be easily introduced and only the exit portion is narrow because the running resistance of the filament can be reduced and the wind speed from the exit of the orifice can be increased.

  The orifice in the present invention has a role different from that of the conventional pre-stretch blast pipe by the present inventors. The conventional blower tube has a role of applying a laser to a fixed position of the filament, and has a function of conveying the original filament to the fixed position with as little resistance as possible. The present invention is different from that in that the high-speed rectified gas is generated due to the difference in pressure between the pressure P1 in the original filament supply chamber and the pressure P2 in the drawing chamber. In normal spunbond nonwoven fabric production, tension is applied to the molten filament by air soccer or the like. However, the air soccer in the production of the spunbonded nonwoven fabric and the orifice in the present invention are completely different in operation mechanism and effect. In the spunbond method, the molten filament is fed by a high-speed fluid in the air soccer, and most of the filament diameter is reduced in the air soccer. On the other hand, in the present invention, the solid original filament is sent by the orifice, and the filament does not start to be thinned in the orifice, but is first drawn by being irradiated with the laser beam at the exit from the orifice. In the spunbond method, high-speed fluid is generated by sending high-pressure air into the air soccer. However, the present invention is different in that high-speed fluid is generated in the orifice due to the pressure difference between the rooms before and after the orifice. In addition, the spunbond method is different in that only a filament diameter of about 10 μm can be obtained at most, whereas the present invention provides a great effect that nanofilaments of less than 1 μm can be obtained.

In the present invention, the stretching is preferably performed in the sonic range. The flow velocity v in the orifice is expressed by the following equation (Graham 'theorem). Here, ρ represents the air density.
v = {2 (P1-P2) / ρ} ^1/2
Here, when P1 is atmospheric pressure and P2 is changed, calculation is performed as shown in Table 1. From this, it can be seen that the flow velocity v is in the sound velocity region (340-400 m / sec) when the decompression region P2 of the present invention is 30 kPa, 20 kPa, and 6 kPa. The results of calculating the ratio to the speed of sound (Mach M) are also shown in the table. When M is 0.98 or more in the sound velocity region, the flow velocity v in the orifice is set to these sound velocity regions, and in the present invention, the filament diameter obtained by stretching is obtained to an ultrafine filament up to the nanometer region. I was able to. It was also found that depending on the type of resin such as fluorine resin or polyolefin resin, it can be stretched at a sufficiently high magnification even in a subsonic region of 150 m / sec or more.

  In the present invention, the flow velocity in the orifice is preferably 150 m / sec or more, more preferably 200 m / sec or more, and most preferably 342 m / sec or more. These flow rates are determined by the raw material filament material, the target filament diameter, and the like.

  The original filament sent out from the orifice is heated by the carbon dioxide laser beam at the outlet of the orifice, and the original filament is drawn by the tension applied to the filament by the high-speed fluid from the orifice. “Directly under the orifice” means that, as a result of experiments, the center of the carbon dioxide laser beam is 30 mm or less, preferably 10 mm or less, preferably 5 mm or less from the tip of the orifice. This is because when the filament is separated from the orifice, the original filament swings and does not stay in a fixed position and cannot be stably captured by the carbon dioxide laser beam. Further, it is considered that the tension applied to the filament by the high-speed gas from the orifice is weakened by moving away from the orifice, and the stability is also reduced.

The present invention is characterized in that the original filament is heated and drawn by a carbon dioxide laser beam. The carbon dioxide laser beam of the present invention has a wavelength of 10.6 μm. The laser can narrow down the irradiation range (beam) and is concentrated on a specific wavelength, so that there is little wasted energy. The carbon dioxide laser of the present invention has a power density of 50 W / cm ² or more, preferably 100 W / cm ² or more, and most preferably 180 W / cm ² or more. This is because the ultrahigh magnification stretching of the present invention can be achieved by concentrating energy of high power density in a narrow stretching region.

  The carbon dioxide laser beam emitted from the carbon dioxide laser oscillation device usually has the highest irradiation intensity at the center of the beam, and gradually attenuates as it goes to the periphery, and its intensity distribution is Gaussian. It is a Gaussian beam. In the present invention, the carbon dioxide laser beam emitted from the carbon dioxide laser oscillation device is allowed to pass through a beam shaping element which is an optical component, so that the beam intensity distribution can be improved in two respects. One of them can be a flat-top beam having substantially the same irradiation intensity from the center to the periphery of the beam. The other one does not necessarily need to be a flat top beam, but can be a linear beam perpendicular to the direction of flow of the original filament.

  A beam shaping element is an optical element called a beam shaper or beam homogenizer, and is an element that changes the intensity distribution of a laser beam transmitted from a laser oscillation device to change it into a beam having a target intensity distribution. The beam shaping element is used as a diffraction grating, a condenser lens, a diffusion lens, a prism, a mirror, or the like, or a combination thereof.

  The beam shape generated by the beam shaping element is preferably a line beam (or linear beam) that is short in the direction in which the original filament passes and long in the direction perpendicular thereto. That is, if the beam flows in the direction of the original filament at the exit of the orifice as the z axis and the irradiation direction of the carbon dioxide laser beam that has passed through the beam shaping element is the y direction, the beam produced by the beam shaping element is Is preferably wide in the perpendicular direction (x direction), and the multifilamentary original filament passes through this horizontally long beam, and the multifilamentary original filament can be stretched. Further, when the beam spread in the z direction is Bz and the beam spread in the x direction is Bx, the beam shaping element is more preferably Bz <3Bx, more preferably Bz <5Bx, and most preferably , Bz <10Bx. In this way, by using an extremely long beam, it becomes possible to further stretch a plurality of original filaments.

  A carbon dioxide laser beam emitted from a carbon dioxide laser oscillation device can irradiate the original filament of a multi-cylinder by running in a direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the original filament at the exit of the orifice by a polygon mirror. it can. A polygon mirror is also called a rotating polygonal mirror. It has a large number of mirror surfaces that are parallel or inclined to the rotation axis, and the beam that has entered the mirror surface by rotating at high speed around the rotation axis. Is a mirror that reflects the light and scans in the horizontal direction. In the present invention, the multifilamentary original filament is caused to travel in the region scanned in the lateral direction, and the multifilamentary original filament is stretched by the hit laser beam. The scanning speed of the laser needs to be orders of magnitude higher than the traveling speed of the original filament.

  A carbon dioxide laser beam emitted from a carbon dioxide laser oscillation device can be radiated to the original filament of a multi-cylinder by traveling in a direction perpendicular to the direction of flow of the original filament at the exit of the orifice by a galvanometer mirror. it can. The galvanometer mirror has an axis attached to the mirror, vibrates the mirror like a galvanometer, reflects the incident beam by the mirror, and scans in the lateral direction. In the present invention, the multifilamentary original filament is caused to travel in the region scanned in the lateral direction, and the multifilamentary original filament is stretched by the hit laser beam. The scanning speed of the laser needs to be orders of magnitude higher than the traveling speed of the original filament.

  In the present invention, a carbon dioxide laser beam emitted from the carbon dioxide laser oscillation device can be reflected by a pair of parallel mirrors a plurality of times to irradiate a multifilament filament. By irradiating two mirrors installed in parallel from a diagonal direction, the beam is reflected multiple times between the two mirrors, and the multifilamentary original filament passes through the beam passing process, so that It becomes possible. In this case, by placing a right angle mirror on the axis perpendicular to the parallel axis of the two parallel mirrors on the side opposite to the side on which the beams of the two parallel mirrors are incident, The beam that has been reflected a plurality of times is reflected by the right-angle mirror, and is reflected again between the parallel mirrors. By placing the flow of the original filament at each of the many intersections of the forward and return beams reflected in this way, it is possible to extend the multiple spindles. Further, another beam can be incident obliquely on the opposite side to the side on which the beams of the two mirrors arranged in parallel are incident to form a return beam.

  In addition, since the irradiation with the carbon dioxide laser beam in this parallel mirror system is applied to the original filament from a plurality of locations, the original filament is uniformly heated. Heating from only one side of the filament is asymmetrical heating when the melting temperature of the polymer is high, when melting is difficult, or when the filament is originally difficult to stretch, making stretching difficult. .

  The laser beam in the polygon mirror, galvanometer mirror system, parallel mirror system, or the like is also preferably a beam shaped by a beam shaping element. However, it is not necessarily a linear flat top beam, it may be a circular flat top beam or a square flat top beam, and it is not necessarily an enlarged beam, but rather a reduced beam diameter. Also good.

  The original filament of the present invention is heated to a suitable temperature for stretching by a carbon dioxide laser beam, but the range heated to the suitable temperature for stretching is within 4 mm (length: 8 mm) in the vertical direction along the axial direction of the filament at the center of the filament. More preferably, the heating is performed at a top and bottom of 3 mm or less, and most preferably at a top and bottom of 2 mm or less. The beam diameter is measured along the axial direction of the traveling filament. In the present invention, since there are a plurality of original filaments, the measurement is performed in the axial direction of the original filaments. The present invention makes it possible to stretch highly narrowed to a nano region by being rapidly stretched in a narrow region, and to reduce stretch breaks even with ultra-high magnification stretching. It was. When the filament irradiated with the carbon dioxide laser beam is a multifilament, the center of the filament means the center of a multifilament filament bundle.

  The multifilament drawn filaments drawn by the present invention can be collected and taken out in the drawing chamber, but are usually collected and collected by a filament collecting device. As the accumulator, a winder or a conveyor is used, but the accumulator may be accumulated in a basket, a can, a cylinder, or the like.

  A converging tool for converging these stretched filament groups is provided in the previous stage of the stretched filament accumulation apparatus of the present invention, and the stretched filament groups can be bundled and fed to the converging device. The filament group bundled in such a manner can be used as a string or a tow. A comb, a thread guide, or the like is used as the focusing tool.

  As the stretched filament accumulation device of the present invention, a winding device for filament groups, sheets, and the like is used. A take-up machine in which a tubular body of paper or aluminum tube corresponding to the width of the filament group that has been stretched and descended is attached as a rotating shaft. The filaments stretched on these tubular bodies are collected and collected. It is collected and rolled up.

    When a winder is used as the stacking device of the present invention, it is desirable to provide a collection guide made of a wall that is curved along the winding shaft. This collection guide has a width corresponding to the width of the extended filament group of the multiple spindles descending outside the rotation shaft. The corresponding width is most preferably wider than the width when the filament group descends, preferably around 50 mm, more preferably around 100 mm on both sides. When stretched filaments that run along with high-speed air from the orifice are wound around the take-up shaft, the high-speed air is reflected by the take-up shaft and scattered around, disturbing the state of filament accumulation on the take-up shaft. In some cases, the high-speed air is bent in the direction of the rotation axis of the winder by the wall of the collection guide, and the stretched filaments can be prevented from scattering. The distance from the winding shaft to the wall of the collection guide is most preferably 500 mm or less, preferably 200 mm or less, and 100 mm or less.

  A traveling conveyor is used as the stretched filament accumulation apparatus of the present invention. By being accumulated on a conveyor and laminated, it can be wound up as an aggregate of fine filaments or a nonwoven fabric. By doing in this way, the nonwoven fabric which consists of nanofilaments can be manufactured. As the conveyor of the present invention, a net-like moving body is usually used, but it may be accumulated on a belt or a cylinder.

  Further, the multi-filamentary ultrafine filaments stretched according to the present invention are accumulated on a traveling cloth-like material, whereby a laminate laminated with the cloth-like material can be manufactured. In particular, an aggregate or non-woven fabric made of nanofilaments is difficult to handle because the constituent filaments are very thin, but the handling is stabilized by being laminated with a cloth-like material. Moreover, also in a use, it can also be used as it is for uses, such as a filter, by laminating | stacking with a commercially available spunbond nonwoven fabric etc. As the cloth-like material, woven fabric, knitted fabric, non-woven fabric, felt, paper or the like is used. Alternatively, the film may be run and accumulated on it.

  It is desirable that the drawn multifilamentary original filaments accumulated on the conveyor are heat treated by a heat treatment roll to form a sheet. Thus, it can be set as the nonwoven fabric sheet provided with dimensional stability and thermal stability by heat-processing. And it is desirable to wind up this nonwoven fabric sheet by the sheet winding apparatus provided in the extending | stretching chamber. In addition, heat treatment by an infrared heater or hot air blowing on the conveyor, and these can be used as preheating for the heat treatment.

  The temperature of the heat treatment roll or the like in the present invention is the softening point of the resin, and the optimum value is determined depending on the type of resin and the application of the product. Usually, it is selected from the range of the heat treatment temperature of the synthetic fiber. In some cases, the manufactured ultrafine filaments or nanofibers may be partially fused. In that case, a temperature near the melting point is also used.

  A thread-like material can also be produced by collecting and heat-treating sheets accumulated on a conveyor and bundling them with a bundling tool such as a comb or a guide. The filamentous material is preferably wound around a filamentous winding device provided in the stretching chamber.

  The entire stretching chamber of the present invention may be on a fine-adjustment moving base that can move in at least one direction of the XY axis on the horizontal plane and the Z-axis direction in the height direction, or that can rotate on the horizontal plane XY. desirable. In the multiple spindle stretching apparatus of the present invention, fine position adjustment is necessary for the laser irradiation position and individual nozzle arrangement, etc., but by providing such a fine adjustment moving base, operation as a multiple spindle stretching apparatus is possible. Stable and the quality of the resulting product increased. Rotation is used to adjust the error between the beam axis and the filament array axis. The fine adjustment range is from several micrometers to several millimeters. The rotation angle is also fine adjustment of 1-2 degrees or less.

  When the direction in which the original filament flows at the exit of the orifice is the z-axis, the irradiation direction of the carbon dioxide laser beam is the y-direction, and the fragrance that is perpendicular to the z-direction and the y-direction is the x-direction, It is desirable that the filaments stretched in the filament accumulating device are accumulated while being oscillated by oscillating the chamber in the x direction. The swing range is from several millimeters to around 10 millimeters. The filament group thus stretched is wound around the accumulating device while being swung, so that the resulting nonwoven fabric is improved in quality and quality is improved. The swinging can be carried out by placing the stretching chamber on a pedestal and periodically vibrating with a cam, a crank or the like. However, since the swinging range is small, it is easy to swing with a vibrator.

  The object can also be achieved by swinging the stacking device in the x direction as another means for collecting the drawn filaments while swinging them on the stacking device. As another means, a reflector that swings in the travel range of the stretched filament may be provided, and the stretched filament may be reflected on the reflector and accumulated in the stacking apparatus.

  An object of the present invention is to produce an ultrafine filament by drawing an original filament at an ultrahigh magnification with a carbon dioxide laser beam. The ultrafine filament in the present invention refers to a filament that is made ultrafine by stretching the original filament 100 times or more. Among the ultrafine filaments, those having a filament diameter of 1 μm or less are particularly referred to as nanofilaments. The present invention is characterized in that nanofilaments can be obtained even from original filaments having a diameter of 100 μm or more by making the original filament have a draw ratio of 10,000 times or more.

The draw ratio λ in the present invention is represented by the following formula from the diameter do of the original filament and the diameter d of the filament after drawing. In this case, the density of the filament is calculated as constant. The fiber diameter is measured with a scanning electron microscope (SEM), using an average value of 100 points based on a photograph taken at a magnification of 350 times for the original filament and 1000 times or more for the drawn filament.
λ = (do / d) ²

  The drawn filaments in the present invention are characterized by having a uniform filament diameter. The filament diameter distribution was obtained by measuring 100 filament diameters from the above SEM photograph using length measurement software. Moreover, the standard deviation was calculated | required from those measured values, and it was set as the scale of filament diameter distribution.

  The drawn filament in the present invention is molecularly oriented by being drawn and is also thermally stable. Since the drawn filament of the present invention has a very small filament diameter, it is difficult to measure the molecular orientation of the filament. The results of thermal analysis suggest that the drawn filament of the present invention is not only thinned but also has molecular orientation. The differential thermal analysis (DSC) measurement of the original filament and the drawn filament was carried out at a heating rate of 10 ° C./min using a THEM PLUS2 DSC8230C manufactured by Rigaku Corporation.

  The nonwoven fabric obtained by the present invention is characterized in that the formation is uniform because means such as swinging the stretched filament can be used. The formation refers to the uniformity of the basis weight (weight per unit area) at each location of the nonwoven fabric. The formation in the present invention means that the obtained nonwoven fabric is sampled in 5 places in the width direction, 3 places in the longitudinal direction at 100 mm intervals, 5 places in the width direction, and 30 mm square in length and width, and its weight. Measured with standard deviation.

  The ES method, which is a conventional nanofiber production method, requires the solvent to be removed from the work of dissolving the polymer in the solvent or the finished product, which is complicated in the manufacturing method and increases the cost. In addition, the finished product also had problems with the quality of the filament, such as the occurrence of a mass of resin called lumps and shots, and a wide distribution of filament diameters. The resulting fiber is also a short fiber (short fiber), which is said to be several millimeters to several tens of millimeters at most. A substantially continuous filament of the above length is obtained.

  According to the present invention, an ultrafine filament whose molecular orientation is easily improved can be obtained by a simple means without requiring a special high-precision and high-level apparatus. The present invention is also characterized in that a stretched filament can be directly wound on a winder to form a nonwoven fabric. Furthermore, since a number of original filaments travel in the field of view of one laser beam, it is necessary to finely adjust the incident position of the laser beam. In the present invention, these fine adjustments are also easy. Have. Furthermore, the formation of the nonwoven fabric obtained in the present invention is very uniform, which means that the nonwoven fabric composed of the nanofilament of the present invention can be used as a filter for precision instruments and a separator for batteries. Is a particularly useful factor. In the present invention, a draw ratio of 10,000 times or more is made possible from almost all thermoplastic polymers, and ultrafine filaments having a nanofilament region of less than 1 μm can be produced. In addition, even though the filament diameter distribution was the average filament diameter in the nanofilament region, a very narrow filament with a standard deviation of 0.1 or less could be obtained.

  In the super-stretching method using a carbon dioxide laser beam in the present invention, a pressure difference before and after the orifice is used as means for generating a high-speed gas flow to which stretching tension is applied. For this reason, the flow of the high-speed gas flow is very stable, which not only provides nanofilaments but also enables stable continuous operation in terms of productivity. In the present invention, it was possible to provide a means for stably stretching a multifilamentary original filament by a simple means. Since laser beams are expensive, it is not only costly to prepare a large number of beams, but also the laser beam is ultra-precise in terms of safety and very sensitive to external stimuli such as vibration. It is not a good idea to use multiple sets of devices rather than using equipment. The present invention is characterized in that a plurality of original filaments can be drawn from one carbon dioxide laser beam. Furthermore, since the present invention can be performed in a closed closed chamber, compared to the melt blow method and ES method performed in an open system, the obtained nanofibers can be prevented from scattering into the atmosphere, and the working environment is safe. High nature.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, ultrafine filaments ranging from a filament made of a biodegradable polymer used as a regenerative medical material such as polylactic acid and polyglycolic acid, which have poor stretchability in normal stretching, to a nanofilament region can be obtained. The ES method, which is a conventional nanofiber manufacturing method, uses a solvent such as chloroform, so it not only needs to be dissolved and desolvated, but also uses such a harmful solvent, which Use in is difficult.

  The nanofilament in the present invention not only dramatically improves the filter efficiency in the conventional air filter field but also is applied as an innovative material that can be applied to a wide range of applications in the IT, bio, and environmental fields. In addition, the present invention can be easily used from highly functional filaments such as polyarylate-based polymers, polyethylene naphthalate, and fluorine-based polymers, which have conventionally been difficult to achieve ultra-fine because of a narrow range of spinning and stretching conditions. And nanofilaments are obtained.

The conceptual diagram which shows the principle which manufactures an ultrafine filament by the multi (multi-spindle) drawing of this invention. Sectional drawing of the apparatus which shows an example in case the original filament supply chamber in this invention is a room | chamber with the atmospheric pressure P1, and a extending | stretching chamber is a room | chamber with P2 atmospheric pressure. The top view of the apparatus which shows the example in which the stretched web of this invention was converged and wound up as a fiber bundle. The conceptual diagram which shows the example of the intensity distribution of the beam in this invention. The conceptual diagram which shows the relative relationship between the beam shape | molded by the beam shaping element of this invention, and the multifilament original filament. The conceptual diagram which shows the other example of the relative relationship between the beam shape | molded by the beam shaping element of this invention, and the multifilament original filament. The conceptual diagram which shows the further another example of the relative relationship between the beam shape | molded by the beam shaping element of this invention, and the multifilament original filament. The top view of the apparatus which shows the example in which the multifilament original filament is heated with a polygon mirror in this invention. The top view of the apparatus which shows the example in which the multifilament original filament is heated with a galvanometer mirror in a laser beam in this invention. The top view of the extending | stretching chamber which provided the parallel mirror in this invention. The top view which shows the other example of the extending | stretching chamber which provided the parallel mirror in this invention. The conceptual diagram which shows the example which integrates | stacks the ultrafine filament obtained by the multi (multi-cylinder) extending | stretching of this invention directly on a winding device. The perspective view which shows the state which the stretched filament of this invention is sent to the integration | stacking apparatus of a filament, being reflected by the reflecting plate. The perspective view which shows the example at the time of providing the collection guide in the filament accumulating apparatus of this invention.

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the principle of manufacturing an ultrafine filament by multi-concentration drawing according to the present invention, and shows a perspective view of the apparatus. The original filaments 1a, 1b, 1c,... Are fed out from a state wound around a reel (not shown), fed through a comb, etc., and fed out at a constant speed by a feeding nip roller (not shown), and the orifice 2a. , 2b, 2c,. The steps up to this point in this figure are illustrated in the case where the pressure P1 of the original filament supply chamber is maintained at atmospheric pressure and no special room is required.

  After the outlets of the orifices 2a, 2b, 2c,..., The extension chamber 11 is under P2 atmospheric pressure (negative pressure in this figure). The original filaments 1a, 1b, 1c,... Exiting the orifices 2a, 2b, 2c,... Enter the drawing chamber 11 together with high-speed air caused by the pressure difference P1-P2 between the original filament supply chamber and the drawing chamber. Led. The beam shape of the laser beam 4 emitted from the carbon dioxide laser oscillation device 3 is shaped by the beam shaping element 5, and just below the orifices 2 a, 2 b, 2 c,. 1c,... Is irradiated as a shaped laser beam 6. In order to guide the laser beam into the drawing chamber, it passes through a window made of Zn—Se, but this window is omitted in the drawing. The original filaments 1a, 1b, 1c,... Are stretched by the tension applied to the lower filaments by the high-speed air heated by the shaped laser beam 6 and brought about by the pressure difference of P1-P2. It descends as 12a, 12b, 12c,..., And is accumulated on the conveyor 13 below. The atmospheric pressure P2 is guided through a valve 14 to a vacuum pump (not shown). The degree of vacuum is adjusted by the valve 14 to be adjusted, the number of rotations of the vacuum pump, a bypass valve, and the like. The stretching chamber 11 is provided with a barometer 15.

  In FIG. 1, the web accumulated on the conveyor 13 is nipped by the heat treatment rolls 16a and 16b and heat-treated to form a heat-treated web 17 having thermal stability and dimensional stability. The heat-treated web 17 is wound into a roll-shaped nonwoven fabric product 18.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an apparatus showing an example in which the original filament supply chamber 21 is a room having an atmospheric pressure P1 and the stretching chamber 22 is a room having a P2 atmospheric pressure. The P1 atmospheric pressure in the original filament supply chamber 21 is communicated with a compressor (or a vacuum pump) through a valve 23 and a pipe 24. The P1 atmospheric pressure is managed by the barometer 25. The P2 atmospheric pressure in the stretching chamber 22 communicates with a vacuum pump (or a compressor) through a valve 26 and a pipe 27. The P2 atmospheric pressure is managed by the barometer 28. The original filaments 1a, 1b, and 1c are fed out from the state wound around the reels 29a, 29b, and 29c, passed through the combs 30a, 30b, and 30c, and at a constant speed from the feeding nip rollers 31a, 32a, 31b, 32b, 31c, and 32c. It is sent out and guided to the orifices 2a, 2b, and 2c.

  After the outlets of the orifices 2a, 2b, and 2c in FIG. 2, the extension chamber 22 is under P2 atmospheric pressure. The original filaments 1a, 1b, and 1c exiting the orifices 2a, 2b, and 2c are guided to the drawing chamber 22 together with high-speed air caused by the pressure difference P1-P2 between the original filament supply chamber 21 and the drawing chamber 22. The sent original filaments 1a, 1b, 1c are directly under the orifice, and the laser beam 4 irradiated from the carbon dioxide laser oscillation device 3 becomes a laser beam 6 shaped by the beam shaping element 5, and the traveling original filament 1a, Irradiated to 1b and 1c. A laser beam power meter 33 is preferably provided at the destination of the shaped laser beam 6, and the laser power is preferably adjusted to be constant. The original filament is stretched by the tension applied to the lower filament by the high-speed air heated by the shaped laser beam 6 and brought about by the pressure difference of P1-P2, and descends as stretched filaments 34a, 34b, 34c. And are accumulated on the conveyor 13.

  In FIG. 2, the web 35 accumulated on the conveyor 13 is preferably sucked from the back of the conveyor 13 by the negative pressure suction chamber 36 to stabilize the web 35 on the conveyor 13. The web 35 is preferably heat treated by at least one of the following heat treatment means. One of the heat treatment means is radiant heat generated by the infrared lamp 37 to heat and heat the web 35. In the heat treatment means 2, the web 35 is heated by the hot air blown from the hot air nozzle 38 and is heat-treated. The web 35 exiting the conveyor 13 is preferably compressed by a rubber roll 39 on the conveyor 13 and formed into a sheet. In the heat treatment means 3, the web 35 exiting the conveyor 13 is heat treated by a heating roll 40, compressed by a rubber roll 41, and formed into a sheet. The heat-treated web 42 is wound on a winding roll 43.

  FIG. 3 is a plan view of an apparatus showing an example in which stretched webs are converged and wound up as fiber bundles. The stretched and heat-treated web 46 passes through the nip roll 47, and then is bundled into a fiber bundle by a comb such as a snail wire 48 that is traversed left and right, and wound around a winder 49. In this way, a multi-stretched web made of nanofilaments can be used practically as a fiber bundle of a fiber assembly.

  FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of an intensity distribution of a beam shaped by the beam shaping element of the present invention. The Gaussian beam in the lower center is the intensity distribution of the beam produced by the oscillator in the carbon dioxide laser before being shaped, and the Gaussian distribution is such that the center of the beam is high and gradually weakens with the periphery. Yes. The upper linear flat top beam has a shape that maintains a high beam intensity in an elongated range, and is an ideal type in the multi-spindle extension according to the present invention. It is a line shape that is short in the direction (Bz) through which the original filament passes and long in the direction perpendicular to it (Bx) (Bz <Bx). The left is a circular flat top beam and the right is a square flat top beam. These are also used for multi-spindle stretching, and are particularly effective for the type using a mirror described later. These shapes are idealized and do not strictly mean that these intensity distributions are obtained, but they can be approximated by a beam shaping element.

  FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 are conceptual diagrams showing the relative relationship between the laser beam and the multifilamentary original filament when the multifilamentary original filament travels in the present invention. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view from the side showing the relative positional relationship between the nozzle 51 and the laser beam 52. FIG. In this figure, the inside of the nozzle 51 is composed of a wide linear cylindrical portion 53, a tapered portion formed therefrom, and finally a narrow cylindrical orifice portion 54. A laser beam 52 shaped directly under the orifice 54 is irradiated. The distance L from the tip of the nozzle 51 to the center of the shaped laser beam 52 is short, and the original filament 1 is preferably heated rapidly at a short distance. FIG. B is a plan view showing an example of the arrangement of the multiple spindles 51a, 51b, 51c,... In the laser beam 52, and shows an example in which the nozzles are arranged obliquely in order. The laser beam 52 is preferably shaped by a beam shaping element.

  FIG. 6A is a plan view showing an example in which the shaped laser beam is irradiated in a slightly divergent manner. The carbon dioxide laser beam 61 becomes a laser beam 63 shaped by the beam shaping element 62. The original filaments 1a, 1b, 1c,... Are randomly arranged in the shaped laser beam 63 so as not to overlap. By arranging in this way, the intervals between the original filaments 1a, 1b, 1c,... Can be increased, and the flow of air ejected from the orifice can be prevented from interfering with each other. FIG. B is a cross-sectional view of the shaped laser beam 63. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example in which the beam 67 emitted from the laser oscillation device 66 becomes a laser beam 69 shaped by the beam shaping element 68 and is irradiated slightly wider. In the shaped laser beam 69, the original filaments 1a, 1b, 1c,... Are arranged in a line in the horizontal direction.

  FIG. 8 is a plan view showing an example in which the carbon fiber laser beam 71 irradiated from the carbon dioxide laser oscillation device heats the multifilamentary original filaments 1a, 1b, 1c,... . The polygon mirror rotates at high speed around the center, and the incident laser beam 71 is reflected by the multi-surface mirrors 73a, 73b, 73c,... Can travel to cross the direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the original filaments 1a, 1b, 1c,... It is necessary that the rotational speed of the polygon mirror 72 is larger than the traveling speed of the original filaments 1a, 1b, 1c,... And the scanning speed in the lateral direction of the reflected laser beam 74 is orders of magnitude higher.

  In FIG. 9, the carbon dioxide laser beam 82 emitted from the carbon dioxide laser oscillation device 81 is reflected by the vibration of the galvanometer mirror 83, and is irradiated to the original filaments 1a, 1b, 1c,. It is a top view which shows an example. The reflected beam 84 travels in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the original filaments 1a, 1b, 1c,... Flow at the exit of the orifice, thereby forming the multifilamentary original filaments 1a, 1b, 1c,. Can be irradiated. The scanning speed of the reflected beam 84 in the lateral direction needs to be orders of magnitude higher than the traveling speed of the original filament 1. The polygon mirror and galvanometer mirror in FIGS. 8 and 9 are outside the stretching chamber, and the laser beam reflected by them is preferably guided into the stretching chamber through the Zn-Se window in the stretching chamber.

  FIG. 10 is a plan view of a stretching chamber provided with a parallel mirror. A carbon dioxide laser beam 92 irradiated from an oblique direction from the carbon dioxide laser oscillation device 91 passes through the Zn-Se window 93 and is guided to the stretching chamber 94. In the stretching chamber 94, a pair of mirrors 95a and 95b installed in parallel is provided. The laser beam 93 guided to the stretching chamber 94 is reflected a plurality of times by the parallel mirrors 95a and 95b. By placing a right angle mirror 96 on an axis perpendicular to the parallel axis of the two parallel mirrors 95a and 95b on the side opposite to the side where the beam enters the two parallel mirrors 95a and 95b, The beam 92 that has been reflected between the parallel mirrors 95a and 95b a plurality of times is reflected by the right-angle mirror 96 and again reflected between the parallel mirrors 95a and 95b. By placing the original filaments 1a, 1b, 1c,... At a large number of intersections of the outgoing and return beams reflected in this way, it is possible to extend the multiple spindles. The beam exiting the system is provided with a power meter 97 to manage the effective utilization rate of the laser.

  11 shows a laser beam 102 from an oblique direction from another new carbon dioxide laser oscillation device 101 on the side opposite to the side on which the beam is incident on the two mirrors 95a and 95b installed in parallel in FIG. It is a top view which shows the example which irradiates. By doing so, the intensity of the laser beam irradiated to the multifilamentary original filaments 1a, 1b, 1c,... Increases. In this case as well, the power meter 103 is provided for the beam exiting the system.

FIG. 12 is a conceptual diagram showing an example in which ultrafine filaments obtained by multi-stretching according to the present invention are directly accumulated in a winding device. In the same apparatus as in FIG. 1, a large number of original filaments 1 are led through an orifice 2 to a drawing chamber 11 under P2 atmospheric pressure (negative pressure in this figure). The beam shape of the laser beam 4 emitted from the carbon dioxide laser oscillation device 3 is shaped by the beam shaping element 5, and just below the orifices 2 a, 2 b, 2 c,. 1c,... Is irradiated as a shaped laser beam 6. The original filaments 1a, 1b, 1c,... Are stretched by the tension applied to the lower filaments by the high-speed air heated by the shaped laser beam 6 and brought about by the pressure difference of P1-P2. It descends as 12a, 12b, 12c,... And is directly wound on the lower winding device 111. The winding machine 111 includes a winding tube 113 installed on the winding mount 112, and the winding tube 113 serves as a rotating shaft that winds the stretched filament group. The take-up tube 113 is driven by a motor (not shown) to rotate, and the filaments stretched on the take-up tube 113 are wound and accumulated to form a stretched filament assembly 114. The atmospheric pressure P2 is guided through a valve 14 to a vacuum pump (not shown). The degree of vacuum is adjusted by the valve 14 to be adjusted, the number of rotations of the vacuum pump, a bypass valve, and the like. The stretching chamber 11 is provided with a barometer 15. In addition, many extended filaments 12a, 12b, and 12c can also be guide | induced to a winder in the state which was converged by the bundling tool shown in FIG.

  12, the winder 111 is placed on a vibrator 115, vibrated in the axial direction (x direction) of the winder tube of the winder 111, and stretched filament groups 12a, 12b, 12c,. Is preferably wound around the winding tube 113 while being swung. By doing in this way, the nonwoven fabric which consists of an ultrafine filament excellent in formation is obtained.

  Further, in FIG. 12, the entire stretching chamber 11 is placed on the fine adjustment moving base 116, and bolts 117a, 117b, 117c,... And screw holes 118a, 118b, 118c,. Fine adjustment is possible in the vertical and horizontal directions. Although the fine adjustment moving base 116 is not shown in the drawing, it can be a turntable that can rotate. In the figure, the bolt 117 and the screw hole 118 are shown only on the left side and the front side of the pedestal 116, but are also provided on the right side and the back side. Although a simple screw system is shown in the figure, fine adjustment movement can be performed using a hydraulic jack, an electric motor, or the like. A vibrator can be installed under the stretching chamber 11 or under the pedestal 116 to swing the stretched filament in the x direction.

  FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a state in which the stretched filament 12 of the present invention is sent to the filament collecting device while being reflected by the reflector 121. The reflection plate 121 extends in a fan shape below and vibrates in the x direction. The stretched filament 12 is sent to the air flow due to the pressure difference under P1-P2, collides with the reflector 121, changes the reflection direction along with the vibration of the reflector 121, as shown by the dotted line in the figure. It spreads and is sent to the accumulator. The stretched filaments 12 are spread and accumulated in this way, so that the nonwoven fabric composed of a number of stretched filaments accumulated in the accumulating device has a good texture.

    FIG. 14 shows an example in which a collection guide is provided in the stretching chamber when a winder is used as the stacking apparatus of the present invention. 12, a large number of holes are formed in the plate-like object 131, and these holes are made into orifices 132 a, 132 b, 132 c,..., Respectively. It is led to the stretching chamber 11 that is below (in this figure, in a negative pressure state). A laser beam 133 emitted from the carbon dioxide laser oscillation device 3 is applied to the original filaments 1a, 1b, 1c,. In order to guide the laser beam 133 into the drawing chamber, it passes through a window made of Zn—Se, but the window is omitted in the drawing. The original filaments 1a, 1b, 1c,... Are stretched by the tension applied to the lower filaments by high-speed air heated by the laser beam 133 and caused by the pressure difference of P1-P2, and the drawn filaments 134a, 134b are stretched. , 134c,..., And is directly wound on the lower winding device 111. The winding machine 111 is composed of a winding tube 113 installed on a winding stand 112, and the winding tube is driven by a motor (not shown) to rotate, and the filament stretched on the winding tube 113. Are wound and integrated into a drawn filament assembly 135. The stretching chamber 11 is provided with a collection guide 136 that is curved along the winding tube 113. By the collection guide 136, the stretched filament 134 is stably wound around the winding tube 113, and becomes a stretched filament assembly 135 made of a non-woven sheet with good formation.

  The drawing of the original filament in FIGS. 3 to 14 is performed in a drawing chamber under P2 pressure. The arrangement of these filaments in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 can also be used when the mirrors in FIGS. 8 and 9 are used.

  The ultrafine filament according to the present invention can be used not only in fields where conventional ultrafine filaments such as air filters have been used, but also in a wide range of innovative materials such as medical filters and functional materials for IT.

1: Original filament, 2: Orifice, 3: Carbon dioxide laser oscillation device,
4: laser beam, 5: beam shaping element, 6: shaped laser beam,
11: Stretching chamber, 12: Stretched filament, 13: Conveyor,
14: valve, 15: barometer, 16: heat treatment roll,
17: Heat-treated web, 18: Winding roll.
21: Raw filament supply chamber, 22: Stretch chamber, 23 valve, 24: Piping,
25: Barometer, 26: Valve, 27: Piping, 28: Barometer
29: Reel, 30: Comb, 31, 32: Feeding nip roll,
33: power meter, 34: drawn filament, 35: web,
36: negative pressure suction chamber, 37: infrared lamp, 38: hot air nozzle,
39: Rubber roll, 40: Heating roll, 41: Rubber roll,
42: Heat-treated web 43: Winding roll
46: Web, 47: Nip roll, 48: Snail wire,
49: Winder.
51: Nozzle, 52: Laser beam, 53: Cylindrical part, 54: Orifice.
61: Laser beam, 62: Beam shaping element, 63: Shaped laser beam.
66: carbon dioxide laser oscillation device, 67: laser beam, 68: beam shaping element, 69: shaped laser beam.
71: Laser beam, 72: Polygon mirror, 73: Mirror,
74: Reflected laser beam.
81: Carbon dioxide laser oscillator, 82: Laser beam, 83: Galvano mirror,
84: Reflected laser beam.
91: Carbon dioxide laser oscillation device, 92: Laser beam,
93: Zn-Se window, 94: Stretching chamber, 95: Parallel mirror,
96: Right angle mirror, 97: Power meter.
101: Carbon dioxide laser oscillation device, 102: Laser beam,
103: Power meter.
111: Winding machine, 112: Winding stand, 113: Winding tube,
114: An assembly of drawn filaments.
115: Vibrator, 116: Fine adjustment moving base,
117: bolt, 118: bolt hole.
121: Reflector.
131: plate-like material, 132: orifice, 133: laser beam,
134: stretched filament, 135: filament aggregate,
136: Collection guide.

Claims (23)

An original filament supply chamber under P1 atmosphere having an original filament delivery means, an orifice through which the original filament passes, and the original filament supply chamber by the orifice An extension chamber under P2 atmospheric pressure (P1> P2) that is connected and is extended by heating the original filament that has passed through the orifice by a carbon dioxide laser beam, and carbon dioxide that emits the carbon dioxide laser beam. In an apparatus for producing an ultrafine filament comprising a gas laser oscillation device,
A multi-filament original filament supply means to which the original filament is supplied;
A beam shaping element for shaping the carbon dioxide laser beam shape irradiated from the carbon dioxide laser oscillation device and irradiating the original filament of the multi-cylinder;
An accumulator for accumulating filaments drawn in the drawing chamber;
A multi-stretching device for ultrafine filaments, characterized by comprising:   When the direction in which the original filament flows at the exit of the orifice is the z axis and the irradiation direction of the carbon dioxide laser beam that has passed through the beam shaping element is the y direction, the beam produced by the beam shaping element is the y direction. 2. A beam shaping element having a width of at least three times in a perpendicular direction (x direction), that is, a beam shaping element satisfying Bz <3Bx where Bz is a beam spread in the z direction and Bx is a beam spread in the x direction. Multi-filament drawing device for ultrafine filaments. An original filament supply chamber under P1 atmosphere having an original filament delivery means, an orifice through which the original filament passes, and the original filament supply chamber by the orifice An extension chamber under P2 atmospheric pressure (P1> P2) that is connected and is extended by heating the original filament that has passed through the orifice by a carbon dioxide laser beam, and carbon dioxide that emits the carbon dioxide laser beam. In an apparatus for producing an ultrafine filament comprising a gas laser oscillation device,
A multi-filament original filament supply means to which the original filament is supplied;
A polygon mirror for causing the carbon dioxide laser beam irradiated from the carbon dioxide laser oscillation device to cross the direction in which the original filament flows at the exit of the orifice in a direction perpendicular to the original filament, and to irradiate the original filament of a plurality of spindles;
An accumulator for accumulating filaments drawn in the drawing chamber;
A multi-stretching device for ultrafine filaments, characterized by comprising: An original filament supply chamber under P1 atmosphere having an original filament delivery means, an orifice through which the original filament passes, and the original filament supply chamber by the orifice An extension chamber under P2 atmospheric pressure (P1> P2) that is connected and is extended by heating the original filament that has passed through the orifice by a carbon dioxide laser beam, and carbon dioxide that emits the carbon dioxide laser beam. In an apparatus for producing an ultrafine filament comprising a gas laser oscillation device,
A multi-filament original filament supply means to which the original filament is supplied;
A galvanometer mirror that radiates the carbon dioxide laser beam emitted from the carbon dioxide laser oscillation device in a direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the original filament at the exit of the orifice, and irradiates a plurality of original filaments;
An accumulator for accumulating filaments drawn in the drawing chamber;
A multi-stretching device for ultrafine filaments, characterized by comprising: An original filament supply chamber under P1 atmosphere having an original filament delivery means, an orifice through which the original filament passes, and the original filament supply chamber by the orifice An extension chamber under P2 atmospheric pressure (P1> P2) that is connected and is extended by heating the original filament that has passed through the orifice by a carbon dioxide laser beam, and carbon dioxide that emits the carbon dioxide laser beam. In an apparatus for producing an ultrafine filament comprising a gas laser oscillation device,
A multi-filament original filament supply means to which the original filament is supplied;
A pair of mirrors installed in parallel to reflect the carbon dioxide laser beam irradiated from the carbon dioxide laser oscillation device a plurality of times and to irradiate the original filament of the multi-cylinder;
An accumulator for accumulating filaments drawn in the drawing chamber;
A multi-stretching device for ultrafine filaments, characterized by comprising:   A right angle mirror is provided at the opposite end to the side where the laser beam is incident on the pair of mirrors installed in parallel, and the reflected laser beam is further returned to the parallel mirror and incident. 6. The ultra-fine filament multi-multi-stretching device according to claim 5, wherein the multi-filament original filament is disposed at an intersection of the laser beam and the laser beam reflected by the right-angle mirror.   A new carbon dioxide laser oscillation device is provided at the end opposite to the side incident on the pair of mirrors where the laser beams are installed in parallel, and the carbon dioxide laser beam irradiated from the oscillation device is the pair of carbon dioxide laser beams. The multiple spindles are formed at the intersections of the laser beam incident obliquely on the mirror and reflected several times by the parallel mirror and the laser beam incident first from the new carbon dioxide laser oscillator. The multifilament drawing apparatus for ultrafine filaments according to claim 5, wherein the original filaments are arranged. An original filament supply chamber under P1 atmosphere having an original filament delivery means, an orifice through which the original filament passes, and the original filament supply chamber by the orifice An extension chamber under P2 atmospheric pressure (P1> P2) that is connected and is extended by heating the original filament that has passed through the orifice by a carbon dioxide laser beam, and carbon dioxide that emits the carbon dioxide laser beam. In an apparatus for producing an ultrafine filament comprising a gas laser oscillation device,
A multi-filament original filament supply means to which the original filament is supplied;
A winding machine in which the filament drawn in the drawing chamber is wound around a rotation axis;
A collection guide having a wall corresponding to a width at which the stretched filament group of the multi-cylinder descends on the outside of the rotating shaft, and having a wall curved along the rotating shaft;
A multi-stretching device for ultrafine filaments, characterized by comprising:   6. The ultra-fine filament multi-multi-stretching device according to claim 1, wherein the stretched filament collecting device is a web winder.   6. The multi-filament drawing apparatus for ultrafine filaments according to claim 1, 3, 4, or 5, wherein the drawn filament collecting device is a conveyor running in a drawing chamber.   2. The entire stretching chamber is on a fine-adjustment moving base that can move in at least one direction of the XY axis in the horizontal plane and the Z-axis direction in the height direction, or that can rotate in the plane XY horizontal plane. A multi-filament drawing apparatus for ultrafine filaments according to claim 3, claim 4, claim 5 or claim 8.   6. A multi-filament of ultrafine filaments according to claim 1, further comprising a converging device for concentrating the stretched filament groups in a front stage of the stretched filament collecting apparatus. Multi-spindle) stretching device.   When the direction in which the original filament flows at the outlet of the orifice is the z-axis, the irradiation direction of the carbon dioxide laser beam is the y-direction, and the direction perpendicular to the z-direction and the y-direction is the x-direction, the stretching chamber is in the x-direction. The ultrafine filament according to claim 1, 3, 4, 5, or 8, wherein the stretched filament is accumulated while being oscillated by being oscillated. Multi-stretching device.   When the direction in which the original filament flows at the exit of the orifice is the z-axis, the irradiation direction of the carbon dioxide laser beam is the y-direction, and the direction perpendicular to the z-direction and the y-direction is the x-direction, The stretched filament is accumulated while being oscillated in the filament accumulating device by being oscillated in the direction of claim 1, claim 3, claim 4, claim 5, or claim 8. Multi-stretching device for ultra-fine filaments.   9. The ultrafine filament according to claim 1, 3, 4, 5, or 8, wherein the drawn filament is reflected by a oscillating reflecting plate and accumulated in the filament accumulating device. Multi-stretching device.   The multi-stretching apparatus for ultrafine filaments according to claim 3, 4, 5, or 8, wherein the laser beam is shaped by a beam shaping element. A heat treatment roll in which a sheet is formed by heat-treating a stretched multi-filament original filament group accumulated on the conveyor;
A sheet winding device for winding the heat-treated sheet in the stretching chamber;
The multi-filament drawing apparatus for ultrafine filaments according to claim 10. A heat treatment roll in which a sheet is formed by heat-treating a stretched multi-filament original filament group accumulated on the conveyor;
A bundling tool for bundling the sheet heat treated in the drawing chamber into a fiber bundle;
A winding device for winding the fiber bundle;
The multi-filament drawing apparatus for ultrafine filaments according to claim 10.   9. The ultra-thin filament multi-stretching of claim 1, claim 3, claim 5, or claim 8, wherein the difference in pressure between P1 and P2 before and after the orifice is P1 ≧ 2P2. apparatus.   9. The ultrafine filament multi-piece (multiple spindle) according to claim 1, wherein the pressure difference is provided so that the flow velocity in the orifice is 150 m / sec or more. ) Drawing device.   The ultra-fine filament multi-stretching according to claim 1, 3, 4, 5, or 8, wherein the raw filament supply chamber is in the atmosphere and the stretching chamber is under reduced pressure. apparatus.   The center of the beam from the carbon dioxide laser beam irradiation device is configured to irradiate the original filament within 30 mm from the exit of the orifice. A multi-stretching device for ultrafine filaments according to claim 5 or claim 8.   The beam from the said carbon dioxide laser beam irradiation apparatus is comprised so that it may irradiate to the range within 4 mm up and down along the axial direction of a filament in the center of the said original filament. Item (4), Item (5) or Item (8), a multi-filament drawing device for ultrafine filaments.

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