JP2657998B2 - Water-permeable cloth made of polyolefin fiber - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a water-permeable cloth made of polyolefin fiber, and more particularly, suitable as a facing part (a part that directly touches the skin) in sanitary products. A durable, water-permeable cloth.

In recent years, dry-type nonwoven fabrics, particularly fiber-bonded nonwoven fabrics in the field of medical and sanitary materials, have attracted attention. Above all, disposable diapers,
Polyolefin-based fibers, especially polyethylene-based composite fibers, are often used for nonwoven fabrics in facing parts such as napkins because of their low production cost and good texture (softness and avoidance of discomfort due to wetting). Many. In particular, improving the bulkiness of products, preventing settling,
In order to improve thermal dimensional stability, composite spun fibers having a sheath made of a low-melting-point polyolefin fiber such as polyethylene fiber and a core made of polyester fiber or polypropylene fiber are often used.

By the way, sweating, urine, etc. when wearing disposable diapers, napkins, etc.
In order to avoid discomfort due to body fluids and the like, it is considered important that the facing portion of these products be easily wetted, and that the wettability is exhibited in a short time. Therefore, the polyolefin fiber constituting the facing portion is required to have water permeability within a short time. At the same time, infants, elderly people, sick people, etc., who cannot dispose of excrement themselves with disposable diapers, do not always treat one excrement with one wear. It is necessary to avoid the discomfort of excretion of water, so that the durability of the above water permeability (repeated water permeability) is also strongly required.

The present invention relates to an improved cloth which meets the above-mentioned requirements with respect to a cloth made of polyolefin-based fiber which is inherently extremely poor in water permeability due to its low surface energy characteristics.

<Conventional technology and its problems> Conventionally, polyolefin-based fibers and sheath-portion polyolefin-based composite spun fibers have been provided with water permeability by 1) adhesion of low molecular weight hydrophilic compound 2) adhesion of hydrophilic polymer resin, 3) chemicals Surface modification by treatment, solvent treatment, plasma treatment, corona discharge treatment, etc. has been performed.

However, in the means of the above 1), not only the wettability of the adhesive on the fiber surface is poor, so that the expected water permeability cannot be obtained, but also the durability cannot be obtained even when a certain degree of water permeability is obtained. In addition, there is a problem that there are many things that are highly irritating to the skin. In the means of the above 2), the durability is generally insufficient, and when an adhesive capable of obtaining a certain degree of durability is used, the water permeability becomes insufficient. There is a problem of causing obstacles. Means of the above 3) has an advantage that relatively good results can be obtained in terms of skin irritation and water permeability, but on the other hand, water permeability due to a change with time of the polar group caused by modification of the fiber surface. There is a problem that the deterioration tends to occur with time, and therefore the durability is insufficient, and the means itself is uneconomical.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention and Means for Solving the Problems> The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and to provide an improved cloth which meets the above-mentioned requirements.

Thus, the present inventors have conducted intensive studies from the above viewpoint, and as a result, a cloth-like material made of polyolefin-based fibers, in which a predetermined amount of a specific polyglycerin fatty acid ester is left to adhere, is properly suitable. This led to the completion of the present invention.

That is, the present invention relates to a cloth-like material composed of polyolefin-based fibers, wherein a polyglycerol fatty acid ester represented by the following general formula A is attached to the cloth-like material in an amount of 0.05 to 1% by weight and remains. The present invention relates to a cloth having water permeability.

General formula A: [However, n is an integer of 2-14. R ¹ is an alkyl or alkenyl group having 5 to 21 carbon atoms. R ² and R ³ are H, an alkanoyl group or an alkenoyl group having 6 to 22 carbon atoms. In the present invention, the polyolefin-based fiber is a fiber obtained from a homopolymer of ethylene or propylene, or a fiber obtained from a copolymer of these and a vinyl monomer copolymerizable therewith, but is preferably used. A composite spun fiber having a core-in-sheath structure, wherein the sheath portion is made of polyethylene fiber, and the core portion is made of a melt-spinnable thermoplastic synthetic fiber other than polyethylene fiber, such as polyester fiber or polypropylene fiber. It is.

Further, in the present invention, in addition to the woven fabric obtained by weaving the polyolefin fiber and the knitted fabric obtained by knitting, the cloth-like material is a dry nonwoven fabric or an adhesive nonwoven fabric, but is preferably a nonwoven fabric. is there.

The polyglycerin fatty acid ester represented by the general formula A is an ester of a fatty acid with a polyglycerin obtained by heat dehydration or a ring-opening addition reaction of glycerin and glycidol in the presence of glycerin as a catalyst.
Examples of the polyglycerin fatty acid ester include those in which all hydroxyl groups in the polyglycerin are completely esterified, and a partial ester in which 10 to 60% of the total hydroxyl groups are esterified is preferable.

The fatty acid portion of the polyglycerin fatty acid ester has 6 to 22 carbon atoms, preferably 12 to 18 carbon atoms. The condensation degree n of glycerin forming the polyglycerin moiety is 2 to 14, but preferably 4 to 10. Usually, polyglycerin obtained by dehydration-condensation of glycerin in the presence of an alkali catalyst has a cyclic polyglycerin as a by-product.In the present invention, polyglycerol obtained from polyglycerin partially containing the cyclic polyglycerin is used. There is no problem even with glycerin fatty acid ester.

Specific examples of the polyglycerin fatty acid ester used in the present invention include diglycerin monolaurate, diglycerin monooleate, tetraglycerin monolaurate, tetraglycerin monostearate, tetraglycerin distearate, hexa Examples include glycerin monolaurate, hexaglycerin monomyristate, hexaglycerin monostearate, hexaglycerin distearate, hexaglycerin dioleate, decaglycerin tristearate, and the like.

The cloth-like material according to the present invention is a cloth-like material composed of polyolefin-based fibers as described above, wherein the polyglycerin fatty acid ester adheres to the cloth-like material in an amount of 0.05 to 1% by weight and remains. , Preferably 0.1 to 0.7% by weight. If the residual amount of adhesion is less than 0.05% by weight, the desired water permeability and its durability cannot be obtained.
If the remaining amount exceeds 1% by weight, it is difficult to obtain a corresponding effect for the amount used, which is uneconomical.

The above-mentioned residual adhesion is obtained by treating the polyolefin-based fiber or directly the cloth-like material with the treating agent containing the polyglycerin fatty acid ester in the production or processing stage of the polyolefin-based fiber that constitutes the cloth-like material. This is done by doing

The treatment agent used preferably contains the polyglycerin fatty acid ester in an amount of 50% by weight or more. in this case,
Although other components will be contained in a range of less than 50% by weight, preferred other components include a polyoxyalkylene-modified silicone represented by the following general formula B.

General formula B: [However, x is an integer of 1 to 10. y is an integer of 7-100. a is an integer of 5 or more, b is an integer of 95 or less, and a + b is an integer of 100 or less. R ⁴ is H or an alkyl group having 1 to 12 carbon atoms. R ⁵
CH ₃ or _{C 3 H 6 OC 2 H 4} O a C 3 H 6 O b R 4. The polyoxyalkylene-modified silicone represented by the general formula B is obtained by adding dimethylhydrogenpolysiloxane to polyethylene glycol, a block or random copolymerized polyether of polyethylene glycol and polypropylene glycol, or ethylene oxide to an alcohol having 1 to 12 carbon atoms. A modified silicone obtained by adding a monoallyl ether such as a propylene oxide / ethylene oxide block or a random adduct to an alcohol having 1 to 12 carbon atoms.

Characteristics of the polyoxyalkylene-modified silicone,
It has low water solubility based on its structure. In fact, in order to obtain a satisfactory water permeability by giving the obtained modified silicone a minimum water solubility, x in the general formula B needs to be 1 or more, but on the contrary, x is larger than 10 Then, the water solubility of the resulting modified silicone becomes too large, and although the water permeability is satisfactory, the durability becomes insufficient. Similarly, in order to give the modified silicone the minimum water solubility and obtain satisfactory water permeability, it is necessary that a of the general formula B is 5 or more. If it is too large, the durability of the resulting modified silicone will be particularly impaired. In this case, the molar ratio or the weight ratio of the polyoxyethylene portion bound by a to the polyoxypropylene portion bound by b also has an effect, and preferably a × 44 / b × 58 = 25/75 or more. It is good to do. Further, when R ^{4 in the} general formula B is an alkyl group having more than 12 carbon atoms,
The resulting modified silicone has insufficient water permeability. When y in the general formula B is smaller than 7, the resulting modified silicone has poor durability. On the other hand, when y is larger than 100, water permeability deteriorates.

A preferred treating agent used in the present invention is 50 to 95% by weight of a polyglycerin fatty acid ester as described above and 5 to 45% by weight of a polyoxyalkylene-modified silicone.
And more preferably contains the polyoxyalkylene-modified silicone in a proportion of 20 to 45% by weight. In this case, an antistatic agent is used as long as the effect of the present invention is not impaired. And various surfactants as emulsifiers and leveling agents.

The present invention does not particularly limit the method and the step of attaching the polyglycerin fatty acid ester to the cloth. Examples of the adhesion method include a dipping method using a 0.1 to 10% by weight emulsion of the treatment agent as described above, a spray method,
A roller lubrication method or the like can be employed, and in this case, the concentration of the emulsified liquid, the squeezing rate, and the like may be appropriately adjusted so that the remaining amount of the polyglycerin fatty acid ester adhered to the cloth is in a predetermined range. It is. Examples of the adhesion step include a polyolefin fiber spinning step, a raw cotton oil treatment step prior to the spinning step, a nonwoven fabric manufacturing step and a knitting step, and a yarn oil treatment step prior to the weaving step. And knitted items can be processed directly.

Hereinafter, examples and the like will be described in order to make the configuration and effects of the present invention more specific, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

<Examples and the like> The nonwoven fabric samples of (1) were prepared using the treatment agents described in Table 1 below, and the measurements or evaluations of (2) to (4) were further performed. The results are shown in Tables 2 to 5 below. In addition, all% used below are weight%.

(1) Preparation of nonwoven fabric sample The sheath is polyethylene and the core is polyester.
Denier x 51mm cut length composite fiber
After immersion in a solution having the concentration shown in Table or Table 4 at 30 ° C. for 2 minutes, it was squeezed at the squeezing rate shown in the same table and blow-dried at 60 ° C. for 60 minutes. This was conditioned at a temperature and humidity of 25 ° C. × 40% RH for 24 hours, and passed at the same temperature and humidity by a spreader and a roller card so that the web weight became 24 g / m ² , thereby producing a card web. This card web was cut into a size of 10 cm × 10 cm and heat-treated with a heater plate at 130 ° C. for 30 seconds to obtain a nonwoven fabric sample.

(2) Measurement of residual adhesion amount of polyglycerin fatty acid ester For the nonwoven fabric sample ( ₁ g) of ( ₁ ), Soxhlet extraction was performed using methanol, and the total residual amount of treatment agent (W
₂ g) was determined. Next, the extract was subjected to gradient elution analysis by column chromatography using silica gel as an adsorbent, and the ratio of polyglycerin fatty acid ester (P
%). Then, the remaining amount (C%) of the attached polyglycerin fatty acid ester was determined by the following equation.

C = W ₂ × P / W ₁ (%) (4) Evaluation of water permeability After the non-woven fabric sample of (1) was conditioned for 24 hours in a constant temperature room of 20 ° C. × 60% RH, it was placed on a horizontal plate and buretted. With 10
A 0.4 ml water drop was dropped from a height of mm, and the time required for the water drop to be completely absorbed was measured.

(4) Evaluation of durability After 80 ml of ion-exchanged water was sprinkled over the nonwoven fabric sample of (1) and allowed to pass, it was blow-dried at 40 ° C for 90 minutes.
The water permeability was evaluated again. For the evaluation of durability, if the measured value of water permeability is within 60 seconds, read the measured value and again
The operation of evaluating the water permeability after passing 80 ml of ion-exchanged water was repeated, and the total number of repetitions at which the water permeability did not exceed 60 seconds was determined.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, the present invention has the effect of exhibiting excellent water permeability and durability particularly desired in the facing part of a sanitary product.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Agency reference number FI Technical display location D06M 15/647 A41B 13/02 E A61F 13/18 310Z

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cloth material comprising polyolefin fibers, wherein a polyglycerol fatty acid ester represented by the following general formula A adheres to the cloth material in an amount of 0.05 to 1% by weight and remains. Cloth having water permeability. General formula A: [However, n is an integer of 2-14. R ¹ is an alkyl or alkenyl group having 5 to 21 carbon atoms. R ² and R ³ are H, an alkanoyl group or an alkenoyl group having 6 to 22 carbon atoms. ] 2. The process for producing or processing a polyolefin fiber, the polyolefin fiber or directly the cloth-like material is mixed with 50 to 95% by weight of a polyglycerol fatty acid ester represented by the general formula A and the following general formula B: By treating with a treating agent containing 45 to 5% by weight of a polyoxyalkylene-modified silicone represented by the formula (1), wherein 0.05 to 1% by weight of the polyglycerin fatty acid ester represented by the general formula A adheres to and remains on the cloth. Item 2. A cloth having water permeability according to Item 1. General formula B: [However, x is an integer of 1 to 10. y is an integer of 7-100. a is an integer of 5 or more, b is an integer of 95 or less, and a + b is an integer of 100 or less. R ⁴ is H or an alkyl group having 1 to 12 carbon atoms. R ⁵ is CH ₃ or _{C 3 H 6 OC 2 H 4} O a C 3 H 6 O b R 4. ] 3. The composite spun fiber wherein the polyolefin fiber is a core-in-sheath composite conjugate fiber, wherein the sheath is a polyethylene fiber and the core is a melt-spinnable thermoplastic synthetic fiber other than polyethylene fiber. Item 3. A water-permeable cloth according to item 1 or 2. 4. A fabric according to claim 1, wherein the fabric is a nonwoven fabric.
A cloth material having the water permeability described in the above.