JP2851446B2 - Sustained release aromatic rug - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rug having a durable aroma. More specifically, a novel fiber that can control the volatilization amount of essential oil components by using a conjugate fiber containing essential oil in the core, and enjoy the effects of "forest bathing", "comfortable sleep" and "cooling" for an extremely long time Related to aromatic rugs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hinoki has long been used on pillars and floors of houses, and its scent has calmed people's hearts and provided a "forest bathing" effect while staying there. However, this fragrance substance was easily lost, and it was difficult to maintain this effect for a long time. Therefore, various methods have been proposed for applying the natural essential oil component substances scattered and drifting in the forest to indoor installation items such as bedclothes, interiors, and interior materials for homes to obtain a "forest bathing" effect while staying in the house. ing. For example, JP-A-2-307913, JP-A-1-280068
In the publication, an aromatic fiber in which an essential oil component is exhausted from a composite fiber in which an ethylene / vinyl acetate copolymer is exposed on the fiber surface is proposed, and it is shown that the fiber is used for a rug product such as a carpet. ing. Also, JP-A-61-20101
No. 2, JP-A-61-201013, JP-A-61-201013
JP-A-2-85010 proposes a hollow (multi-core) core-sheath type composite fiber containing essential oil in a core portion and exposing the core component to a hollow portion, and these fibers are made of a carpet loop yarn or a pile. It is shown that when applied to yarn, a forest bathing effect can be enjoyed.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-261314,
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 62-261314 proposes a rug comprising polyester fibers in which a mixture of a specific aliphatic polyester and an aromatic substance is uniformly dispersed in polyester.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned prior art scented fibers have too large an initial scent because the contact area of air with the polymer component containing the scented substance is too large, but the scent with the passage of time. Because the amount of volatilization of the substance is large and the persistence of the fragrance effect is short, or in the polymer component containing the fragrance, there is a part that is completely buried in the polyester component and is not exposed on the fiber surface. In addition, there is a disadvantage that the amount of the fragrant substance volatilized is small and the fragrance effect is insufficient.

The present invention has been made in view of the above prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a sustained-release aromatic rug having excellent fragrance effect persistence.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems The inventors of the present invention have made intensive studies to achieve the above object, and as a result, essential oils were blended in a mixture of a modified olefin polymer having a polar group and an olefin polymer having no polar group. A rug comprising a core-sheath type solid conjugate short fiber having a polyester as a sheath and a sheath as a sheath, contrary to conventional expectations, has been found to be extremely effective in achieving the above object. The invention has been reached.

That is, according to the present invention, a core-sheath type solid composite short fiber having an olefin polymer composition containing 0.1 to 5% by weight of an essential oil as a core and a polyester as a sheath is 20% by weight. A sustained-release aromatic rug comprising the above.

Olefin polymer composition (excluding essential oils) (A) Olefin polymer having substantially no α-olefin and having no polar group: 98 to 50% by weight (B) Unsaturated carboxylic acid, unsaturated Modified olefin polymer obtained by copolymerizing at least one selected from alcohols and esters, acid anhydrides or amides thereof at 3 to 30% by weight: 2 to 50% by weight.

First, it is important that the aromatic component used in the present invention is an essential oil, particularly a natural essential oil such as hinoki oil, mint oil, eucalyptus oil, hiba oil, camphor oil and the like. These essential oils are usually found in plant foliage, rhizomes, bark,
Oil is extracted from fruits, buds, resins, etc. by steam distillation and contains terpenoids as a main component. Since this terpenoid is extremely difficult to penetrate the polyester layer used for the sheath, it is difficult to volatilize from the fiber surface. Moreover, as will be described in detail later, the modified olefin polymer having a polar group among the olefin polymers used for the core part has an appropriate affinity with the terpenoid and thus serves to retain an essential oil. Polyolefins that do not have low affinity and allow the terpenoid to permeate moderately, so it is extremely easy to optimize the fragrance intensity and maintain the fragrance effect (forest bathing effect, etc.) for a long time by blending both at a specific ratio. Can be achieved.

In the present invention, natural essential oils are mainly used as the aroma components as described above, but the components contained in these essential oils may be separated and purified, or synthetic essential oils may be used. May be used.

The amount of the essential oil to be incorporated into the polymer constituting the core must be 0.1 to 5% by weight, preferably 0.5 to 2% by weight. If less than 0.1% by weight,
The volatilization of the essential oil component into the air is reduced, and an aroma effect such as a sufficient forest bathing effect cannot be obtained.
On the other hand, if it exceeds 5% by weight, the dispersibility in the core polymer is lowered, so that the melt spinning cannot be performed stably, and the resulting fiber also has an excessive amount of the essential oil component volatilized in the air, and conversely, It is not preferable because it causes discomfort.

The polymer constituting the core of the core-sheath type solid conjugate short fiber used in the present invention is 98 to 50% by weight, preferably 98 to 50% by weight of an olefin polymer (A) consisting essentially of an α-olefin. It is important that 70% by weight and 2 to 50% by weight, preferably 2 to 30% by weight, of the modified olefin polymer (B) are mixed. When the amount of the component A exceeds 98% by weight, the dispersibility of the essential oil component in the polymer constituting the core becomes poor, and the spinnability decreases. In addition, since the affinity between the essential oil component and the A component is low, the concentration of the essential oil in the B component is increased, and the diffusion rate of the essential oil component in the core polymer is increased, so that the persistence of the aroma effect is reduced. On the other hand, when the component A is less than 50% by weight, the essential oil has a relatively good affinity for the component B, so that the concentration of the essential oil in the component B is low and the diffusion rate of the essential oil component in the core polymer decreases. , A sufficient aroma effect cannot be obtained.

As the olefin polymer preferably consisting essentially of an α-olefin, for example, α-olefins such as ethylene, propylene, butene-1, hexene-1, etc.
Examples thereof include olefin homopolymers and copolymers, and copolymers thereof with a small amount (usually 10 mol% or less) of a nonpolar third component. Here, the nonpolar third component is a copolymer component having no polar functional group such as an ester bond, a carboxyl group, and a hydroxyl group, and examples thereof include unsaturated hydrocarbons such as styrene and norbornadiene. You.

On the other hand, the modified olefin polymer referred to in the present invention is an olefin polymer having a polar group, such as an unsaturated carboxylic acid, an unsaturated alcohol, and a polar group such as an ester, an acid anhydride or an amide thereof. It is important that 3 to 30% by weight, preferably 5 to 20% by weight, of an α-olefin is copolymerized with at least one selected from polymerizable monomers having the following formula: When the copolymerization amount is less than 3% by weight, the affinity with the essential oil component is not improved, and the persistence of the aroma effect is not improved. When it exceeds 30% by weight, the affinity with the essential oil is not improved. The diffusion rate in the core polymer is reduced due to the improvement in the properties, and the aroma effect tends to be hardly developed. As the polymerizable monomer having such a polar group, for example, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, maleic acid, fumaric acid and their lower alkyl esters or amides, maleic anhydride, vinyl acetate and the like are preferably used.

The essential oil used in the present invention has poor heat resistance and is easily evaporated or decomposed by heat. Therefore, it is desirable to use a polymer having a low melting point (softening point) for the core. The polyolefin having no is preferably a polyethylene polymer such as a high-density polyethylene, a medium-density polyethylene, or a low-density polyethylene, and the modified olefin polymer having a polar group is preferably an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer.

The polymer constituting the sheath portion of the conjugate short fiber used in the present invention is required to be a polymer in which the essential oil component hardly diffuses and permeates and which can impart excellent mechanical performance to the fiber. Polyester polymers, especially polyethylene terephthalate polymers or polybutylene terephthalate polymers, are preferred.

The ratio of the polymer constituting the core and the sheath in the present invention is such that the core / sheath is 80/20 to 20 by weight.
/ 80 is desirable. If the ratio of the core exceeds 80% by weight, it becomes difficult to form the core-sheath structure, and the core may be exposed and the persistence of the fragrance effect may be reduced. On the other hand, when the ratio of the core portion is less than 20% by weight, the occupied cross-sectional area of the core portion becomes small, the amount of the essential oil component volatilized into the air is reduced, and the aroma effect may be reduced.

In order to produce such a core-sheath type solid conjugate fiber, a conventionally used apparatus for core-sheath type conjugate spinning can be used as it is, and melt spinning and drawing may be performed according to a conventional method. At this time, the essential oil may be supplied to a composite melt spinning device after being attached to the surface of the olefin polymer chip having no polar group and / or the modified olefin polymer chip, May be used. In particular, the latter method
It is preferable because the essential oil is well dispersed in the polymer constituting the core, and the melt spinnability and the durability of the aroma effect are improved.

In the present invention, since the modified polyolefin having good affinity for the essential oil component is used as described above, even the essential oil component having a relatively low boiling point does not vaporize and foam in the die block. Furthermore, since the sheath component is rapidly solidified after the fiber formation, there is also an effect that the evaporation of the essential oil component is suppressed.

The unstretched conjugate fiber thus obtained is subjected to crimping after stretching and, for example, from 25 to 150 depending on the use and purpose.
Cut to an arbitrary cut length within the range of mm to form short fibers. Next, the staple fibers are used alone or in combination with other fibers, for example, natural fibers such as wool, semi-synthetic fibers such as rayon, and synthetic fibers such as polyester, polyamide, and polyacrylonitrile to form a rug. For example, a spun yarn is formed into a carpet by a tufting method, or the short fibers are singly or mixed with other fibers to form a web, and a carpet is formed by a needle punch method.

When the conjugated staple fiber having an aroma is used in combination with other fibers, it is necessary to use the conjugated staple fiber in an amount of 20% by weight or more based on the rug. The fragrance effect (forest bath effect) becomes insufficient, and the object of the present invention cannot be achieved.

As the spinning method, in addition to the above-described ordinary spinning method for cut fibers, a method using a tow spinning method can be employed.

[0023]

As described above, the core-sheath type solid conjugate short fiber used in the present invention does not have a hollow portion or an exposed portion of the core polymer on the fiber surface, and the core polymer has A modified olefin polymer having a relatively good affinity for essential oil components (having an action as a storage location for essential oil components) and an olefin polymer comprising an α-olefin containing no polar group and having good diffusibility of essential oil components It is presumed that a fragrance effect such as a forest bathing effect can be stably obtained for a long time because it is used in combination with (permeation and volatilization passage of the essential oil component). Therefore, the rugs such as carpets and mats of the present invention can have an aroma effect such as a forest bathing effect for an extremely long period of time.

Further, these rugs are usually dyed. In the conventional fragrance fiber, the fragrance component is easily lost in this dyeing step, and the fragrance effect is lowered. On the other hand, the rug of the present invention is not dyed. It also has the feature that the rate of decrease is small.

[0025]

The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following examples. In addition, since it is difficult to measure the forest bathing effect, the fragrance was evaluated according to the following. -Evaluation of fragrance The fragrance was stored in a state where it was exposed to the outside air, and the fragrance intensity was evaluated every predetermined time. Example 1 not cut after production
Was stored and cut to 64 mm at the time of evaluation to prepare a carpet in the same manner, and the fragrance was evaluated as a standard and evaluated on a 5-point scale.

When there is almost no difference from the standard: Grade 5 When the fragrance is completely lost: Grade 1

[0027]

Example 1 Ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer containing 20% by weight of hinoki cypress extracted essential oil (copolymerization weight ratio 84:16)
A chip blend of 5 parts by weight and 95 parts by weight of high density polyethylene having a melt index of 20 is melted at 250 ° C. and melted at the core, and polyethylene terephthalate having an intrinsic viscosity of 0.64 is melted at 280 ° C. and arranged at the sheath. The mixture is fed to a core-sheath type composite spinning apparatus, and has a hole diameter of 0.5 mmφ and a number of holes of 260.
It was extruded from a die having a hole, taken up at a speed of 800 m / min, and rocked into a can. The core / sheath ratio at this time is 50 /
50.

The obtained undrawn yarn is bundled to 4,000,000 denier, drawn three times at 70 ° C. in hot water, supplied to a stuffing box and crimped, and
The mixture was heat-treated for 0 minutes and cut into a fiber length of 64 mm to obtain short fibers of about 12 denier.

In the raw cotton, the fragrance was hardly felt in the state of the undrawn yarn and the uncut tow after the drawing heat treatment, and the fragrance was first felt by cutting into short fibers.

The raw cotton was blended with a non-aromatic 12 denier polyester short fiber at a mixing ratio of 50/50, and spun by a usual spinning method to obtain a spun yarn of 5 counts / 3 triples. A tuft carpet having a pile length of 9 mm and a pile density of 0.12 g / cm ³ was prepared from this spun yarn using a tufting machine and jute as a base fabric, and finally dyed at 98 ° C. for 60 minutes.

Using this carpet for two years, the initial fragrance and the fragrance after one year and two years later were evaluated. The results are shown in (Table 1).

[0032]

Examples 2 to 6, Comparative Examples 1 to 7 Mixing ratio of hinoki cypress-extracted essential oil, type and mixing ratio of polymer used for core, type of polymer in sheath, core / sheath ratio, fiber cross-sectional shape, and cut Short fibers and carpet were obtained in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the length was changed as described in (Table 1). The evaluation results are shown in Table 1.

[0033]

Examples 7 to 10 Short fibers and carpet were obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the type of essential oil and the type of polar polyolefin were changed as shown in Table 2. The evaluation results are shown in (Table 2).

[0034]

[Table 1]

[0035]

[Table 2]

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-63-54121 (JP, A) JP-A-48-93714 (JP, A) JP-A-1-280068 (JP, A) JP-A-3- 76815 (JP, A) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) D05C 17/02 A47G 27/02 D01F 8/06 D01F 8/14

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A core-sheath type solid conjugate short fiber having a core portion of the following olefin polymer composition containing 0.1 to 5% by weight of an essential oil and a polyester sheath portion in an amount of 20% by weight or more. Slow release aromatic rug. Olefin polymer composition (excluding essential oil) (A) Olefin polymer having substantially no α-olefin and having a polar group: 98 to 50% by weight (B) Unsaturated carboxylic acid, unsaturated alcohol and these Modified olefin polymer obtained by copolymerizing 3 to 30% by weight of at least one selected from esters, acid anhydrides and amides: 2 to 50% by weight