JPH0321643B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an ultra-fine fiber-generated fiber that contains 50 or more continuous ultra-fine fibers and has a structure in which a group of these ultra-fine fibers is divided into a plurality of groups. It is related to. It is well known that polymer interlayer array fibers, generally referred to as sea-island fibers, are extremely useful, and that many new products using them are now on the market.

The present invention relates to a polymeric mutual array fiber which is a kind of multi-component fiber, and in particular a component (ultrafine fiber component) distributed in other components (bonding component).
It relates to fibers that have a special structure.

Known fibers include polymer interlayer fibers in which the island component is a polymer blend, as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 47-37648.

In the fiber described here, the island component made of the polymer blend is continuous in the fiber axis direction,
Among the polymer blend components that make up this island component, the fine island blend components that are included in the island component are not continuous in the fiber axis direction, and are formed as extremely short single fibers that form other components (sea blend component). distributed within. Moreover, the island blend component is finally partially or completely removed, and the remaining sea blend component is used as hollow microfibers. The spinning properties of the polymer mutual array fiber whose island component is a polymer blend are 2.
Although the spinning properties are not as unstable as those of so-called mixed spun fibers, which are obtained by blending and spinning more than one type of polymer, satisfactory spinning stability cannot be obtained because the island component is blended. That is, the polymer discharged from the nozzle becomes thick and thin, and depending on the combination of polymers, it becomes like a raindrop. In addition, in the island component blend polymer array fiber,
If the island blend component is left and the other components are removed, the island blend component is a fine single fiber and cannot maintain its form as a fiber bundle, but instead becomes a powder.

As another known fiber, an island-in-the-sea type multicomponent fiber described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 125718/1984 is known. This fiber has island components formed by a composite flow in which one component flow A is divided into a plurality of parts and merged with another component flow B. However, the number of divisions of component flow A here is up to 10. Even if it is attempted to divide the fiber into more than 10 components and flow them in combination with other components, the number of divisions will be too large and the fibers will merge together, making it impossible to obtain a fiber having a large number of island components with the number of divisions exceeding 10. Therefore, the fineness of one ultrafine fiber of the divided island component is
It was impossible to obtain fibers finer than 0.01 denier.

In view of the drawbacks of the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide fibers in a form suitable for obtaining ultrafine fibers. Another object of the present invention is to obtain fiber bundles with high tensile strength without fiber slippage, and to obtain fibers with excellent spinning stability and easy fibrillation.

The objects of the present invention are as follows: (1) At least 50 ultrafine fibers having a substantially continuous filament shape and having a diameter of 0.01 denier or less are arranged and assembled, and are bonded with another component (binding component 1) to form a group of ultrafine fibers. Furthermore, a plurality of the ultra-fine fiber groups are assembled, surrounded by other components (including cases in which bonding component 2 is the same as bonding component 1), and bonded as a whole as one fiber, and the bonding component is Ultra-fine fiber-generating fibers are characterized by being more brittle and more easily split than ultra-fine fiber components. , achieved by.

The ultrafine fibers contained in the fibers of the present invention are
The fibers are substantially continuous in the length direction. If the ultra-fine fibers are discontinuous and cut into short pieces in the length direction, the ultra-fine fibers will fall apart into powder when the binding components are removed. Even if this does not happen and a bundle of ultra-fine fibers is obtained, when the bundle is pulled, the fibers will slip through before they are cut, resulting in only a weak fiber bundle with low tensile strength. . In addition, if the ultra-fine fiber is discontinuous in the length direction, the spinning stability is poor as mentioned earlier, and when the spun fiber is drawn, it is not drawn uniformly, and only fibers with large thickness unevenness are obtained. There isn't.

In addition, the average fineness of the ultrafine fiber in the present invention is
less than 0.01 denier, preferably
It is 0.001 denier or less. If it exceeds 0.01 denier, the stiffness of the fibers will be high and it will not be possible to form a super-flexible fiber bundle.

The ultrafine fiber group according to the present invention has at least 50
It is made of ultra-fine fibers.
In other words, the fiber of the present invention has a structure in which an extremely large number of continuous ultrafine fibers are added to the ultrafine fibers contained in conventionally known ultrafine fiber generating fibers such as polymer array fibers. It is a new fiber with The number of fibers in the ultra-fine fiber group is
If the number is less than 50, it will be difficult to make the fibers ultra-fine.

The fiber of the present invention has a structure in which a large number of ultra-fine fibers are combined with other components to form a group of ultra-fine fibers, and a plurality of these groups of ultra-fine fibers are further collected and combined with other components. It is something. Here, the binding component refers to a component that is present between or around the ultra-microfibers or between the micro-microfibers or the micro-microfiber groups, and binds and integrates each. Furthermore, the bonding component is more brittle than the ultrafine fiber component, and has the property of being easily divided into fibrils by collision with a high-speed liquid columnar flow. It is preferable that the ultrafine fibers in the ultrafine fiber group have a sea-island structure between the bonding component and the ultrafine fibers. Furthermore, when the binding component of the fibers of the present invention is removed, at least 50 ultra-fine fibers come together to form a thin primary bundle, and a plurality of these primary bundles come together to form a secondary bundle. A structured fiber bundle is obtained. These fibers and fiber bundles of the present invention all have novel structures that have not been previously known.

On the other hand, by using polymers with different properties for the ultrafine fibers and making the ultrafine fiber groups different, fibers with special properties different from those of collagen fibers of natural leather can be obtained. For example, if two polymer components have different dyeing properties, the ultra-fine fibers made of one polymer component may be dyed while the other is not, or both may be dyed in different colors to improve the depth of the color. It is possible to express unique color effects such as mélange tones. In addition, by using a normal fiber-forming polymer for one polymer component and an elastomer for the other, a yarn with good elastic recovery can be obtained, and the elastomer can also be treated with a solvent and used as a binder. be. In addition, heat shrinkage, melting point, solvent solubility,
Polymers with different conductivity, magnetism, reactivity, hydrolyzability, ion exchangeability, radiation sensitivity, photosensitivity, strength, stretchability, etc. may be used in combination, and the number of polymers is not limited to two types. It is also possible to use the above. By utilizing the differences in the properties of these polymers, fibers with new functions can be obtained. Furthermore, it is also possible to make the polymer components of the ultra-fine fibers different within the group of ultra-fine fibers, and a different effect can be obtained than when the polymer components of the ultra-fine fibers are made to differ between the groups.

Specific examples of substances used in the fibers of the present invention include polyamides such as nylon 6, nylon 66, nylon 6-10, nylon 12, and nylon 11, and copolymers thereof, polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, and polyamide. Polyesters such as tetramethylene terephthalate, polytrimethylene terephthalate, or polyethylene oxybenzoate, polyethylene sebacate, and polyethylene adipate, and their copolymers; polyolefin polymers mainly composed of polyethylene, polypropylene, etc., and their copolymers;
Polyethers such as polyethylene oxide, polymethylene oxide, polyethylene glycol, polystyrene, polymethyl methacrylate,
Examples include vinyl polymers such as polyvinyl alcohol and acrylonitrile polymers and copolymers thereof, polyurethane and copolymers thereof, and mixtures thereof.

In the combination of the above-mentioned polymers used as each component of the fiber of the present invention, the binding component must be selected from those having properties that are more brittle and more easily split and fibrillated than the ultrafine fiber component. The combination can be determined as appropriate by considering the field of use of the fiber, manufacturing cost, polymer properties, etc., but cannot be determined uniquely, but polystyrene, copolymers, and mixtures thereof are preferred as the binding component. used.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a fiber showing a specific example of the fiber of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a fiber consisting of three components; However, as mentioned before,
The polymer components of the ultrafine fibers may be different between or within the groups of ultrafine fibers. Furthermore, the bonding component 2 within the ultrafine fiber group and the bonding component 3 between the groups may be the same substance. Furthermore, a mixture of two or more types of polymers, or a mixture of a polymer and a fine powder of an inorganic substance or an organic substance may be considered as one component. Here, the following explanation will be given assuming that it consists of 1, 2, and 3 components.

The fiber shown in FIG. 1 is composed of an ultrafine fiber component 1, a binding component 2, and a binding component 3. This component consisting of 1 and 2 is completely different from conventional ultrafine fibers, and has a structure in which one component 1 is divided into an extremely large number (at least 50) and combined with another component 2.

Regarding the shape of the component consisting of 1 and 2,
In addition to those shown in Figure 1 a and b, as shown in c,
There is an example in which component 1 and component 2 are layered alternately in a mica-like manner. Of course, it is not limited to this only. (ingredient 1 + ingredient 2)/ingredient 3
When the weight ratio of is small, the shape of component 1+component 2 becomes approximately circular. However, as the ratio increases, component 1+component 2 transforms into a close-packed structure with component 3 interposed. In other words, it gradually becomes less rounded and becomes polygonal as shown in Figure 1d. However, the gist of the present invention remains unchanged.

In FIG. 1e, component 1+component 2 further has a sea-island structure. That is, component 1
In an island consisting of and component 2, component 1 forms an island (hereinafter referred to as island-within-island component), component 2 forms an ocean (hereinafter referred to as island-splitting component), and there is an island-splitting component within the island-within-island component. It has a structure in which the same components exist as islands. FIG. 1 f has components 1 and 2 with different finenesses for each group.

FIG. 2m is a partially cut away perspective view of the fiber of the present invention. In the figure, 1 indicates an ultrafine fiber component, 2 indicates a bonding component within a group, and 3 indicates a bonding component between groups. As can be seen from the figure, components 1 and 2 are not exposed on the surface but are buried inside. Furthermore, this component is long in the fiber axis direction, and is substantially in the form of continuous filaments rather than short fibers as in chip blend kneaded spun fibers and mixed spun fibers.

FIG. 2n is a partially cutaway perspective view of a component consisting of 1 and 2, that is, one ultrafine fiber group. In the figure, 1 is the ultrafine fiber and 2 is a bonding component within the ultrafine fiber group. As can be seen from the figure, the fiber of the present invention contains a large number of ultrafine fibers 1 in its components, and the ultrafine fibers 1 are substantially continuous in the axial direction of the fiber in the form of a filament.

FIG. 3 shows a fiber bundle made of ultrafine fibers obtained by dissolving and removing components 2 and 3 of the ultrafine fiber-generating fiber of the present invention with a solvent. It has a structure in which 50 pieces are assembled to form a thin primary bundle, and many of these primary bundles are further assembled to form a secondary bundle.

The basic concept of the method for producing fibers of the present invention having the configurations shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is to first construct a split composite flow P consisting of component 1 and component 2 (combined component 1) as shown in FIG. and surround it with component 3 (connected component 2). Figure 4q
In this case, one divided composite flow P is covered by one component 3, but multiple divided composite flows P are covered by component 3 at the same time.
You can surround it with In this case, although it is said that component 3 surrounds the component 3 at once, it is easy to think of it by inserting an imaginary line in the component 3 that shows that one divided composite flow P is covered by one component 3, and the plurality of q It is easy to understand that these are collected, converged, and discharged.

When the fibers of the present invention are bombarded with a high-speed liquid columnar flow, the fibers are easily divided and fibrillated compared to known fibers having a simple sea-island structure, and the degree of fibrillation is extremely fine. When a high-speed liquid columnar flow is caused to collide with a sheet or string-like fiber structure using the fibers of the present invention, fibrillation and dense entanglement of the fibers are achieved. This is also one of the characteristics of the fiber of the present invention. In other words, the ultrafine fiber-generating fiber according to the present invention has a sheath made of the binding component 2, and the difficulty of splitting by external force can be arbitrarily controlled depending on the type and thickness of the sheath. That is, it is possible to prevent unnecessary splitting in the fiber processing steps, or to reliably cause splitting in specific steps. The ultrafine fibers or bundles thereof obtained from the fibers of the present invention can be processed into sheet-like products or string-like products, such as clothing, shoes, bags such as bags, ball skins, gloves, dishcloths, towels, various filters, etc. It is preferably used for polishing cloths, wiping cloths, wicks for stoves and lamps, artificial blood vessels, cigarette filters, base fabrics for artificial fur, etc.

Densely woven fabrics and nonwoven sheets have the property of allowing water vapor and air to pass through them, but not allowing water or water droplets to pass through them, and are preferably used in applications that require these functions. In particular, the fibers of the present invention are very similar in structure to collagen fibers, so they are most preferably used for artificial leather, such as silver-finished artificial leather with a silver surface that sticks to the hand like high-grade calf or high-grade sheep. By using the fibers of the present invention, high-quality nubuck-like artificial leather with dense short piles, suede-like artificial leather with a soft feel and elegant appearance, etc. can be obtained by using the fibers of the present invention.

The examples shown below are for the purpose of clarifying the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto. In the examples, parts and percentages are by weight unless otherwise specified.

Example 1, Comparative Example 1 (1) Using a spinning device similar to the spinning device described in Japanese Patent Application No. 57-162241, 40 parts of nylon 6 was added as an ultra-fine fiber component and as a bonding component within the ultra-fine fiber group. 40 parts of high-flow polystyrene and 20 parts of high-viscosity polystyrene as an intergroup bonding component were melted at 270°C and pressurized using a gear pump, and were discharged from 12 outlets of the mouthpiece at 1000 m/min. It was rolled up at a speed of . The spinning stability was good, and fibers of 9.8 denier per fiber with almost no unevenness in thickness were obtained.

(2) On the other hand, using a spinning device similar to that described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 44-18369,
Melt the same amount of chips and high-flow polystyrene chips, screw blend them, and mix 80 parts as the island component and 20 parts of high-viscosity polystyrene as the sea component at 270℃, and weigh each with a gear pump. While applying pressure, the mixture was discharged from 12 discharge ports, and spinning was attempted in the same manner as in (1) above. However, the polymer extruded from the discharge port did not form into thin threads and fall, but instead became like raindrops, and could not be continuously rolled up as fibers. For this reason, when we cooled the polymer immediately after it was discharged by blowing air directly under the discharge port, the rain drip-like appearance disappeared and we were able to roll it up. However, the fibers were thick and thin.

Next, for each of (1) and (2), the cross sections of each thick gut-shaped fiber collected by letting the polymer fall naturally from the discharge hole were observed at two points 100 m apart using a scanning electron microscope. . As a result, in the fiber obtained in (1), the thickness, number, and arrangement of the ultrafine fibers at the two points were almost the same, and when the cross-section of each film was photographed and magnified through light, The two images were so close that they overlapped. In other words, 100m from now
It was found that the ultrafine fibers were continuous even at both distant points. On the other hand, in the fibers obtained in (2), the thickness of the fibers themselves differed at both points, and the thickness, number, and arrangement of the fibers contained inside also varied. The distance between two points is 10m, 10cm, 5
I tried shortening it to cm and observed it, but the results were the same.

Next, the rolled-up undrawn fibers of (1) and (2) are
Stretching was performed using a hot plate heated to 150°C. The fibers of (1) could be stably drawn up to 2.8 times, but the fibers of (2) could be drawn up to 1.5 times. In the fiber cross section of (1), the number of ultrafine fibers in each of the 16 ultrafine fiber groups was approximately 180. From this, it was found that the average fineness of the ultrafine fibers contained in the stretched fiber (1) was about 0.0005 denier.

Next, when the stretched fibers of (1) and (2) were immersed in trichlorethylene and left to stand, a fiber bundle consisting of ultra-fine fibers was obtained from the fibers of (1), but In the case of the fiber (2), the trichlorethylene was cloudy and white, and upon closer inspection, it was found that fine single fibers were floating. In the fiber bundle obtained from the fibers in (1), a group of ultra-fine fibers forms a primary bundle,
Furthermore, the ultrafine fiber bundle had a structure in which 16 of these primary bundles were assembled to form a secondary bundle.

Example 2 Using a device that is similar to the spinning device of Example 1 (1), but capable of discharging two different components between the ultra-micro fiber groups as the ultra-micro fiber components, one of the ultra-micro fiber components was 20 parts of isophthalic acid copolymerized polyethylene terephthalate with high heat shrinkability as the other ultrafine fiber component, 20 parts of polyethylene terephthalate with not so high heat shrinkage as the other ultrafine fiber component, 40 parts of polystyrene as the intragroup bonding component, and polystyrene as the intergroup bonding component. The fibers were spun in the same manner as in (1) of Example 1 at a ratio of 20 parts, and fibers of 12.3 denier each with almost no unevenness in thickness and having seven ultra-fine fiber groups were obtained.

When a cross-section of both ends of the gut-shaped thick fibers collected at the same time, separated by 100 meters, was observed using a scanning electron microscope, the arrangement, number, and thickness of the ultra-fine fibers at the two locations were almost the same. This revealed that the ultrafine fibers were substantially continuous between the two points. First, the number of ultrafine fibers in the group was approximately 50 for both components, and the bonded component and the ultrafine fiber component had a sea-island structure.

Next, the undrawn yarn of 12.3 denier was drawn three times using a hot plate. The obtained drawn yarn was immersed in trichlorethylene to dissolve and remove binding components, and then the trichlorethylene was dried and removed with hot air at 120° C. and the fibers were subjected to shrinkage treatment without applying tension. When the obtained fibers were observed under a stereomicroscope, they were found to be fiber bundles with a unique shape, consisting of a mixture of finely curled ultrafine fibers and ultrafine fibers with almost no curls. The average fineness of this ultra-fine fiber was about 0.005 denier.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a typical fiber according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the fiber of the present invention and a group of ultrafine fibers thereof. FIG. 3 shows a fiber bundle made of ultrafine fibers obtained by removing the binding components of the fibers of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a mechanism in which one ultrafine fiber group component flow is coated with an intergroup bonding component. FIG. 5 is a photograph taken with a scanning electron microscope of a cross section of the fiber of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an enlarged photograph of a part of FIG. 5.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1 At least 50 ultra-fine fibers having a substantially continuous filament shape and having a diameter of 0.01 denier or less are arranged and assembled, and are bonded with another component (binding component 1) to form a group of ultra-fine fibers, and further A plurality of the ultra-fine fiber groups are assembled, surrounded by other components (bonding component 2: the same as bonding component 1), and as a whole, one
1. An ultra-microfiber-generating fiber that is bonded as a solid fiber, and the bonded component is more brittle and easily split than the ultra-microfiber component. 2. The ultrafine fiber-generating fiber according to claim 1, wherein the polymer components of the ultrafine fibers differ between the groups of ultrafine fibers. 3. The ultrafine fiber-generating fiber according to claim 1, wherein one type of ultrafine fiber group includes two or more types of ultrafine fibers having different polymer components.