JPH03287847A - Fiber ball for wadding - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the subject useful for furnitures, beds, etc., having excellent elastic recovery property and not generating injurious gases when burnt, by blending non-crimped synthetic fiber and non-crimped binder fiber having a specific fineness and length, respectively, in a specified ratio. CONSTITUTION:(A) A synthetic fiber (preferably polyester fiber containing ethylene terephthalate as main repeating units) having a fineness of 3-30 denier, a length of 10-70mm and substantially not crimped are blended with (B) binder fiber (preferably low melting point polyester) having a fineness of 3-30 denier and a length of 10-70mm, substantially not crimped, having compatibility with the fiber A and having a melting point of >=20 deg.C lower than that of the fiber A and low stickiness in a fiber A/B weight ratio of 90-50%/10-50% to prepare the objective fiber balls having an average diameter of 5-50mm.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to fibers and filler materials used for furniture, beds, cushions, etc., and in particular, as a substitute for foamed polyurethane, it does not use fluorocarbons or the like during production, and is combustible. 2. Elastic recovery without emitting harmful gases.

This invention relates to a fiber-filled material that has excellent resistance to settling.

(Prior Art) Foamed urethane has conventionally been widely used as a filler for chair linings, pinerests, beds, and the like.

Foamed polyurethane has a three-dimensional network structure, and is a lightweight material with excellent compression recovery and fatigue resistance. A lot.

There are concerns about the generation of harmful gases, and major problems have been pointed out, such as people getting caught in smoke removers that catch fire.

On the other hand, 9 synthetic staple fibers with relatively thick fineness (5 denier or more) are carded and laminated, then molded using adhesive or low-melting binder fibers and used as cushioning materials for furniture, pillows, etc. However, with this manufacturing method, the fibers can be arranged in the horizontal and vertical directions, but cannot be arranged in the height direction of the molded product, so it is difficult to recover from forces applied from above and below. However, it has the disadvantage of poor performance.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As mentioned above, conventionally used furniture fillers cause less environmental damage and smoke when burned, and have good compression recovery properties and resistance to set. There was no.

The inventors of the present invention have conducted various studies in an effort to create a product that causes less environmental damage and smoke during combustion, does not generate harmful gases, and has compression recovery and fatigue resistance comparable to that of polyurethane foam.2 By forming a structure in which short synthetic fibers are intertwined three-dimensionally and by appropriately adhering the fibers to each other, a fiber filler has been discovered that has excellent compression recovery properties and low resistance to set.

(Means for solving the problems) That is, the present invention has a fineness of 3 to 30 denier and a length of 10 to 70 denier.
m of synthetic short fibers (A) having substantially no crimps.

It has a fineness of 3 to 100 deniers, a length of 10 to 100 denier, substantially no crimp, and is compatible with the synthetic short fiber (A), and is 20° below the melting point of the synthetic short fiber (A). The binder fiber (B) having a lower adhesion temperature than C is 9 in weight ratio.
This is a fiber ball for filling having an average diameter of 5 to 50 m, blended at a ratio of 0 to 50%/10 to 50%.

In the present invention, synthetic staple fibers (A) include polyester,
Polyvinyl alcohol, polypropylene, and the like are suitable, but highly rigid polyester and the like are most preferable from the viewpoint of compression recovery properties and fatigue resistance.

Furthermore, fibers modified by copolymerization, friends, etc. can be used within a range that does not impair the above characteristics. In addition, conventionally known coloring agents and antistatic agents are contained in these synthetic staple fibers.

It is also possible to incorporate flame retardants, matting agents, etc.

The binder fiber (B) is polypropylene.

It is possible to use a single type of polyethylene or low melting point polyester, or a core/sheath type fiber in which a low melting point component is arranged in the sheath part.

In addition, the adhesion temperature of the binder fiber (B) is the synthetic staple fiber (
It must be at least 20°C lower than the melting point of A). If the difference between the adhesion temperature and the melting point of the synthetic short fiber (A) is less than 20°C, the synthetic short fiber (A) will be deformed during heat treatment, or in severe cases will melt, resulting in poor compression recovery properties and extremely It has the disadvantage of being hard.

Next, the binder fiber (B) needs to be compatible with the synthetic staple fiber (A). If there is no compatibility, the resulting molded product will lack strength due to poor adhesion even after heat treatment, and its structure will be destroyed by external force, so it will no longer function as a filler. Synthetic short fibers (A) and binder fibers C
Combinations with B) include polyethylene-polypropylene, polyester-low melting point polyester, etc., which have good compression recovery properties.

Most preferred is a polyester-low melting point polyester that has good resistance to settling.

Synthetic staple fibers In the case of crimping of the binder fibers, it is necessary that the binder fibers have virtually no crimping in order to facilitate the production of fiber balls.If crimped fibers are used, the fibers Mutual dispersion becomes poor.

It becomes impossible to aggregate into a spherical shape.

Next, the fineness of 9 synthetic short fibers and binder fibers is as follows.
Must be in the range of 3-30 denier. Fineness is 3
If the denier is less than 1, the stiffness of the fibers will be insufficient, and even if it is filled into a bed or the like after being molded, it will give a feeling of bottoming out, which is not preferable. Furthermore, if the fineness exceeds 30 denier, the stiffness of the fibers will be too high, resulting in poor flexibility, which is not preferable.

In addition, the fiber length of 9 synthetic staple fibers and binder fibers is related to the fineness, with fine-grained fibers being relatively short (and thick-fibers being relatively long, but in the above fineness range, it is necessary to make them 10 to 70 long). As will be described later, if the diameter is less than loim (τ), the diameter of the fiber ball will be less than 5 mm, and if it exceeds 70 mm, the intertwining of the fibers will become severe, making it extremely difficult to form a fiber ball.

Note that it is preferable that the fineness and fiber length of the synthetic short fibers and the binder fibers are the same.

This is because when making a fiber ball, the blend of both fibers becomes uniform and it becomes easier to form a fiber ball.

Next is the blend ratio of 9 synthetic staple fibers and binder fibers.
Must be in the range of 0-50wt%/10-50wt%. When the synthetic staple fiber exceeds 90 wt%, the complementary amount of binder fiber becomes less than 10 wt%.

Even if the fiber ball is molded by heat treatment, the number of fiber adhesion points in the fiber ball decreases, making it difficult to maintain the three-dimensional shape of the fiber ball against external forces, and the compression recovery property and set resistance are significantly deteriorated. In addition, if the amount of the two-synthetic short fibers is less than 50%, the amount of complementary binder fibers exceeds 50, which is not preferable because the heat-treated and molded fiber balls become hard (and create an unpleasant uneven feel when filled in a bed etc.). do not have.

When filling a cuphead etc. in the shape of a 7-bar ball, it is preferable to have a true spherical shape so as to have resistance against external forces from the top, bottom, left and right, but due to the shape of the furniture etc. to be filled, a flat spherical shape is also acceptable. I can't help it.

The fiber ball needs to have a diameter of about 5 to 50 m. If it is less than 5 dragons, the amount of fiber balls used will increase, making it expensive and difficult to reduce weight. Moreover, if the diameter exceeds 50, a large gap will be formed between the fiber balls and the phyno balls when filled, resulting in an uneven feeling, which is not preferable.

Fiber balls can be produced by dispersing synthetic short fibers with a specific fineness and fiber length as described above and binder fibers in a specific ratio in a water tank filled with water, and then continuously sucking in air or using a stirrer. By stirring for 1 to 10 hours, the fibers are repeatedly dispersed and aggregated, forming uniform phyno balls.

Finally, the method of molding fiber balls as a filler is to dry them at a temperature that does not allow the binder fibers to stick after manufacturing the fiber balls, and then use a formwork made of a punching plate, etc. to allow air to pass through the dried fiber balls. By introducing the fiber into a hot air circulation treatment device and heat-treating it at a temperature higher than the adhesion temperature of the binder fiber and lower than the melting point of the synthetic short fiber, the fibers dotted inside the fiber ball (the binder fibers are separated from the synthetic short fibers in the vicinity). The binder fibers near the surface of the fiber balls adhere between the fiber balls to form a strong yet flexible molded body.

(Examples) Next, the present invention will be specifically explained using nine examples and comparative examples.

The measurement is based on JIS-6401 regarding soft urethane foam for cushions, and the apparent density is measured.

Compression residual strain rate and repeated compression residual strain rate were measured. Other measurement methods are as follows.

Adhesive temperature This is the temperature at which the polymer begins to deform, and was determined as the needle penetration temperature into the polymer in a silicone bath using a Yanagimoto automatic melting point measuring device AMP-1.

Intrinsic viscosity [η] 20 using a mixed solvent of equal weights of phenol and tetrachloroethane
Measured at °C.

Example 1. Comparative Examples 1 to 4 20 mo1% isophthalic acid copolymerized polyester (adhesive temperature 200°C9 [η] = 0.69) was used as the sheath part, polyethylene terephthalate homopolymer (melting point 2
57°C, Cη] = 0.69) in the core, and after spinning and drawing under known conditions using a known composite spinning device at a composite ratio of 1:1, without crimp. Binder fibers shown in Table 1 were obtained.

Further, the polyethylene terephthalate homopolymer was used for spinning using a conventional spinning device.

After stretching, polyester fibers shown in Table 1 were obtained without crimping.

Table 1 Table 2 The above binder fiber was 20wt4. Biofiber 8 (HVT)
The fiber ball manufacturing equipment shown in Fig. 3 was put into the fiber ball manufacturing equipment at a ratio of 5E/lK, and the number of revolutions was 25Orpm.
In 6 hours, Dingiberballs (shown in Table 2) were obtained.

Next, after air-drying the fiber balls of Example j1, Comparative Example 1.2, and Comparative Example 4,
After filling a formwork made with a punched board with a diameter of 0 m and good permeability of hot air and applying a load of 50 b-, the amount of filling was adjusted so that the height would be 50 m, and then heat treated at 220°C for 5 minutes. After that, the bulk density, compression residual strain rate, repeated compression residual strain mud, and wearing feeling were evaluated, and the results were as shown in Table 3.

Table 3 Table 4 *The feeling of wearing is the feeling when you sit down with 4C30 Type 1 A soft urethane foam on top of the above sample.
- Good, X...Evaluated as poor.

Actual examples 2 and 3. Comparative Examples 5 and 6 Comparison of the blend of binder 10 and biological fiber (A) used in Example 1. Comparisons were made with changes as shown in Table 4. 1 Fiber balls were made in the same manner as in Example 1 and the diameter and yield were the same as in Actual Example 1. This fiber ball was heat treated in the same manner as in Example 1 and evaluated for the same items. The results are shown in Table 4.

Comparative Example 7 4 biological fibers used in Example 1 as biological fibers (1 piece with crimp applied (number of condensations) O/25M, winding rate 21 mm)
Blend of 80wt chi and vinyl binder fibers.

In practice, I tried to make it into a fiber ball in the same way as in 1.

Because the four living fibers are crimped, the fibers do not open and do not form into a fiber ball.

Comparative Example 8 Hollow composite rut navy blue 13dX51 manufactured by Unitika as biological 9L fiber
sw 80wt% and unitary melty as binder fiber (viscosity temperature 200℃>12dX51 fin 20V
After blending and carding t% into a web using a conventional method,
50. ! After laminating the layers so that the thickness becomes 50 when a load of 7/d is applied, heat treatment is performed at 220°C for 5 minutes, and the samples are cut into predetermined dimensions. Ta. When evaluated in the same manner as in the examples, the bulk density was 25'y/m's, the compressive residual strain rate was 26 cm, and the repeated compressive residual strain rate was 18 qb, indicating that the compressive elastic performance was poor.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, the present invention produces a three-dimensional fiber ball by blending non-crimped synthetic short fibers having a specific fineness and fiber length with non-crimping binder fibers in a specific ratio. By heat-treating the resulting material, the main fibers and the binder fibers firmly adhere to each other, making it a filling material with excellent elastic recovery suitable for furniture, beds, etc. Moreover, since it is fibrous, it is free from fluorocarbons, etc. It does not require any blowing agents, and since the polymer does not contain nitrogen or sulfur, it has the advantage that no harmful gas is generated even if it is burned.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is an overview of the fiber ball of the present invention.
(a) shows a true spherical shape, (b) shows a flat spherical shape, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the fiber ball, and FIG. 3 shows the fiber ball manufacturing apparatus. In the figure, 1 is the main fiber, 2 is the binder fiber, 3 is the water tank,
4 is a stirring blade, 5 is a baffle plate, and 6 is a motor.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Synthetic short fibers (A) with a fineness of 3 to 30 deniers and a length of 10 to 70 mm that have virtually no crimp, and a fineness of 3 to 3
0 denier, has a length of 10 to 70 mm, has substantially no crimp, is compatible with the synthetic short fiber (A), and has a sticking temperature that is 20° C. or more lower than the melting point of the synthetic short fiber (A). The binder fiber (B) has a weight ratio of 90 to 50%/10
Fiber balls for filling having an average diameter of 5 to 50 mm blended at a ratio of ~50%. (2) The fiber ball for stuffing according to claim 1, wherein the synthetic short fibers (A) are polyester mainly containing ethylene terephthalate repeating units, and the binder (B) is a low melting point polyester.