JPH0339012A - Spherical sphagnum and preparation thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prepare an artificial spherical sphagnum having excellent air permeability, excellent water retainability and good workability by shaping slivers into spherical forms and subjecting the spherical slivers to a heat treatment, the slivers being prepared from low melting point thermally adhesive synthetic fibers and porous synthetic fibers or thermally non-adhesive synthetic fibers. CONSTITUTION:10-40wt.% of (A) thermally adhesive synthetic fibers having a low melting point and 90-60wt.% of (B) porous synthetic fibers and/or (C) thermally non-adhesive synthetic fibers are opened and blended with each other, followed by passing the blended fibers through a carding machine to prepare slivers. The slivers are separated in a bulk state and shaped into a spherical state. The spherical fibers are subjected to heat treatment to adhere to each other to provide the objective artificial spherical sphagnum having an average density of 0.005-0.15g/cm<2> and an average diameter of 5-50mm. The thermally adhesive synthetic fibers having a low melting point may be those having a melting point lower than that of the thermally non-adhesive synthetic fibers, but preferably is those having a melting point at least 20 deg.C lower than that of the thermally non-adhesive synthetic fibers.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a spherical sphagnum moss for growing potted plants and a method for producing the same.

[Prior art]

Traditionally, natural sphagnum moss has often been used to grow potted plants, such as potted plants and ornamental plants, but in recent years, increased demand and resource depletion have led to a shortage of supply and soaring prices. ．． For this reason, various proposals have been made regarding artificial sphagnum moss to replace natural sphagnum moss. For example, a film with a porous or water-absorbing polymer layer is shredded by sliss (Tokuko Kokō 5).
Publication No. 3-27174. (Japanese Patent Publication No. 6.2-21485, etc.), and non-woven fabrics made by heat-sealing water-absorbing fibers and then shredded with slits (Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-44889) are known, but they are not very breathable. However, there are problems in that it has poor water retention, and since it is a planar material, root growth is hindered, making it difficult to divide the plants when repotting, which is essential for potted cultivation. In addition, fiber aggregates containing neoblasts (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-1102
No. 14 Publication No. 1111), and the aggregate was stemmeted and shredded into pieces (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 110215/1988 fg).
, Contains NEP-like substances! Composed of li fibers, plasti, strips of resin, and flaky foam (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6125421
, ``Publication), tube-like materials, flake-like foams, and string-like materials (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6379529) are known, but although they have good breathability and water retention, they are There are problems in that it is difficult to divide the stocks when replacing them or the workability is poor.

-・Square moss (Utility Model Application Publication No. 129339/1983)
has been proposed, but it is used supplementarily on the soil for bonsai, and its use is different from the present invention, which is used as the main body of the culture medium.

C. Problems to be Solved by the Present Invention] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a material that has excellent breathability and water retention, which cannot be obtained with conventional artificial sphagnum moss, and which is easy to divide when replanting, and which is suitable for people with good workability [water moss]. The goal is to provide moss. Another object of the present invention is to provide an industrially advantageous method for producing the artificial sphagnum moss.

[One step and action for solving the problem] That is, the present invention provides a thermally adhesive composite having a low melting point and fibers (A) 10 to 10.
Consisting of 40% by weight and 90 to 60% by weight of porous synthetic fiber (B) and/or non-thermoadhesive synthetic fiber (C), average density 0.005 to 0.15 g/cm, "p average diameter" 5-50
It is a spherical sphagnum moss with a water retention capacity of $5-30 times its weight. In addition, Kinoe Akikata leaves the heat-adhesive synthetic fiber (A) 10-b adhesive synthetic fiber with a low melting point! ? After opening and blending the sliver with 90 to 60% by weight of 1(C), the sliver is passed through a carding machine to create a 1' sliver bar, and the sliver is separated into chunks and spouted, giving it a spherical shape, and then heat-treated. to improve the adhesion and reduce the average density to 0.0.
05 to 0.15 g/cm' and an average diameter of 5 to 50 mm.

The non-thermoadhesive synthetic fibers in the present invention are not particularly limited, but include, for example, polyester, mature plastic composite fibers such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and composite fibers thereof. Examples of polyester fibers include ordinary polyethylene terephthalate, polyhexamethylene ethylene terephthalate, polytetrame f-lene terephthalate, Bo1, 4 dimethylcyclohexane terephthalate, polyhiba 1 colactone, or composite fibers made by spinning copolymerized esters or conjugates thereof. can be mentioned. The cross-sectional shape of the polyester fiber may be circular, irregularly shaped, or hollow, and the fineness is 1 to 100 deniers.
The fiber length may be 30 to 150 mm, and the number of crimps may be 5 to 20 strands/inch.

The thermoadhesive synthetic fiber with a low melting point is not particularly limited as long as it has a lower melting point than the non-thermally adhesive synthetic fiber (for composite fibers, it has a component with a low melting point), Preferably, one having a melting point lower than 20°C, for example, when the non-adhesive synthetic fiber is polyester, a copolymerized polyester (fatty acid dicarboxylic acids such as adipic acid and sepacic acid, aromatic substances such as phthalic acid, isophthalic acid, and naphthalene dicarboxylic acid) A predetermined number of group dicarboxylic acids and/or ll1i ring group dicarboxylic acids such as hexahydroterephthalic acid and hexahydroisophthalic acid, and aliphatic and alicyclic diols such as diethylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, propylene glycol, and baraxylylene glycol. It is a copolymerized ester in which isophthalic acid and 1,6-hexanediol are copolymerized with terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol. In the case of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyurethane, examples include copolymerized polyester/polyester composite fibers, polyethylene, copolymerized polyethylene/polypropylene composite fibers, copolymerized polyethylene/polypropylene composite fibers, etc. The fineness is 1 to 30 denier, the fiber length is 30 to 150 mm, and the number of crimp is 5 to 20 i.
/inch is fine.

The porous synthetic fiber is not particularly limited as long as it exhibits water absorption, but it preferably exhibits a water absorption rate of 20 to 100% by weight, more preferably 30 to 70% by weight.1 For example, porous acrylic fibers and Examples include porous acrylic/acrylic composite fibers. The fineness is 1 to 30 denier, the fiber length is 30 to 150 mm, and the number is 5 to 20 pieces/inch.

In the present invention, heat-adhesive synthetic fibers having a low melting point (hereinafter abbreviated as A fibers) are used. ) and porous synthetic fibers (hereinafter referred to as B fibers) and/or non-thermal adhesive synthetic fibers (hereinafter referred to as C fibers).
Abbreviated as fiber. ) The mixing ratio with A/ (B and/or C) = 10-40% by weight/90-60% by weight, preferably 15-30% by weight, total 30% by weight 701iJ! %.

If the proportion of the fibers is less than 10% by weight, it becomes difficult to maintain the spherical shape, resulting in compaction and poor air permeability. On the other hand, if it exceeds 40%, it will become hard, the space will become large, and the water retention will deteriorate. The proportion of B fibers is 60 to 9 B and/or C.
There is no particular limitation as long as it is 0% by weight, but from the viewpoint of water retention and spherical shape retention, it is preferably 30 to 60% by weight, preferably 0% by weight.
．． 0.010~0.08 g/cm'', 0.
If it is less than 0.05g/cm', it will be difficult to maintain the spherical shape.
If it exceeds 5 g/crn, it becomes hard.The average here is 100 mm or 10 to 30 mm along with the diameter below.
It is. If it is less than 5 mm, air permeability will be poor, and if it exceeds 50 mm, water retention will be poor.

Next, the method of the present invention will be explained. A fiber, B fiber and/or Cwi fiber are spread and blended at a predetermined mixing ratio and then fed to a carding machine to create a sliver.Next, the sliver is cut with a canota roller or compressed. A predetermined amount of fiber lumps are torn off by the negative pressure suction generated by the air jet, and introduced between both friction surfaces of an FF11 surface mechanism consisting of a rotary plate and a conhair belt to form the fiber lumps. Round up. Further, heat treatment is performed to perform adhesion. The heat treatment may be either dry heat or warm heat, but a belt conveyor type tunnel type heat treatment machine or a rotating drum type heat treatment machine equipped with a far infrared heater is preferable. ~180℃.

It is preferable to process for 0.1 to 30 minutes.

The water retention property (indicated by water retention rate) of the spherical sphagnum moss thus obtained is preferably 5 to 30 times the weight of the sphagnum moss, preferably lO to 200 to 2
0 weight, the water retention rate here is diameter 20 (1 mrn,
Pour 3 I of tap water onto a standard sieve with an opening of 2 mm and fill it with spherical sphagnum moss (heavy ixag) without pressing.
From the superimposed X+ g measured after standing for a minute, it is given by (x+ -xa)/X@. If the water retention rate is less than 5 times the mother weight, the frequency of irrigation becomes too high, while if it exceeds 30 times the weight, the air permeability becomes too low, which is not preferable.

(Example) The present invention and the method of the present invention will be specifically explained in the following Examples.It should be noted that unless otherwise specified, "%J" and "part" are r
j1t%J and "parts by weight".

Moreover, the water absorption rate was measured according to DIN-53814.

Example 1 Am! i as polyethylene terecrate/copolymerized polyester (terephcuric acid/isophthalic acid = 60/40
．． Melting point: 110°C) (7) Core-sheath composite fiber (fineness: 3 denier, fiber length: 51 mm) B fiber: porous acrylic fiber (acrylic polymer/cellulose acetate - 92/8.
Water absorption rate 62%, fineness 3 denier, fiber length 51 mm), C
Parallel composite fibers of polyethylene terephthalate/hollow polyethylene terephthalate (fineness 12 denyl, fiber length 51 mm) were used as the fibers.

The above three types of fibers are fed to a spreader at a ratio of A/B/C = 20/40/40, opened and mixed, then a carding machine creates a web, which is divided and converged to make a web with a weight of approx. 4 g/m sliver.

Next, the sliver is rolled to a length of about 3 with a canter roller.
It was cut into 5 cm pieces and introduced between the two friction surfaces of a friction surface mechanism consisting of a rotary plate made of a wooden board and a friction surface mechanism made of a canvas material. Plate rotation speed
Rounded at 104 times/min.

Furthermore, this spherical cotton was crawled on a rotating tram with small irregularities on the inner wall of a cylinder with a diameter of 40 cm, a length of 150 cm, and an angle of 25°, which was equipped with a far-infrared heater inside.
The adhesive was sealed by heat treatment at 150° C. for 15 seconds while rolling.

The obtained spherical sphagnum moss has an average density of 0.029 g/cm
3. The average diameter was 20 mm, and the water retention rate was 19i[times]. Cultivation tests using the spherical sphagnum moss were carried out for three years, and the plants showed good survival and were easily divided when replanting.

Example 2 13 fibers were multi-TL acrylic/acrylic parallel composite fibers (90% acrylic polymer and 10 cellulose acetate/acrylic polymer -1/1. Water absorption 57%, fineness 3 denier, fiber length 51 mrn) Example 1 except that > is used.
Spherical sphagnum moss was produced in the same manner.

The obtained spherical sphagnum moss had an average density of 0.031 g/cm', an average diameter of 20 mrn, and a water retention rate of 17 times the weight.

In addition, we conducted a cultivation test of Cymbidium for three years.
As in Example 1, the plants showed smooth growth and could be easily divided.

Example 3 The same fibers as in Example 1 were used as A fibers, B fibers, and C fibers, and the same treatments as in Example 1 were performed under the conditions shown in Table 1.

Next, the same non-visual layer Ia as in Example I was carried out.

At the same time, the fiber mass treated with the opening machine in Example 1 was used, and as a control example, non-viginium O Example 4 A fiber was a polyethylene/'polypropylene core-sheath type composite fiber (fineness 3 denier, fiber length 51 mm). B
The same fibers as in Example 1 were used, and the C fibers were polypropylene (fineness: 18 denier, fiber length: 51 mm). The process was carried out in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the track treatment strip A' was heated at 140°C for 15 seconds. The obtained spherical sphagnum moss had an average density of 0.025 g/cm3 and an average diameter of 21 m.
rn, and the water retention rate was 17 times by weight.

A cultivation test with Dendrobium was carried out using the spherical sphagnum moss, and as in Example 1, it was the eldest.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Heat-adhesive synthetic fiber with low melting point (A) 10-4
0% by weight and 90-60% by weight of porous synthetic fiber (B) and/or non-thermal adhesive synthetic fiber (C), average density 0.005-0.15g/cm^3, average diameter 5- 50
mm, spherical sphagnum moss with a water retention rate of 5 to 30 times the weight. (2) Heat-adhesive synthetic fiber with low melting point (A) 10-4
After opening and blending 0% by weight of porous synthetic fiber (B) and/or 90 to 60% by weight of non-thermoadhesive synthetic fiber (C), a sliver is created through a carding machine, and the sliver is made into a lump. This is separated into spherical shapes, then heat-treated and bonded to give an average density of 0.005 to 0.1.
A method for producing spherical sphagnum moss, characterized by forming it into a spherical shape with a weight of 5 g/cm^3 and an average diameter of 5 to 50 mm.