JPH07135846A - Fiber-entangling structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a fiber entanglement structure useful as a nursery for plant breeding, which has a specific structure resistant to deformation by external force, well-balanced retention of moisture and oxygen and high shape stability during the moisture retention. CONSTITUTION:The objective fiber entanglement structure is composed of (A) hydrophilic short-cut fibers 2 such as acrylic fibers made hydrophilic by treatment and (B) short-cut thick fibers 1 of hydrophobic polyester of 6 or higher denier where they are mutually bonded so as to adjust the volume ratio of the air phase to the fiber solid phase to 10 to 50 in the structure.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fiber entangled structure capable of supplying water and oxygen in a well-balanced manner, and more particularly to a structure effective for a nursery used for growing plants.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a block fiber of rock fiber or perlite has been used as a medium for cultivating plants, but these are limited in the types of plants and impair the health of workers. Has the drawbacks of
A medium made of synthetic fibers has been developed. For example, in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 62-44889, a non-woven fabric is formed from heat-adhesive composite fibers and superabsorbent fibers, which is slit-cut artificially. Water moss has been proposed, and also JP-A-6
2-115217 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-17932.
In Japanese Patent No. 5 publication, a block body made of synthetic short fibers is proposed.

[0003] However, since these structures are not well-balanced in shape retention and water retention, there are problems such as causing root rot phenomenon due to excessive water content and lack of oxygen, and the structure of plants. There was a drawback that it was difficult to design a suitable medium depending on the type.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned prior art, the present invention has good shape stability at the time of retaining water and has a good balance of holding water and oxygen, although it is difficult to be deformed by an external force. Often, it is intended to provide a fiber entangled structure capable of sufficiently supplying water and air necessary for growing a plant.

[0005]

The present invention adopts the following means in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. That is, the fiber entangled structure of the present invention is a structure in which short fibers of hydrophilic fibers and short fibers of hydrophobic fibers having a thickness of 6 denier or more are joined by an adhesive component, and The gas phase rate is 10 to 50 times the solid phase rate.

[0006]

According to the present invention, in view of the drawbacks of the conventional doubling, the doubling which enables a balanced supply of water and oxygen which does not cause root rot, was intensively studied, and a short denier short fiber was joined. It has been clarified that the above object can be achieved brilliantly by appropriately disposing hydrophilic fibers in the entangled structure.

The hydrophobic fiber is preferably thick denier and hydrophobic for the purpose of retaining the morphology of the structure. It is difficult to keep the shape with fine denier. The thickness is preferably 6 denier or more and 30 denier or less, more preferably 10 denier or more and 25 denier or less. For example, polyester fiber, carbon fiber, glass fiber and the like are typical, but polyester fiber is particularly preferable.
Polyester can be easily designed and manufactured in terms of thickness and length, and is easy to handle.

As the hydrophilic fibers, those obtained by modifying nylon and hydrophobic fibers, or those obtained by applying a hydrophilic resin or the like to the fiber surface can be used.

Hydrophilic fibers which are finer than hydrophobic fibers and have a denier of 1 to 5 and which are obtained by surface-treating polyacrylonitrile fibers are preferred. If it is less than 1 denier,
The workability becomes poor, and if it is 5 denier or more, the water retention becomes unfavorable. The surface area of the polyacrylonitrile fiber can be easily increased, and it is preferable to impart a hydrophilic copolymer to the surface of the fiber. The hydrophilic copolymer is a copolymer of 50 to 90% by weight of a monomer represented by the following formula and 10 to 50% by weight of acrylonitrile.

[0010]

[Chemical 1] (In the formula, R is H or CH ₃ , X is OH, a C ₁₈ or less alkoxy group, a halogen, a C ₁₈ or less sulfide group, an amino group, a phenoxy group, a naphthoxy group or a derivative thereof. 0 ≦ m <n, n> 20) As a method for imparting the copolymer to the polyacrylonitrile fiber, the fiber is immersed in the copolymer solution or the dispersion liquid of the copolymer, or the solution or dispersion liquid is sprayed. By this, hydrophilic fibers can be obtained.

The adhesive component is a structure in which hydrophobic fibers are adhered and integrated into a sheet or block to form a structure. A polymer that melts at a lower melting point than other fibers is preferable because it is fused with other fibers by heat.
It may be 0% or may be a composite fiber with another fiber.
The above-mentioned three types of fibers are preferably short fibers that can be passed through a card machine, and it becomes easy to uniformly mix the three types of fibers. Preferably, a conjugate fiber containing a polyester low melting point component is preferable. As the structure of the composite fiber, a bimetal type and a core-sheath type can be used, but the core-sheath type is particularly preferable, and the core component is preferably polyester. By being a composite fiber and having a large melting point difference between the core component and the sheath component, the shrinkage of the fiber at the time of heat fusion can be reduced, and the solid fraction of the structure can be easily adjusted. be able to.

The gas entangled structure preferably has a gas phase ratio of 10 to 50 times, more preferably 20 to 40 times the solid phase ratio. The vapor fraction is the volume of the gas portion of the structure and the solid fraction is the volume occupied by the fibers. When the gas phase ratio is 10 times or less than the solid phase ratio, oxygen supply becomes insufficient, root rot occurs, and the growth of plants deteriorates. Also,
When it is 50 times or more, the water retention property is lowered, the water shortage and the drying speed are increased, and it becomes unsuitable as a plant soil (seed bed).

The entangled structure of the present invention can be produced, for example, by mixing and mixing three kinds of short fibers, which are a hydrophobic fiber, a hydrophilic fiber and a low melting point fiber which is an adhesive component. The mixing ratio at this time can be adjusted within the range of 10 to 80% by weight. Outside this range, for example, if the amount is less than 10% by weight, the role (purpose) of each fiber component cannot be achieved, and if one type of fiber exceeds 80% by weight, the other two types are not used. Since the content of any one of the fibers is less than 10% by weight, the above-mentioned problems occur, which is not preferable. More preferably, the hydrophobic fiber is 20 to 60% by weight, the hydrophilic fiber is 20 to 50% by weight, and the adhesive component (adhesive fiber) is 20 to 50% by weight.
When the above core-sheath type composite fiber is used as the low melting point fiber, only the weight% of the sheath component is calculated as the adhesive component.

Further, the present invention is preferably a fiber entangled structure having a four-sided cube, a five-sided cube or a six-sided cube. The structure having such a shape may be manufactured by cutting a thick sheet-like material, or may be manufactured by putting mixed fiber filaments in a mold having the shape and heating.

Further, the present invention is not limited to such a cube, and a sheet-like shape having a thickness of 5 mm or more and 30 mm or less is also a preferred embodiment. A sheet having a thickness of 5 mm or less is too weak to be easily cut, and a sheet having a thickness of 30 mm or more is too bulky, difficult to be wound long, and difficult to convey and store.

Further, the fiber entangled structure of the present invention has a structure having a waterproof wall on at least one surface thereof, whereby the retained water can be adjusted conveniently. The water retaining function can be appropriately adjusted by providing a water draining hole in the waterproof wall. The waterproof wall may be made of any material, but synthetic resins, rubbers, woods, inorganic materials, metals, etc. are preferably used. As the shape of the waterproof wall, any shape such as a film, a sheet, a plate, and a molded product may be used according to the application. The waterproof wall may be fixed to the fiber entangled structure, that is, whether the waterproof wall is fixed to the structure with an adhesive or a fastener, for example, by using a container of the waterproof wall. May be fixed in a form filled with.

The fiber entangled structure of the present invention can be used for growing plants and ornamental plants. In that case, the hydrophobic fibers fulfill the role of supporting plants and supplying oxygen, and the hydrophilic fibers fulfill the role of supplying and dispersing water or liquid fertilizer,
It can be a nursery material that is extremely suitable for the ecology of plants.

Next, description will be made with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a fiber entangled structure having a four-sided cube shape, and FIG. 2 is an example of a five-sided cube shape. FIG. 3 shows the fiber entangled structure of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of a core-sheath type composite fiber in which a low melting point polymer is arranged in a sheath portion which is an adhesive component constituting the fiber.

[0020]

【Example】

Example 1 As a hydrophobic fiber, 50% by weight of a polyester fiber having a thickness of 18 denier and a length of 64 mm was used, and as a hydrophilic fiber, the surface of a polyacrylonitrile fiber having a thickness of 2 denier and a length of 51 mm was surface-treated. 20% by weight of the hydrophilic fiber obtained as described above, and as an adhesive component (adhesive fiber), a polyester core-sheath composite fiber having a thickness of 4 denier and a length of 51 mm (core material: polyester, sheath material: low melting point polyester) ) Is mixed with 30% by weight, and the web is passed through a card machine, and the web is a suction type hot air treatment machine at a temperature of 140 ° C. A mat-like material having a thickness of 40 mm was manufactured by compressing so as to be 55 times. Subsequently, it was cut into a regular 6-sided cubic body of 40 mm square to obtain a block body.

The block had a good shape retention up to a gas phase ratio of 40 times the solid phase ratio, but the block body of 55 times had a shape collapse when water was added. .

Subsequently, the block body was placed in red ink stretched to a thickness of about 1 mm overnight, and the ink absorption property was checked. Up to 30 times, it was dyed pink evenly up to the top of 40mm, but for 40 times, a little white area remained, and for 55 times, most were dyed white and red. There was a slight amount of single fibers.

Using the block, seeds of tomato were sowed and the growth was observed. As a result, except that the vapor phase ratios were 9.5 times and 55 times the solid phase ratio, the roots of the block body had no problem at all. I went inside. I also tried the dracaena and peperonia palm trees. 9.5 times the rooting is bad, and 5
Five times more did not grow due to lack of water. Example 2 The same hydrophobic fiber and hydrophilic fiber as those used in Example 1 and an adhesive component (adhesive fiber) were used, and the respective fiber mixture ratios were 20% by weight, 40% by weight and 40% by weight,
Under the same method and conditions, the gas phase ratio is 9.5 times the solid phase ratio, 20
Double, 30 times, 40 times, 55 times, thickness 1
A 0 mm sheet was produced.

Next, a film made of polyester (thickness 100 μm) was perforated at intervals of 100 mm. A sheet having a thickness of 10 mm prepared above was overlaid on the film, seeds of perennial ryegrass were sown, and germination and growth were observed. When the gas phase ratio was 9.5 times the solid phase ratio, germination occurred, but the growth was poor and algae were generated. Further, the one having a vapor phase ratio of 55 times had poor water retention and was not suitable for growth. Those with other ratios grew well, and were suitable as a medium for natural grass.

[0025]

Industrial Applicability The fiber entangled structure of the present invention is not easily deformed by an external force, sufficiently provides air necessary for plant growth, and has a property of sucking a small amount of water high. Therefore, it is a suitable planting material for cultivating, raising, and admiring vegetables, foliage, flowering trees, orchids, turf, and the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

 The drawing is a typical shape diagram of a fiber entangled structure.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a four-sided cube of the fiber entangled structure of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a five-sided cube of the fiber entangled structure of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of a core-sheath type composite fiber in which a low melting point polymer is arranged in a sheath portion which is an adhesive component constituting the fiber entangled structure of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Hydrophobic fiber 2: Hydrophilic fiber 3: Sheath component (adhesive component; low melting point polymer) 4: Core component (polyester)

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A structure comprising short fibers of hydrophilic fibers and short fibers of hydrophobic fibers having a thickness of 6 denier or more joined by an adhesive component, and the vapor phase ratio of the structures is the solid phase ratio. Of 10
A fiber entangled structure characterized by being ˜50 times. 2. The fiber entangled structure according to claim 1, wherein the hydrophobic fiber is a polyester fiber. 3. The fiber entangled structure according to claim 1, wherein the hydrophilic fiber is thinner than the hydrophobic fiber and has 1 to 5 denier. 4. The fiber entangled structure according to claim 1, wherein the hydrophilic fibers are hydrophilized polyacrylonitrile fibers. 5. The fiber entangled structure according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive component is a polymer having a melting point lower than that of the hydrophilic fiber and the hydrophobic fiber. 6. The fiber entangled structure according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive component is a core-sheath type composite fiber in which a low melting point polymer is arranged in a sheath component. 7. The fiber entangled structure according to claim 6, wherein the core component is polyester and the sheath component is a polyester low melting point polymer. 8. The mixing ratio of hydrophilic fibers and hydrophobic fibers is
The fiber entangled structure according to claim 1, which is 10 to 80% by weight. 9. The fiber entangled structure according to claim 1, wherein the fiber entangled structure has a waterproof wall on at least one surface thereof. 10. The fiber entangled structure according to claim 11, wherein the waterproof wall has a hole for draining water. 11. The fiber entangled structure is used as a nursery bed for growing plants or ornamental plants.
The fiber entangled structure described.