JPH0760075A - Hollow fiber membrane sheet like article - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a hollow fiber membrane module sheetlike article optimum to a hollow fiber membrane module for a medical use such as an oxygenator by using polyethylene hollow fiber membranes as weft yarn while using polyethylene multifilament yarn spun without applying an oil agent to be subjected to stretch twisting and having a specific number of twist as warp yarn and knitting both yarns without applying the oil agent. CONSTITUTION:In a hollow fiber membrane sheetlike article using polyethylene hollow fiber membranes 1 as weft yarn, polyethylene multifilament yarn spun without applying an oil agent to be subjected to draw-twisting and having a number of twist of 200 T/M or less are used as warp yarn to be knitted along with the weft yarn without applying the oil agent. The sheetlike article can be sterilized by gamma-rays in a post-process. Since no oil agent is applied, the formed sheetlike article can be easily and perfectly washed at the time of washing without leaving washing residue. Further, since a number of twist is limited to the necessary min., though no oil agent is applied at all, the mutual contact resistance of warp yarn is reduced and chain stitches formed by the warp yarn can be reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hollow fiber membrane sheet material for a hollow fiber membrane module, which is used for medical applications such as artificial lung.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in hollow fiber type fluid treatment modules such as artificial lungs, hollow fiber membranes are bundled and placed in a cylindrical container, and one end or both ends are adhesively fixed and cut with a resin to form a hollow fiber. Rather than a manufacturing method used for a water purifier or the like to make an opening, a method of manufacturing a module by forming a hollow fiber membrane into a sheet and winding it into a cylindrical shape or laminating it in a planar shape was used. .

This is because by using a hollow fiber membrane sheet in which hollow fiber membranes are arranged and fixed at fixed intervals, the bias of the hollow fibers in the hollow fiber module is eliminated and the retention and drift of blood are minimized. The purpose is to bring out the original performance of the hollow fiber membrane.

In addition to the above, there has been proposed a method of winding a hollow fiber membrane around a cylinder in a cross-coil shape, but it is too time-consuming as compared with the method of using a hollow fiber membrane sheet, resulting in a high cost and an industrial scale. Has not yet been produced.

A large number of modules and methods of manufacturing modules using hollow fiber membrane sheets have been proposed. However, in order to prevent damage or damage to each hollow fiber membrane, the hollow fiber membranes are formed into a sheet shape and the spacing between the hollow fiber membranes is set appropriately to apply to medical applications such as artificial lungs. A hollow fiber membrane sheet that can be produced and a rational method for obtaining the same have not been disclosed yet.

When the hollow fiber membrane module is used for medical applications such as artificial lungs, all the materials constituting the hollow fiber membrane sheet are problematic. Furthermore, this module is washed and sterilized in the manufacturing process. At this time, it can be easily and completely washed, all materials can withstand the sterilization process by γ-ray irradiation, and the required hollow fiber membrane spacing. It is necessary to be able to arbitrarily set (the film area per unit area of the sheet).

A hollow fiber membrane knitted fabric is proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-57915. It is difficult to fill the space between the hollow fiber membranes with this knitted fabric to a certain distance or more because of the restriction of strength and rigidity of the hollow fiber membrane. Therefore, it is difficult to apply this knitted fabric to medical applications such as artificial lung where the density of the hollow fiber membrane is required to be higher than a certain level.

The sheet used in the hollow fiber membrane type artificial lung disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-43749, in which hollow fiber membranes are arranged and bonded with a resin, not only causes a loss of the membrane area at the bonded portion but also a hollow portion. It was difficult in manufacturing to set a constant interval between the thread films, and industrial production was not possible.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a hollow fiber membrane sheet-like product which does not have the above-mentioned problems and is most suitable for a hollow fiber membrane module for medical use such as artificial lung. It is a thing.

[0010]

Means for Solving the Problems The gist of the present invention is a sheet-like product using a polyethylene hollow fiber membrane as a weft,
200T spinning and drawing without adding oil to warp
A hollow fiber membrane sheet-like article characterized by being knitted using a polyethylene multifilament yarn having a twist of / M or less without applying an oil agent.

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the hollow fiber membrane sheet material of the present invention. 1 (a), (b),
(C) is the surface of the hollow fiber membrane sheet material of the present invention,
The back side and the cross section are shown.

Reference numeral 1 is a hollow fiber membrane, and 2 is a warp.

The hollow fiber membrane used in the present invention is a polyethylene hollow fiber membrane capable of γ-ray sterilization. The pore diameter, porosity, film thickness, outer diameter, etc. of the hollow fiber membrane are not particularly limited, but are appropriately selected depending on the substance to be filtered.

As the warp of the present invention, a polyethylene multifilament yarn made of the same material as the hollow fiber membrane is used.
In order to easily and completely clean the module after forming it, a product manufactured without applying an oil agent throughout the spinning and twisting processes is used. Since all the modules forming the module are polyethylene, γ-ray sterilization after cleaning is possible.

The thickness of the warp is preferably thin in order to increase the membrane area per unit area of the hollow fiber membrane sheet (the number of hollow fiber membranes to be driven in), but the warp is spun, spread and knitted. When standing up, it is constrained by its strength. A total denier of 16 to 36d and a filament number of 5 to 12f are preferable.

The warp yarns are produced without applying an oil agent throughout the spinning and twisting processes, and are knitted without adding an oil agent even when knitting to form a hollow fiber membrane sheet. I do. Therefore, in order to reduce the resistance at the knitting needle portion during knitting, it is necessary to reduce the number of twists to 200 T / M or less.

When the number of twists is large, the contact resistance between the warp yarns is increased, and when the number of the hollow fiber membranes to be driven is increased by decreasing the stitches, the tension of the warp yarns is increased and stable knitting is achieved. become unable. as a result,
The stitches become large, the number of hollow fiber membranes is reduced,
The membrane area per unit area of the hollow fiber membrane sheet is reduced.

If the number of twists of the warp yarn is reduced, the contact resistance tends to decrease, but the convergence of the multifilament deteriorates, and on the contrary, stable knitting cannot be performed. From such examination results, the optimum twist number of the warp is 200 T / M or less, preferably about 70 to 100 T / M.

By using the warp yarn having the twist number as described above, it is possible to reduce the contact resistance without adding an oil agent, and it is possible to stably increase the number of hollow fiber membranes to be driven.

FIG. 1 shows that the weft of the polyethylene hollow fiber membrane 1 and the warp of polyethylene 30d / 10f are twisted 10 times.
1 shows an example of a hollow fiber membrane sheet material knitted with 0T / M. The hollow fiber membrane 1 is knitted and fixed at a constant pitch by chain-knitting warp yarns 2. Further, as shown in FIG. 1 (c), the hollow fiber membrane 1 is knitted and fixed without being crushed by chain knitting of the warp threads 2 or deforming the cross section.

In order to industrially produce a hollow fiber membrane sheet material as shown in FIG. 1, a commercially available Raschel type weft inserting machine may be used. Here, it is necessary to supply the hollow fiber membrane, which is a weft, so as not to give damage such as scratches and breaks. For this purpose, the weft tension may be reduced by using the weft supply guide for a Raschel knitting machine proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 4-62710 to suppress the fluctuation.

[0023]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to examples.

Example 1 Polyethylene hollow fiber membrane (outer diameter 380 μm, inner diameter 280)
μm, film thickness 50 μm; Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd., EHF28
0E) as weft, polyethylene multifilament 3
0d / 10f is spun, spread and twisted without oil to give 100T /
The twisted yarn of M was used as a warp and knitted with a commercially available Raschel type weft inserting machine at a width of 90 in (warp pitch: 9.52 mm) at 350 rpm to obtain a hollow fiber membrane sheet. In this hollow fiber membrane sheet, the number of shots was 48 / in, the hollow fiber membrane was not crushed by the warp, and knitting was stable.

Example 2 Polyethylene hollow fiber membrane (outer diameter 380 μm, inner diameter 280)
μm, film thickness 50 μm; Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd., EHF28
0E) as weft, polyethylene multifilament 2
Spinning and twisting 4d / 8f without oil, 100T / M
Using a commercially available Raschel-type weft insertion machine, make a twisted yarn into a warp yarn, and use a 90-in width (warp yarn pitch: 9.52 mm) for 4
The hollow fiber membrane sheet was obtained by knitting at 00 rpm. This hollow fiber membrane sheet had a driving number of 50 fibers / in, the hollow fiber membrane was not crushed by the warp, and knitting was stable.

[0026]

The hollow fiber membrane sheet material of the present invention comprises a weft yarn,
Since polyethylene is used as the material for both warp threads, γ-ray sterilization can be performed in a later step. Moreover, since the warp yarn is spun, drawn and knitted without adding any oil agent, when washing the finished hollow fiber membrane sheet,
It can be easily and completely washed without leaving any residue. Further, since the number of twists is set to the necessary minimum, the contact resistance between the warp yarns is small and the chain stitches formed by the warp yarns can be made small, even though no oil agent is added, and It is possible to increase the tension and increase the number of hollow fibers driven without crushing the hollow fiber membrane.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 (a) to 1 (c) are schematic views schematically showing an example of a hollow fiber membrane sheet material according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 hollow fiber membrane 2 warp

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A multifilament yarn made of polyethylene, which is a sheet-shaped product using a polyethylene hollow fiber membrane as a weft yarn, which is spun, warped and twisted without adding an oil agent to a warp and has a twist of 200 T / M or less. A hollow fiber membrane sheet-like article, characterized by being knitted by using the above-mentioned.