JPH09170169A - Processing of fabric containing animal fiber and cellulose fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a fabric having good surface feeling by carrying out low temperature plasma treatment of a fabric containing an animal fiber and a cellulose fiber, carrying out physical and chemical impact treatment and fibrillating the cellulose fiber while suppressing felting of the animal fiber. SOLUTION: A bleached plain fabric comprising a blended yarn of an animal fiber such as wool with a cellulose fiber such as a polynosic fiber is subjected to low-temperature plasma treatment under oxygen gas atmosphere to afford a sewn product such as casual pants. The sewn product is charged into rotary washer and subjected to physical impact processing. Thereby, the polynosic fiber is fibrillated without felting the wool.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method for processing a fabric containing animal hair fibers and cellulose fibers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a processing method has been established in which a new type of cellulosic fiber constituting a cloth is fibrillated to give the cloth a raised surface feeling. In this processing method, cellulose fibers are fibrillated by applying chemical and physical impact to the cellulose fiber fabric, and further, cellulose fibers are split into fibers in the axial direction to obtain a raised surface. The method is taken. It has also been found that a physical impact in a wet state is an effective means for fibrillating cellulosic fibers.

However, when the cloth contains animal hair fibers in addition to the cellulose fibers, fibrils peculiar to animal hair fibers are produced through these steps, and the fibers contract to form felt. It becomes almost impossible to control the fibrillation of the cellulosic fiber part.

Regarding a fabric containing animal hair fibers and cellulose fibers, in order to fibrillate the cellulose fibers while suppressing the shrinkage of the animal hair fibers, one method is to subject the animal hair fibers to a shrinkage-preventing treatment in advance. Is considered to be. As a method of preventing shrinkage of animal hair fibers, a method of modifying animal hair fibers with a chlorine-based agent such as cyanuric chloride in the state of a top or a piece of cloth has been conventionally used. Although this method is effective as a shrinkage prevention processing method, there are problems such as toxicity of chemicals used and environmental pollution of waste water, and the number of countries prohibiting the use of these chlorine-based chemicals is increasing, It is clear that industrial operations will be difficult in the future.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and does not cause the above-mentioned problems in a fabric containing animal hair fibers and cellulose fibers,
An object of the present invention is to obtain a processing method capable of suppressing the formation of felt in the animal hair fiber portion and fibrillating cellulose fibers containing animal hair fibers.

[0006]

The present invention attains the above object and has the following constitution. That is, the present invention is characterized in that a cloth containing animal hair fibers and cellulose fibers is subjected to low-temperature plasma treatment, and then the cloth is subjected to a physical or chemical impact to fibrillate the cellulose fibers. The gist is a method of processing a cloth containing cellulose fiber.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention is described in detail below.
In the present invention, first, a cloth containing animal hair fibers and cellulose fibers is used as the cloth to be processed. The animal hair fiber as used herein means a natural keratinous fiber obtained from sheep, goats, camels, rabbits and the like. Examples of the cellulose fibers used in the present invention include natural cellulose fibers such as cotton and hemp, regenerated cellulose fibers such as viscose rayon, polynosic and cupra, and purified cellulose fibers such as solvent-spun cellulose fibers.

The cloth containing animal hair fibers and cellulose fibers includes woven fabrics and knitted fabrics or knitted fabrics or animal hair fiber yarns and cellulose fiber yarns composed of a combination of animal hair fibers and cellulose fibers. Examples include mixed woven fabrics and knitted knitted fabrics.

In the present invention, first, the above-mentioned cloth is subjected to a low temperature plasma treatment. In order to perform the low temperature plasma treatment, a known device, for example, “Journal of the Textile Machinery Society” 38th
The following apparatus, described on page 188 of Vol. 4, No. 4 (1985) can be used. This device has a pair of electrodes for discharge in a vacuum container that can maintain a low pressure.
It is a device that has a structure and performance that can introduce a specific gas at a predetermined flow rate and can evacuate the inside of the container with an attached vacuum pump to maintain a constant pressure. Glow discharge is generated by applying a voltage to the electrodes in this device, and the introduced gas becomes a low-temperature plasma state. Most commonly, 13.56
High frequency power of MHz is applied. The low temperature plasma treatment can be performed by passing the cloth to be treated at a desired speed in the low temperature plasma atmosphere formed between the electrodes.

Specifically, first, the cloth to be treated is housed in a vacuum container, exhausted and decompressed by a vacuum pump, and the internal pressure is adjusted to 0.01 to 10 Torr. Next, a predetermined gas is introduced to adjust the pressure to 0.1 to 5 Torr. As the gas used at this time, various gases such as oxygen, nitrogen, argon, helium, ammonia and air can be used. Usually, oxygen, air, and argon are preferred. When a high-frequency power is applied to the electrodes in the container in a state where a predetermined gas is introduced and adjusted to 0.1 to 5 Torr, the introduced gas becomes a low-temperature plasma state. The appropriate high frequency power is about 0.1 to 5 W / cm ² (electrode unit area). The low-temperature plasma treatment can be performed by passing the cloth stored in advance in the low-temperature plasma atmosphere. The processing time is usually several seconds to 300 seconds, preferably 30 to 180 seconds.

After the low temperature plasma treatment, in the present invention, the fabric is subjected to a physical or chemical impact to fibrillate the cellulose fiber portion. Fibrillation of cellulose fibers varies from a state in which countless streaks are formed in the length direction of the fibers to make them cloudy to a state in which fibers are split into fibers or a state in which both fibers are mixed and mixed. There are fibrillated forms of each, and each has its own unique texture.

In the case of physically fibrillating cellulose fibers in the state of fabric, the fabric can be fibrillated using an air flow dyeing machine, an air flow dryer, a high speed jet dyeing machine, etc., but in a wet state. It is especially advisable to carry out fibrillation using a high-speed jet dyeing machine that can give a physical impact to the cellulose fiber because it can effectively fibrillate the cellulose fiber.

With the cloth cut into a predetermined size,
Alternatively, when physically fibrillating the cellulose fibers in the state of the sewn product, it is possible to use a rotary washing device, a rotary washer, a drum dyeing device, or the like. Fibrillation progresses due to friction between fibers in these devices and collision with the device wall surface.

In the fibrillation process, it is advisable to set each condition in advance by a preliminary test according to the desired degree of fibrillation, and then to perform the fibrillation process.

Fibrillation is mainly performed on regenerated cellulose fibers such as viscose rayon, polynosic and cupra,
This is remarkably observed in purified cellulose fibers such as solvent-spun cellulose fibers and facilitates fibrillation.

In the case of chemically fibrillating cellulose fibers, the cellulose molecules are partially decomposed by treatment with a strong acid such as sulfuric acid or hydrochloric acid, at which time the single fibers are split into a fibrillated state. Occurs. The present invention has the above configuration.

[0017]

[Function] The cuticle forming the scale, which is the outermost layer of the animal hair fiber, has a three-layer structure of epicuticle and exoicle, which are more hydrophobic than the outside, and hydrophilic endicle. When the animal hair fiber is immersed in water, the endocuticle swells,
The volume increases, and due to the difference in the expansion rate of the endocuticle, the epicuticle, and the exoicle, the scale rises like a pine cone open, and the anisotropy of the friction coefficient in the axial direction of the animal hair monofilament is large. Entanglement causes the animal hair fibers to become felt and shrink.

When low temperature plasma treatment is applied to animal hair fibers, the hydrophobic parts of the epicuticle and exoicle become equal to the swelling ratio of the hydrophilic endicle due to the introduction of hydrophilic reactive groups, hydroxyl groups, carbonyl groups and carboxyl groups. , As a result, the rise of scale is eliminated and the anisotropy of the friction coefficient is reduced. In addition, the collision of radicals generated in the plasma state causes an etching action that scrapes the fiber surface, which in turn reduces the anisotropy of the friction coefficient in the axial direction of the fiber, thus suppressing felting and shrinkage. Will be able to.

When a fabric made of animal hair fibers and cellulose fibers whose shrinkage is suppressed in this way is subjected to a fibrillation treatment of the cellulose fibers by physical and chemical impact, the animal hair fibers already have shrinkage factors. Since it does not shrink, it does not shrink and acts only on the cellulose fibers to enable fibrillation of the cellulose fibers.

[0020]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following examples. The measurement and evaluation of the performance of the samples in the examples were carried out by the following methods.

(1) Dough shrinkage The dry sample before treatment was marked at regular intervals in the length and width directions, the intervals after the treatment were measured, and the fabric shrinkage was calculated by the following formula. Fabric shrinkage rate (%) = (mark spacing before treatment-mark spacing after treatment) / mark spacing before treatment x 100

(2) Felted state The following three-stage evaluation was performed by visual judgment. ○: No felting was observed. △: Felt is progressing somewhat. X: Felt formation is progressing.

(3) State of fibrillation The following four-stage evaluation was carried out by visual inspection. ⊚: Fibrillation is progressing into split fibers. ○: White turbid state and split fiber state are mixed. Δ: Fibrillation is recognized in the cloudy state. X: Progression of fibrillation is not observed.

Example 1 Worthed yarn 2/6 consisting of 50% wool / 50% polynosic
A plain weave fabric (0 warp / inch x 78 weft / inch) using 0 was prepared and subjected to low temperature plasma treatment under the following treatment condition 1.

Low-temperature plasma treatment condition 1 Gas type: Oxygen gas flow rate: 0.2 liter / min Apparatus pressure: 1.0 Torr High frequency output: 0.5 kw Treatment time: 1 minute

After casual pants were sewn using the fabric after the low-temperature plasma treatment, a fibrillation treatment was carried out using a rotary washer at a bath ratio of 1:30 at 50 ° C. for 90 minutes.

For comparison with the present invention, comparative casual pants (Comparative Example 1) were obtained in the same manner as in this Example except that the low temperature plasma treatment step was omitted in this Example.

The performances of the present invention and comparative samples were measured and evaluated, and the results are shown in Table 1.

[0029]

[Table 1]

As is clear from Table 1, the fabric of the present invention which has been subjected to the low temperature plasma treatment does not undergo shrinkage even after the fibrillation process, and the cellulose fiber portion is fibrillated without causing the formation of felt, which is excellent. A surface feeling was obtained, but in the comparative example, it was not possible to confirm fibrillation due to the contraction of strength.

Example 2 The casual pants and the casual pants of the present invention were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that solvent-spun cellulose fibers (Lyocell, manufactured by Lenzing) were used in place of the polynosic cellulose fibers in Example 1 above. Comparative casual pants (Comparative Example 2) were obtained.

The performances of the present invention and comparative samples were measured and evaluated, and the results are shown in Table 2 together.

[0033]

[Table 2]

As is clear from Table 2, the fabric of the present invention which has been subjected to the low temperature plasma treatment does not undergo shrinkage even after the fibrillation process, and the cellulose fiber portion is fibrillated without causing the formation of felt, which is excellent. A surface feeling was obtained, but in the comparative example, it was not possible to confirm fibrillation due to the contraction of strength.

[0035]

According to the method of the present invention, with respect to the cloth containing animal hair fibers and cellulose fibers, the cellulose fiber portions can be fibrillated while suppressing the animal hair fiber portions from being felt.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An animal hair fiber characterized by subjecting a cloth containing animal hair fiber and cellulose fiber to low temperature plasma treatment, and then subjecting the cloth to physical or chemical impact to fibrillate the cellulose fiber. And a method for processing a fabric containing cellulose fibers.