JPH1037069A - Colored stainless steel fiber and its production - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a stainless steel colored with an oxide film having a color changed by heating temperature by subjecting a stainless steel fiber to heat treatment in an oxidizing atmosphere. SOLUTION: A fiber bundle 2 of stainless steel fiber having 4-50μm diameter and produced by a bundle drawing method is pulled out from a roll 1 and passed through a tubular furnace 3 and heated in oxidizing atmosphere at 300-800 deg.C for 10-600sec to produce the objective colored stainless steel fiber uniformly colored by an oxide film different in color by the heating temperature in good productivity.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a colored stainless steel fiber, that is, a colored stainless steel fiber, in which the color tone of a twisted yarn or a woven fabric can be freely selected. The present invention relates to a color stainless steel fiber which is also useful in the field of decoration and crafts.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, ultrafine stainless steel fibers have been used in industrial applications such as fillers for kneading conductive woven fabrics, fire-resistant woven fabrics, plastics, etc. to improve conductivity or heat conductivity, and filters for filtration devices. And an aesthetic appearance was not so required. In other words, the stainless steel fibers used for these conventional applications are manufactured by the bunching or the cutting method, and the color is only silver of the stainless steel. Was hindering its expansion.

[0003] For example, except for the case of utilizing silver metallic luster, it has not been applied to blending or blending with dyed organic fibers. Also, when used as a buoyancy-adjusting line wound around a fishing fly, silver was unsuitable. Further, plastic is sometimes used as a housing of the electronic component. At this time, metal fibers are mixed into the plastic in terms of electromagnetic interference, but the appearance is inferior due to the difference in color between the two.

On the other hand, a coloring method of stainless steel has also been proposed. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-107798 discloses a method of electrochemically coloring by applying a pulse potential.

[0005]

However, according to the coloring method disclosed in the above publication, the form of the stainless steel to be colored is a steel slab, and the stainless steel slab is formed into a bundle consisting of a large number of stainless steel fibers having a diameter of 4 to 50 μm. When the coloring method is applied, the fibers are cut due to friction with a guide roll, a dipping roll, and the like, resulting in a fiber bundle with fluffing, which causes problems such as a decrease in strength and poor appearance, and an electrolyte penetrates into the fiber bundle. When it is difficult to do so, there is a problem that uneven coloring occurs.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a color stainless steel fiber having a good surface coloration without causing the above problems, and a method for producing the same.

[0007]

In order to solve the above problems, the color stainless steel fiber of the present invention is characterized in that it is colored by an oxide film formed on the fiber surface.

[0008] The present invention also provides a method for producing a colored stainless steel fiber, wherein the stainless steel fiber is heated in an oxidizing atmosphere.

Further, the present invention relates to a method for producing a colored stainless steel fiber, wherein the stainless steel fiber is produced by a convergence drawing method.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The colored stainless steel fiber of the present invention is manufactured by heating the stainless steel fiber in an oxidizing atmosphere to form an oxide scale on the surface. This is economical and does not require any coloring, and the surface of each fiber is uniformly colored.

The diameter of the colored stainless steel fiber of the present invention is preferably an ultra-fine diameter of 4 to 50 μm. In the conventional coloring method, appearance defects such as fiber cutting or reduction in strength due to friction with a guide roll or immersion roll are caused. This is intended for those having a fiber diameter that could not avoid the above problem.

The material of the color stainless steel fiber of the present invention is preferably an austenitic stainless steel or a ferritic stainless steel capable of drawing a fiber diameter of up to several μm and having few inclusions.

In the method for producing colored stainless steel fiber of the present invention, the stainless steel fiber is heated in an oxidizing atmosphere. Such an atmosphere is oxidized by air or a gas obtained by mixing oxygen with an inert gas, and the composition and concentration are particularly limited as long as an oxide scale can be generated on the surface of the stainless steel fiber. Although not to be done, changing the composition of the atmosphere can extend the range of color choices.

The heating temperature is selected in accordance with the desired coloring.
It is selected from the range of 800 ° C., and various colors can be obtained within such a temperature range as specifically shown in the following examples. The heating time is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected according to the heating temperature and the type of the heating furnace, but is preferably about 10 to 600 seconds. The longer the contact time with the atmosphere is, the more uniformly the inside of the fiber bundle can be colored. However, when the number of bundles of fibers is small, uneven coloring inside and outside the fiber bundle is not observed even in a short time. In addition, a tubular furnace, a hot air circulation furnace, or the like can be used for heating the stainless steel fiber.

In the manufacturing method of the present invention, since heating is performed in an atmosphere, the number of members such as guide rolls that come into contact with the fiber bundle can be reduced, so that fluffing of the fiber bundle can be suppressed.

When a bundle of long stainless steel fibers produced by bunching and drawing is used as the material, the oxide scale can be continuously produced, and the productivity can be improved.

Furthermore, when the bunching and drawing method is employed, the fiber cross section becomes inevitably polygonal, that is, fine irregularities are formed on the fiber surface. There is an advantage that entanglement is likely to occur due to an increase, and the yarn is less likely to be unraveled. The thickness of such unevenness is at most about 0.5 μm.

[0018]

Next, the present invention will be specifically described based on examples. A bundle of stainless steel wires equivalent to SUS316L buried in a matrix was reduced in diameter by drawing to produce stainless steel fibers having a diameter of 20 μm. Next, as shown in FIG. 1, the stainless steel fiber bundle 2 was unwound from the unwinding roll 1 and passed through the tubular furnace 3. Wound up.

In this embodiment, the stainless steel fiber 2 in the tubular furnace 3 is heated from 300.degree.
By applying continuous heating at a temperature of ℃ for about 300 seconds,
Stainless steel fibers colored in the colors shown in Table 1 below were obtained.

[0020]

[Table 1]

FIG. 2 shows the color of the stainless steel fiber produced by heating in an air atmosphere to form an oxide scale.
According to 0804, L *, a *, and b * are plotted on the vertical axis and the heating temperature is plotted on the horizontal axis. According to this graph, the value relating to the lightness L * shows the brightest value when the heat treatment is not performed, the value decreases as the heating temperature increases, the image becomes darker, and the value increases again at about 700 ° C. or more to become brighter. You can see that.

In FIG. 3, the horizontal axis is a *, which indicates bright red as the numerical value increases, and the vertical axis is b *, which indicates vivid yellow as the numerical value increases. The results are shown. The numerical value of the Gothic body in the figure indicates the heating temperature. From this graph, it can be seen that the relationship between the a * value and the b * value becomes a circle at 0 to 800 ° C. Its color changes with temperature in the order of silver, yellow, yellow brown, brown, purple, blue, light blue, and silver.

From these graphs, it can be seen that any colored stainless steel fiber can be produced. Further, in this embodiment, the example of the air atmosphere is shown, but by changing the composition of the atmosphere, the selection range of coloring can be further expanded.

[0024]

As described above, in the color stainless steel fiber and the method for producing the same according to the present invention, the stainless steel fiber is colored while maintaining its properties such as electrical conductivity, heat resistance and corrosion resistance. As a result, the conventional problem of appearance due to color has been solved. Therefore, the colored stainless steel fiber of the present invention is used in industrial applications or interiors such as fillers for improving conductivity or heat conductivity, etc., kneaded into conductive woven fabrics, fire-resistant woven fabrics, plastics, etc., and filters for filtration devices. It is useful for improving the performance of various products for use of materials. The method of the present invention also has the advantage of being economically advantageous since the coloring of the stainless steel fiber is performed by the formation of oxide scale.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a coloring step of a stainless steel fiber.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing L *, a *, and b * for stainless steel fibers measured according to JIS L 0804, with the vertical axis representing the heating temperature and the horizontal axis representing the heating temperature.

FIG. 3 shows a * for the stainless steel fiber on the horizontal axis.
It is a graph which shows the examination result of the tendency of the color by heating temperature, making b * a vertical axis | shaft.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 unwinding roll 2 stainless steel fiber bundle 3 tubular furnace 4 winding roll

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A colored stainless steel fiber which is colored by an oxide film formed on the surface of the fiber. 2. The method for producing color stainless steel fiber according to claim 1, wherein the stainless steel fiber is heated in an oxidizing atmosphere. 3. The production method according to claim 2, wherein the stainless steel fiber is produced by a convergence drawing method.