JPS5822569B2 - pearl - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to pearl-like lustrous fibers having an exotic color tone.

Pearl luster pigments have been used in various fields such as ornaments, imitation pearls, buttons, cosmetic bottles, and decorative boards.

Products containing pearlescent pigments have excellent aesthetic effects and can create a particularly exotic atmosphere.

However, most of the products containing pearlescent pigments are molded products made of polymeric substances or inorganic substances, and there are no fibrous products.

The present invention aims to obtain the same aesthetic effect as conventional molded products by incorporating pearlescent pigments into the fibers. A pearl-like lustrous fiber characterized by being made of a substantially transparent polymeric substance containing a pearlescent pigment.

The inventors of the present application previously proposed filling a type of highly transparent polymeric substance with a pearlescent pigment to obtain a pearl-like lustrous fiber with a single layer structure.

However, in the case of pearl-like lustrous fibers with a single-layer structure, it is necessary to fill the entire fiber with pearlescent pigments, so a considerable amount of the pigment is required, and non-transparent materials are not used at all. There were drawbacks such as limitations on the materials that could be used.

As a result of intensive studies on these points, the inventors of the present application have found that it is possible to reduce the amount of pearlescent pigment filled into the fibers without losing the pearl-like luster, and also to use materials that do not have transparency. I found a way.

In other words, by forming the fiber into a sheath-core two-layer structure and filling only the sheath component with a pearlescent pigment, it is possible to reduce the amount of filling, and the core component is made of a non-transparent material. This also makes it possible.

It is essential that the polymer material constituting the sheath be substantially transparent.

If the sheath is made of an opaque material, a clear pearl-like luster cannot be obtained.

Substantially transparent polymeric materials are defined as ASTM D1003
For example, polyamides such as nylon 6 and nylon 6/6, polyolefins such as polypropylene and polyethylene, ionomers, polystyrene, polymethyl methacrylate, and 4-methylpentene. -1, etc.

The transparency of the polymer material that makes up the core is not an issue;
Any material that can be made into fibers may be used, but a polymeric material that is compatible with the polymeric material constituting the sheath portion is preferable.

Preferably, the sheath portion and the core portion are made of the same polymeric material.

The thickness of the sheath is determined by the size of the crystals of the pearlescent pigment.

That is, when the average length of the microcrystals of the pigment is yμ, the variation in length is σ (where σ indicates the standard deviation value), and the maximum length n of the crystal is (X±3σ)μ, Sheath thickness Lμ is L≧
If n×0.8 is used, pearl-like luster cannot be obtained.

Therefore, when the fiber diameter is (2xnxo, 8)μ or more, it is effective to have a sheath-core two-layer structure.

If the sheath thickness is smaller than (nX0.8)μ, the crystals will be finely pulverized and no pearl-like luster will be obtained.

Even when L is slightly larger than (nX0.8) μ,
Although the crystals are slightly crushed, the ratio of the crushed crystals to the total crystals is small, so a good pearl-like luster can be obtained.

Pearl luster pigments include lead compounds, natural shellfish powder, and flake mica coated with titanium dioxide, but flake mica coated with titanium dioxide is mainly used because it can be easily colored in various colors. It is being

However, simply filling a molded article with such a pearlescent pigment does not provide pearl-like luster.

This is because the plate-shaped microcrystals that form the pigment form a crystal layer aligned in parallel, and the pearl-like luster cannot be obtained unless the light rays incident on the crystal plane are regularly and multiple reflected. .

Therefore, various methods have been used in the field of various molded products to produce parallel crystal layers.

Examples include a slide method called a glass plate casting method, a vibration method, or a method called a centrifugal casting method.

The pearl-like lustrous fiber of the present invention is mainly produced by a composite melt spinning method, which is generally used as a fiber manufacturing method.

Two melt extruders are used, one containing a mixture of the polymer material that makes up the sheath component and the pearlescent pigment, and the other one containing the polymer material that makes up the core component. .

The two types of polymer streams melted, kneaded, and defoamed by two melt extruders are guided to one nozzle, and formed into a sheath-core structure by a known method, and extruded from the nozzles and wound up.

In this way, the present invention is achieved.

According to the above method, pearl-like luster can be obtained without using any means for aligning pearlescent pigments in parallel as in the conventional method.

This is because the crystals of the pearlescent pigment are subjected to a force in the flow direction of the polymer substance in the spinning nozzle, and are ejected from the nozzle and solidified in a state in which they are aligned parallel to each other.

Therefore, pearl-like lustrous fibers can be obtained relatively easily and efficiently.

In addition to melt spinning, wet spinning and dry spinning can also be used.

The amount of the pearlescent pigment filled into the fibers varies depending on the pearlescent pigment, but is generally preferably about 1 to 20 weight percent based on the amount of the polymer to be filled.

If it is less than 1% by weight, sufficient pearl-like luster cannot be obtained, and if it is more than 20% by weight, the physical properties such as strength and impact resistance of the fiber will decrease, and this fiber can be used to fabricate woven or knitted fabrics. This is due to the fact that various problems occur, such as yarn breakage and extremely poor product yield.

The pearl-like lustrous fibers of the present invention can be used as constituent materials for clothing, hat materials, sheath materials, indoor rugs, curtain materials, chair upholstery, handicraft yarns, etc., and can make products with exotic beauty. It is.

Examples will be described in more detail below.

Example 1 A melt composite spinning machine having two extruders was used, one of which contained nylon 6 as a core component, the other one with nylon 6 as a sheath component, and a predetermined amount of pearlescent pigment (Nihon Koken Co., Ltd.). (manufactured by Kogyo Co., Ltd.) was added, and the single yarn diameter was 2 with a sheath-core two-layer structure.
00μ fibers were obtained.

However, the spinning nozzle had a diameter of 0.5φ and a number of holes of 2oH, and the spinning temperature was 270°C.

Furthermore, when the size of 500 crystals of the above pigment was randomly measured using an optical microscope, the average length was 20 μ and σ 3.0.

The results are shown in the table below.

However, regarding glossiness, based on the results of a sensory test conducted by an unspecified number of people to determine the presence or absence of pearl-like luster, ○ marks indicate glossiness, and X marks indicate no glossiness.

The strength was measured by dry heat treating the fibers obtained in the examples at 180° C. using a conventional method.

From the results shown in the table, even with a sheath-core two-layer structure, from the viewpoint of gloss and strength, the sheath thickness is 80% of the maximum length of the pigment crystal.
It can be seen that the above is necessary and that the filling amount of pigment is preferably about 1 to 20%.

After dyeing, this fiber was made into a woven fabric and used as a curtain fabric, resulting in a product with an exotic feel that was different from conventional curtain fabrics.

Comparative Example In the same manner as in Example 1, a fiber having a single layer structure and having a diameter of 200 μm was obtained consisting of nylon 6 and a pearlescent pigment.

As a result, it was found that when the pigment filling amount was the same as in Example 1, there was no difference in gloss between the sheath and core two-layer structure and the single-layer structure.

Therefore, for example, 200 with a sheath-core two-layer structure with a sheath thickness of 30μ
Comparing the μ yarn with a 200μ yarn with a single layer structure, it was found that there was no difference in gloss and that only about half the amount of pearlescent pigment was required.

Example 2 Using the same spinning machine as in Example 1, one machine contained the following as a core component:
Opaque nylon 6.6 containing a phosphorus compound as a twist retardant
Into the other one, a mixture of polyethylene and a predetermined amount of the same pearlescent pigment as in Example 1 was added as a sheath component to obtain a fiber with a sheath-core two-layer structure and a single yarn diameter of 500 μm.

However, the spinning nozzle had a diameter of 1.0φ and a number of holes of 25H, and the spinning temperature was 280°C.

As a result, sufficient pearl-like luster was obtained when the sheath thickness was 80% or more of the maximum length of the pigment crystal and the pigment loading was 1% or more.

Compared to pearl-like glossy fibers with single-layer polyethylene structure,
It was possible to reduce the amount of pearlescent pigment loaded.

Further, by using a twist-resistant polymeric substance as a core component, the pearl-like glossy fiber of Example 20 also exhibited remarkable flame retardancy.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pearl-like lustrous fiber which is a composite fiber having a sheath-core two-layer structure, and whose sheath portion is made of a substantially transparent polymeric substance containing a pearlescent pigment.