US20150361615A1

US20150361615A1 - Dyed Olefin Yarns And Textile Fabrics Using Such Yarns

Info

Publication number: US20150361615A1
Application number: US14/711,354
Authority: US
Inventors: Edward J. Negola
Original assignee: Aquadye Fibers Inc
Current assignee: Aquadye Fibers Inc
Priority date: 2014-06-12
Filing date: 2015-05-13
Publication date: 2015-12-17
Also published as: TWI557292B; TW201610263A; MX2015007426A

Abstract

A novel olefin fiber or yarn, textile fabric or film is manufactured using olefin that contains variable amounts of a unique dyeable concentrate additive including relevant amounts of amorphous nylon and nylon 6 and/or nylon 66. Fabrics, fibers, yarns and films made according this invention can be processed using conventional nylon dyeing systems carried out at atmospheric pressure. The dyeable concentrate additive can be easily dosed into a conventional fiber or film extruder or can be formed into blended pellets which can be extruded into olefin fiber or film dyeable at atmospheric pressures. Multiple tones of a color can be dyed in a single dye bath by using different amounts of dyeable concentrate in different yarns or fibers. This invention is of particular value in the apparel, carpet, home furnishings and soft signage industries. Significant energy savings may be realized in carrying out the dyeing processes at atmospheric pressures.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to yarn and textile fabrics & film manufactured using olefin pellets, fibers or yarns modified to accept dye at low temperatures.

RELATED PATENT

This invention is closely related to and represents an improvement in certain respects over the invention of my U.S. Pat. No. 8,759,430.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

One skilled in the art of fiber extrusion understands that an extruder melts a polymer and a barrel screw forces the melted polymer through a spinneret. The spinneret is similar to a shower head and contains many fine holes. The melted polymer exiting these holes is in the form of molten filaments. These filaments have a diameter. The diameter of the filaments range in size from diameters similar to cotton filaments and increase in size to the diameter of wool. The finer holes produce filaments suitable for apparel and as the holes increase in size the filaments are suitable for carpets and home furnishings such as upholstery, draperies and rugs.
When the polymer used to create these filaments is nylon, the resultant fibers or yarn will be manufactured into textile products that can be dyed using a nylon dye system. The nylon dye system is performed at a temperature range of between 175-200° F. using water as the solvent along with other chemicals known to one skilled in the art of nylon dyeing. It is very desirable and economical to dye at atmospheric pressures.
If the polymers used to create filaments or fibers are polypropylene (PP), they will not dye using the nylon dye system.
Olefin used in the textile field is usually polypropylene but any olefin polymer can be modified using this invention. The dye system using the present invention is the same as the system used to dye nylon. Anyone skilled in the art of dying nylon will be able to dye the modified yarns and fabrics made using this invention. The nylon dye system is unique because the dye is applied at normal atmospheric pressures. The solvent is water and is effective at temperatures from 175° F. to 212° F.
Polypropylene usually is dyed by the pigment dye system which colors the polymer during extrusion. Fabrics using the yarns of the present invention are manufactured into greige (i.e., undyed) goods produced by the knitting, weaving, tufted or non-woven process. Solid shades are achieved by melt blending a dye enhancing additive (sometimes referred to herein as a “master batch”) into the yarn or fiber and subjecting the fabric to a dye bath. The dye enhancing additive used in the process is composed of polymers that are readily available to one skilled in the art of fiber or yarn extrusion. One does not have to be skilled in the art of chemistry to use this invention.
When multiple ends of yarns embodying this invention are used, each can contain differing percentages of dye-accepting additives. When the yarns are manufactured into fabrics, the fabric will dye to multiple tones in a single dye bath. By increasing the amount of dyeable additive in the olefin yarn or fiber, the affinity for dye increases accordingly. The fabrics manufactured according to this invention can be stored at the dye house undyed. Color is added using conventional nylon dye machines or print dye methods. Surprising and novel effects are achieved using economical conventional nylon dye systems known to those skilled in the art. This invention is of particular usefulness in the apparel, carpet and home furnishings industry. The olefin fabrics produced feel and appear as conventional fabrics but are approximately 30-38% lighter in weight. This is due to the fact that the specific gravity of olefin is 0.91

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Knitted and woven apparel fabrics and textile articles are an enormous worldwide enterprise. Cotton is the predominant choice of fiber used to make woven or knitted apparel textile fabrics. Many cotton-spinning systems exist worldwide. Cotton yarns are easily produced for both apparel and home furnishings using the cotton spinning system.

Egyptian and United States Cotton

The most common system of putting color on fabric is to dye the woven, knitted, tufted or non-woven fabric. The fabric is placed in a machine containing water, dyes and chemicals. The temperature of the liquor or dye bath is adjusted to the desired degree. The skilled operator will use this process to produce the desired shade on the fabric. The fabric is dried, and finished according to the customer's specifications. The dye house is a capital-intensive operation that contains expensive dye and finishing equipment. A dye house in addition to dyeing will have drying and finishing equipment such as compactors, chemical applicators and rolling or folding equipment.
The dyed cloth is cut and sewn into apparel garments or home furnishing items such as draperies, bedspreads, rugs or upholstery. Carpet is not generally made using cotton, but relies mainly on synthetics. Nylon is the most preferred synthetic used to manufacture carpet. One skilled in the art of dying carpet will use the same skills to dye the product of this invention.

Synthetics

Many attempts have been tried to create an acceptable synthetic fiber or yarn that is a good substitute for cotton and will process on conventional spinning equipment. The worldwide demand for cotton is such that synthetic substitutes had to be introduced since there would not be enough acreage available to produce enough cotton to meet the demand for affordable fabrics and garments for the growing multitude of human population. It is very desirable to produce synthetic substitutes that can be used instead of or with cotton.
It is very desirable in the apparel and home furnishings industry to have available a synthetic yarn or fabric that has novel characteristics. Ideally the synthetic fiber could be used to make a yarn for a fabric that would be similar to a fabric made from cotton or a blend of cotton and a synthetic. Most cotton is dyed at atmospheric pressures using cotton dyestuffs. Ideally, a blend of synthetics and cotton would also dye at atmospheric pressures. This invention facilitates dyeing polypropylene, olefin or blends of cotton and these synthetics at atmospheric pressures.

Olefin

Olefin is a manufactured fiber, which is composed of at least 85% ethylene, propylene or other olefin units. Olefin is an ideal substitute for cotton except for the fact that is not easily dyed on conventional dyeing or printing systems. Olefin is easy and economical to produce into fiber that feels just like cotton. I have found that an olefin of 1.2 to 1.8 denier per filament cut to a 1.5″ to 2″ staple length is an ideal substitute for cotton yarn using the cotton spinning system to make yarn. In addition, Olefin is useful for the following reasons:

Olefin staple processes well on non-woven machines
Olefin fabrics feel similar to cotton
Olefin will dry quickly
Olefin will pass moisture but retain body heat.
Olefin is very stain resistant

Disadvantage of Olefin Fiber and Yarn

The main disadvantage of olefin is the fact that it is a fiber that is not dyeable by conventional dye systems. Almost all olefin fiber and yarn is pigment or solution dyed. Fabric made from pigment dyed yarn cannot be dyed to fashion shades as orders are received. This makes fabric manufacture prohibitively expensive and inventories too large to manage in the apparel and home furnishings industry. Pigmented olefin is used primarily to manufacture level loop Carpet.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of this invention is to use a polymer extruder to blend active ingredients into a polypropylene or other olefin polymer and to manufacture fiber, yarn or film that one skilled in the art will be able to dye using the nylon dye method. This can be achieved using an extruder to manufacturer a master batch (sometimes referred to herein as “dyeable concentrate” or “concentrate”) in pellet form, for later mixing with the olefin component, or by combining the active ingredients, as well as the olefin component, in an extruder to manufacturer pellets ready to be extruded into fiber or yarn dyeable by the nylon dye method. The active ingredients of this invention can also be dry mixed with polymer in an extruder to directly extrude fibers or yarns which will be dyeable by the nylon dye method.
In addition, an object of the present invention is to create a novel knitted, tufted, woven or non-woven fabric using synthetic yarn that has many of the characteristics of cotton fabrics. Being dyeable at atmospheric pressures is a further object of the present invention. To qualify, for wearing apparel the fabric has to be available in greige goods, be easy to dye on conventional systems, be soft to touch; the fabric must “breathe” and wick moisture away from the body. Fabrics made using the synthetic yarns of the invention will be easy to wash either by hand or machine and will not stain by ordinary household food stains. Fabrics made using this invention also have superior light and wash fastness.
Further objects and further scope of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. It should be understood however that the detailed descriptions and examples are given by way of illustration only since various changes and innovations within the spirit of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art.
Although the cotton spinning system is the most widely used system, one skilled in the art can produce fiber that can be made into yarn using any conventional spinning system. Air jet, open end, worsted, woolen and modified worsted are some of the more common spinning methods. The fiber length and denier can be varied to fit any spinning system. A modified worsted spinning system is almost always used to spin carpet yarn.
In addition to staple fiber spun into yarn there is a large production of continuous filament yarn. Continuous filament yarn is usually made up using polypropylene when making apparel. The most common size is 70 denier to 50 denier. This invention can be applied to either fiber or continuous filament yarn. BCF or spun carpet yarn can also be made using this invention.
Briefly described, the present invention relates to a method of using dyeable synthetic olefin yarns and fibers to manufacture knitted, tufted, woven and non-woven fabric greige goods that are easy to dye and process using commercially available nylon dye or print systems.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE MASTER BATCH OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to manufacturing a knitted, tufted, woven or non-woven fabric or film using an olefin yarn or fiber that has been enhanced to accept dye at atmospheric pressures. The olefin component of the fiber or yarn does not dye but a master batch additive that is melt blended into the olefin of the present invention will accept dye that is used at dye facilities to dye nylon or blends of nylon and cotton. This invention uses small percentages of a master batch of a compounded additive blended in a standard fiber extruder with untreated olefin to create yarns that are made into woven, knitted, tufted or non-woven greige goods fabric. The fabrics of this invention are stored as uncolored inventory. Very high temperatures, normally used to dye synthetics are not necessary to dye the fabrics of the invention. A temperature of 175° F.-200° F. is ideal for the dyeing process. Pressurized dye machines are not necessary to achieve proper dye coloration. The present invention results in an energy saving of 50% compared to conventional procedures. Bright shades of any color can be achieved when dyeing fabrics according to the present invention.

Multitones

In addition to just one solid color, tonal effects are easily achieved using the piece dye system. Olefin yarns blended with a dyeable concentrate of from 1% to 20% by weight of the goods are used to make fabrics dye to multi-tones of the same shade in one dye bath. This is achieved by melt blending varying strengths of a dyeable concentrate specified in this invention into the olefin fibers or yarns. By example, I will call a yarn with 10% dyeable concentrate A, a yarn with 4% dyeable concentrate B and a yarn with 1.5% dyeable concentrate C. When yarns A, B, and C are placed together on fabric forming machines, such as a tufting or weaving machine, the resultant fabric is dyed into novel three self tones of a color in a single dye bath. One will be dark, one medium and one light. A preferred range of concentrate in the compounded mix for this purpose is from 1% to 15%, by weight.
When a fabric is made using yarns containing two different dye levels (i.e., levels of the master batch concentrate) and one yarn without any concentrate the result will be a fabric with yarns having two tones of color and a white (undyed) yarn. This aspect creates novel and surprising effects. One skilled in the art will find many pleasing ways to make novel fabrics using this invention.

Solid Shades

Fabric made from modified dyeable olefin yarn will dye a solid shade when made using yarn that contains only one level of dyeable concentrate. (It will be understood that the terms “dyeable olefin” or “dyeable polypropylene”, as used herein, refer to olefin or polypropylene dyeable at atmospheric pressures using a nylon dye procedure, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.) A preferred amount of dyeable concentrate blended with untreated olefin for this purpose is 8% on the weight of the goods. Other concentrations can be used to vary the dye take up but I have found the preferred mixture to be 8% of the concentrate on the total weight of the goods to make excellent solid shades.
The Tietz U.S. Pat. No. 5,130,069 shows procedure for dying of polypropylene fibers where the polypropylene fibers have been modified with a composition of nylon 6,6 and several other components in conjunction with bulking of the fibers. Preparation of the dye receptive additives requires the use of a high pressure (250 psi) autoclave and temperatures of 200-290° C. Moreover, the nylon 6,6, which is a crystalline form of nylon, is altogether unsuitable for apparel fibers, which have to be extruded through fine nozzles, which quickly become clogged by crystalline nylon. Uniform dying of the fibers is also difficult to achieve because of non-uniformities in the resulting composition when utilizing the crystalline nylon 6,6.
The present invention makes the use of the following “off the shelf” ingredients used to manufacture dyeable polypropylene. Anyone skilled in the art of fiber or pellet extrusion will be able to practice this invention.

Active Ingredients and Components of the Master Batch of this Invention

Amorphous Nylon

This material is selected because it accepts dye using the nylon dye system. It is not crystalline and will evenly disperse during the melt extrusion process. This material is available as pellets. It will not clog the fine holes in a spinneret. Preferred Supplier: EMS-GRIVORY America. Product description: G-16 or XE-3830

Maleic Anhydride (MAH)-Modified Polypropylene

This material is used to allow different polymers (nylon and or olefin), to be compatible. Maleic Anhydride is reacted with polypropylene and is available from suppliers in pellet form. A preferred material is the maleic anhydride modified homo polypropylene manufactured by Polyram (Israel). The product, which is available in the United States from Harry Gaffney Company, Inc. as Bondyram 1001, corresponds to MAH #3200, also available from Harry Gaffney Company. A useful alternative to the maleic anhydride modified polypropylene, especially for fine denier fibers, is maleic anhydride modified linear low density polyethylene manufactured by Polyram and available in the United States from the Harry Gaffney Company, Inc. as Bondyram 4108.

Nylon 6 or 6,6

available in pellet form from various suppliers.
When practicing this invention, a person skilled in the art can create a master batch which can be added to a polypropylene fiber extruder to create and extrude a fiber, yarn or film that is dyeable at atmospheric pressure using the nylon dyeing system. One can also create a blended pellet containing the master batch pre-mixed with polypropylene that can be extruded into a finished polypropylene fiber, yarn or film dyeable by the nylon dye method. If desired and with the proper extruder equipment, the components of the master batch can be dosed directly into an extruder together with the polypropylene to achieve an extruded product of the desired mix. Preferably, the polypropylene component of the blend has a melt flow index (MFI) of 18-35. Extrusion temperatures for the mixing, blending and extruding of the master batch or of the dyeable olefin mix desirably are in a range of 250° C. to 260° C. for best results.
The master batch of the invention preferably contains 10% to 50% amorphous nylon and preferably 20% or more of the amorphous nylon. Otherwise, the nylon 6 or nylon 6,6 may be too crystalline to extrude properly. Theoretically, up to 90% of the master batch may be made up of amorphous nylon. However, amorphous nylon is quite expensive, and an important purpose of this invention is to incorporate significant percentages of nylon 6 and/or nylon 6,6 into the mix to reduce the cost while maintaining performance. In the master batch of the invention, the nylon 6 or nylon 6,6 can be present in amounts ranging from 80% to 40%. Regardless of the relative proportions of amorphous nylon and nylon 6 or nylon 6,6, it is preferred that the master batch contain about 10% of MAH-modified polypropylene. For best results, master batch pellets should be dried for about four hours at a temperature of about 190° F.
In a process according to the invention, the master batch as described above can be combined with polypropylene in a range of 1% to 20% of the master batch to 99% to 80% of polypropylene with a melt flow index (MFI) of 18-35. An advantageous form of finished fiber or yarn typically will contain from 0.75%% to 5% amorphous nylon, from 1.95% to 13% nylon 6 and/or 6,6, 0.3% to 2%% MAH-modified polypropylene, and 97% to 80%% polypropylene with a melt flow index (MFI) of 18-35. Nylon 6 or 6,6 can be used interchangeably, either individually or in mixtures.

Dyeable Olefin

A preferred method of rendering polyolefin dyeable by the nylon dye method pursuant to the invention is as follows:
A master batch mixture as described above, of amorphous nylon, polypropylene modified with maleic anhydride, and nylon 6 or 6,6 are compounded with polyolefin. Amorphous nylon is uniquely beneficial because it is non-crystalline and will easily disperse into polypropylene at a temperature that will not destroy the properties of olefin. Moreover, nylon 6 or 6,6 will blend with amorphous nylon and, when so combined, will not create fibrils during extrusion. Polypropylene modified with maleic anhydride enables the nylon to be compatible with the polypropylene. By using the component ingredients of this invention, one skilled in the art of extrusion can make polyolefin fiber or continuous filament yarn using conventional fiber extrusion machines. No special equipment is needed to perform this operation. The olefin fiber or yarn produced using this system will be dyeable using the nylon dye method. The master batch invention uses an amorphous nylon product called G-16 or XE-3830 from EMS-GRIVORY America, polypropylene (18-35 MFI) modified with about 1% maleic anhydride No. 3200, from Harry Gaffney, and nylon 6 or 6,6 available from various suppliers.

Master Batch Additive Examples

1) A “standard” mix of 25% amorphous nylon, 65% of nylon 6 or 6,6 and 10% MAH-modified polypropylene, is extruded into pellets as a master batch or concentrate. When 10% of this master batch is blended with 90% olefin polymer, the extruded fiber or yarn will contain 2.5% amorphous nylon, 1% MAH-modified polypropylene, 6.5% nylon 6 or 6,6, and 90% polypropylene with a melt flow index of 18-35. The result is a fiber or yarn that will easily dye at atmospheric pressures using the nylon dye method.
The above example is merely a suggestion, but by experimentation one skilled in the art of extrusion could vary the master batch composition and the dosing percentages to suit their needs. One skilled in the art would also be able to dry mix the formulation of this invention and dose it into an extruder.
The polymers, using this invention will have the following characteristics:

1. Will pass through very fine holes in the spinneret
2. Ingredients are evenly distributed throughout the fibers
3. Will accept dyes using the nylon dye system
4. The resultant fibers or filaments look and feel “normal”
5. Economical for commercial use.

The following examples illustrate usages of the invention in connection with various apparel, furnishings and carpet applications:

EXAMPLE 1

Solid Color Apparel Made from Spun Yarn of this Invention

Staple fiber is produced in a standard fiber extruder comprising a blend of 90% olefin and 10% of the dyeable concentrate (master batch) of this invention. The fibers are 1.5 denier and cut to a length of 1.5″.
The fiber is converted to a 30/2 cc yarn using a conventional ring spinning system. One skilled in the art could also use an air jet system, open end system, ring spinning or a worsted system. 500 lbs of dyeable yarn is produced.
The 30/2 yarn is knitted on an 18 gauge Jersey Cut knitting machine. A 500 pound roll of knitted fabric is produced which weighs 6.5 ounces per square yard.
The knitted roll is dyed in a standard nylon dye machine. 1% low energy disperse blue is applied owg following the standard nylon dye procedure at 200° F. The dyed roll is removed, slit open, dried and finished on a standard frame through a standard oven. The oven temperature is set not to exceed 280° F. which is below the melting point of olefin. The solid dyed knitted fabric is rolled into a number of standard rolls.

EXAMPLE 2

Solid Color Apparel Made from Continuous Filament Yarn Made According to this Invention

Continuous filament yarn is produced in a standard fiber extruder comprising a blend of 90% olefin and 10% dyeable additive of this invention. The yarn is comprised of 50 filaments of 2.0 denier to make a 100/50/1 continuous filament yarn.
The 100/50/1 continuous filament yarn is knitted on an 18 gauge Jersey Cut knitting machine. A 500 pound knitted roll is produced which weighs 6.0 ounces per square yard.
The knitted roll is dyed in a standard nylon dye machine. A medium energy disperse dye blue is applied following the standard nylon dye procedure at 200° F. The dyed roll is removed, slit open, dried and finished on a standard frame through a standard oven. The oven temperature is set not to exceed 280° F. which is below the melting point of olefin. The solid dyed knitted fabric is rolled onto a number of standard rolls.

EXAMPLE 3

Continuous Filament BCF Dyeable Olefin Carpet Yarn

Continuous filament yarn is manufactured using a standard BCF carpet yarn extruder comprising a blend of 90% olefin and 10% dyeable additive of this invention. The yarn is comprised of 75 filaments of 20 denier per filament to make a 1500/75/1 continuous filament yarn.
The yarn is tufted on a ⅛th gauge level loop carpet tufting machine. The carpet is dyed on a continuous dye range using a standard nylon dye system. The carpet is dried, backed and rolled ready to ship to a customer.
An alternative procedure is to twist and heat set two ends of the above yarn to create a 1500/75/2. This yarn is tightly tufted on a ⅛ gauge cut pile machine to create an undyed greige carpet. The carpet is dyed on a continuous dye range using the nylon dye method, backed rolled and ready to ship.

EXAMPLE 4

Tri-Tone Continuous Filament BCF Olefin Carpet Yarn

Continuous filament yarn is produced on a standard three color olefin BCF carpet yarn extruder. ⅓rd of the olefin yarn comprises a blend of 85% olefin and 15% dyeable concentrate of this invention, ⅓rd of the yarn comprises 90% olefin and 10% dyeable additive of this invention, and ⅓rd of the yarn comprises a black pigmented filament. The finished yarn is comprised of 90 filaments of 20 denier per filament to make a 1800/90/1 continuous filament yarn. 30 Filaments will dye deep, 30 filaments will dye lighter, and 30 pigmented filaments will not accept any dye. The shape of the cross section of each filament will be trilobal.
The continuous filament BCF yarn is tufted on a ⅛th gauge level loop carpet tufting machine. The carpet is dyed on a continuous dye range using a standard nylon dye system. A mixture of red & blue dye is used to create a brown color. The pigmented portion will not accept any dye and remains black, the portion containing 15% of the additive will dye deep brown and the remaining portion with 10% additive will dye light brown. The result is a tri tone carpet colored black, deep brown and light brown. The carpet is dried, backed and rolled ready to ship to a customer. This serves as an example only. One skilled in the art can vary the amounts of additive and pigments to create a wide variety of desirable and pleasing effects.

EXAMPLE 5

Printing Dyeable Olefin Fabrics

Screen Printing

A knitted fabric comprising a 150/1 Denier dyeable olefin made according to the invention was fed to a 6 color aqueous continuous screen-printing machine. A standard dye paste of dyes was prepared for each screen with thickener. The screens were made to allow a six color pleasing floral pattern to be produced. The print paste was screened on the fabric one color at a time. The fabric was fed to a steam box to set the dyes. Two to four minutes of steam at 212° F. is required to set the dye. The fabric was passed through in a continuous system, washed of excessive dyes and dried being cautions not to exceed 295° F. The result was a pleasing 6-color floral printed knitted olefin fabric. In another embodiment a similar printing system is used on a carpet printing machine to print tufted carpets using dyes available to the printed carpet trade.
The novel floral pattern effect was achieved without bleeding or excessive pick up. Drying time was greatly reduced and the oven was set to allow 295° F. to come in contact with the fabric. It is understood that tufted and woven fabrics can also be processed using the atmospheric nylon printing technique.

EXAMPLE 6

Space Dye Printing Color on Olefin Yarn Using the Knit de Knit Process

a.) Pellets of olefin with a Melt Flow Index of 18-35 are extruded and intimately blended using the above dyeable concentrate of the invention. A blend of 90% olefin and 10% of the master batch dyeable concentrate is extruded into a staple mass using conventional staple extrusion equipment. The fiber dpf is 1.5 and is cut to 1.5″. Approximately 1,000 pounds of staple are produced and baled. The denier per filament is close to that of cotton and so is the staple length.
b.) The olefin bales of staple fiber are blended together at the cotton carding process and made into roving. The roving is made using conventional cotton equipment is spun into a 10/1 cotton count and taken up on 3 pound packages. Approximately 1000 pounds of yarn is produced. The 10/1 yarn is plied to make a 10/2 dyeable yarn.
c.) Knitted Sleeve—The 10/2 olefin yarn is knitted into a single endless sleeve.
d.) Space dye printing—Three colors are printed on the sleeve as part of a knit de knit process well known in the art. This is a continuous process whereby the undyed sleeve passes through a squeegee roller submerged in a dye tank to apply the first shade of color. The sleeve continues to a second patterned roller, which overprints a second shade and then continues to a third roller, which overprints a patterned third shade. The base shade is usually light and the 2nd shade medium while the third shade is deep. The colored knitted sleeve is exposed to steam for at least 2 minutes and preferably 4 minutes. This sets the dye to an acceptable depth of shade. The knitted sleeve has a solid background shade of beige overprinted with deep brown and charcoal. The sleeve is then washed and dried on the continuous range. The dryer is set at a low temperature of 250° F. and the water is flashed off. The dried sleeve is collected in a can container and moved to the winding room.
e.) The resultant sleeve is de-knitted or wound onto a yarn package using a winding operation well know to those skilled in the art. The yarn is a pleasing beige color with dots of dark brown and dark charcoal and is put up on 3-pound cones.
f.) The 10/2 olefin space dyed yarn is knitted on a 10 cut knitting machine. A pleasing three-tone space dyed fabric is the result. The space dyed fabric of olefin is surprisingly free of patterns usually associated with skein or dip dyeing of sweater yarns. The fabric is washed with hot water in a jet dye or winch dye machine to add bulk and to clarify the colors. This also assures the fact that the finished sweater will not shrink when washed by the end user. The fabric is dried in a cool oven at 200° F. While it is not necessary to wash the fabric, it is worth the extra step to make the fabric shrink proof.
g.) The space dyed sweater fabric is cut and sewn and is surprisingly novel. If olefin is used, the fabric will be 30% lighter in weight than a cotton sweater made to the same specifications. While this example uses a 10/2 yarn, it should be noted that any size dyeable olefin of the invention that would be practical to go through the knit de knit system would be suitable. This system is especially popular to make space dye carpet yarn. Many pleasing color effects can be achieved and should not be limited to the example set forth. Space dye Carpet yarn is used in very large quantities. One skilled in the art should experiment to find a pleasing result with either spun yarn or continuous filament yarn.
Other methods of space dyeing or print dyeing yarn can be used. One skilled in the art will adjust the various machines to the specifications outlined above. Warp printing or package impregnation are two other common methods used to space dye yarns.
It should be understood that the herein described forms of the invention are intended to be illustrative of the basic principles of the invention and are not intended to be in any way limiting. Accordingly, reference should be made to the following appended claims in determining the full scope of the invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method of dyeing olefin fibers, yarns, fabrics and films which comprises, blending the olefin with a master batch comprised of amorphous nylon, olefin modified with maleic anhydride, and nylon 6 and/or nylon 6,6, and dyeing the blended olefin at atmospheric pressures using a nylon dyeing system.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the master batch comprises as its components

from 10% to 50% amorphous nylon,

from 80% to 40% nylon 6 and/or nylon 6,6, and

8-12%% olefin modified with maleic anhydride.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the olefin is polypropylene having a melt flow index of from 8 to 35.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the components of the master batch are extruded to form pellets of the master batch material.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein the components of the master batch are dosed into an extruder together with the olefin and extruded as a blended material.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the blended material is extruded in the form of pellets.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein the blended material is extruded through nozzles to form fibers or film.

8. The method of claim 2 wherein the master batch comprises from 2% to 10% of the blend, and the olefin comprises from 98% to 90% of the blend.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the olefin is polypropylene having a melt flow index of from 8 to 35.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein

the amorphous nylon is present in the blend in an amount not greater than 50%, and

8-12% of the blend comprises olefin modified with maleic anhydride.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein

the olefin modified with maleic anhydride comprises polypropylene or low density polyethylene.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the nylon 6 together with nylon 6,6 is present in the blend in an amount not greater than 80%.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein the olefin is polypropylene.

14. A fiber, yarn, fabric or film dyed using the method of claim 1.