Classifications

• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06M—TREATMENT, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE IN CLASS D06, OF FIBRES, THREADS, YARNS, FABRICS, FEATHERS OR FIBROUS GOODS MADE FROM SUCH MATERIALS
  • D06M23/00—Treatment of fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics or fibrous goods made from such materials, characterised by the process

Definitions

• Acrylic fibers are rendered soil resistant in a continuous Wet spinning process wherein the coagulated fibers are washed and stretched, passed through a first finish bath containing standard textile processing finishes, partially dried, impregnated with a second finish composition having anti-soil properties, and essentially completely dried to produce a textile fiber having durable soil resistant properties.
• This invention relates to the manufacture of synthetic textile fibers, and specifically deals with the continuous manufacture of acrylic fibers which are resistant to soiling by virtue of a soil resistant finish applied thereto.
• the zirconium containing finish composition is desirable to apply to the synthetic fibers during the manufacture thereof in preference to treating the finished textile goods.
• a standard fiber finish comprised of various lubricating, softening and/or anti-static agents is applied to the spun fiber from an aqueous bath after the fiber has been washed free of residual solvent. After the application of finish, the fiber is dried by passing it around and over heated drying rolls.
• the soil resistant finish composition is incorporated into the standard finish bath, production is disrupted by broken filaments and solids deposits on the drying rolls.
• This invention overcomes the difficulties pointed out above by applying a soil resistant finish to acrylic fibers 3,541,075 Patented Nov. 17, 1970 ice produced by conventional wet spinning techniques through first applying to the washed fibers a conventional textile finish, partially drying the fibers, then applying the soil resistant finish, and finally drying the fibers to essentially complete dryness.
• the conventional finish may be applied to the fiber by passing the fiber through an aqueous bath.
• the fiber then containing about moisture at ambient temperature, is heated sufiiciently to increase the temperature to above about 70 C. and to reduce the moisture content to between about 55 and 5% and the soil resistant finish is then applied to the hot fiber.
• the fiber is finally dried to less than about 0.5% moisture content and processed in accordance with conventional techniques to produce tow or staple for conversion into textile articles.
• the fibers treated with the dual finish system may be dried by passing over and around hot drying rolls with no appreciable solids deposition or filament breakage occurring.
• the resulting fibers possesses significantly greater resistance to soilage than fibers treated with the conventional textile finish alone.
• the method of this invention provides for the continuous production of soil resistant fibers in a commercial manner with only minor changes required of the conventional spinning equipment.
• Another object of this invention is to provide a method for the continuous production of acrylic fibers which possess a durable soil resistant finish without associated broken filaments and solids deposits.
• an acrylic fiber is wet spun according to conventional techniques wherein a spinning solution comprised of polymer and solvent is extruded through a spinning orifice into a coagulation bath comprised of Water and solvent.
• the coagulated filaments are stretched to achieve molecular orientation, and washed free of residual solvent.
• the wet spinning technique is a well known process for the production of synthetic fibers.
• the acrylic fibers which may be produced in this manner include, in addition to polyacrylonitrile, a wide range of copolymers and terpolymers which contain a preponderance of acrylonitrile. Such polymeric compositions are described in detail in U.S. Pat. 3,318,983.
• the spun tow is passed through a bath where conventional textile finishing compounds are applied to the fibers. These compounds are necessary to assure that the fiber will process well on textile machinery when being converted into yarns and fabrics.
• a conventional textile finishing bath is an aqueous solution containing 2 percent of a textile lubrieating agent comprised of 60 percent sorbitan nonopalmitate and 40 percent castor fatty acid with 200 moles ethylene oxide, and 1 percent of an antistatic agent such as soya dimethylaminoethyl ethosulfate.
• the finish may in addition contain textile softening agents if desired, and other lubricating and antistatic agents may be substituted for those specifically mentioned above. Such agents are well known and widely used throughout the textile industry.
• the fibers in the tow normally contain between 60 and 70 percent moisture and are at ambient temperature of about 25 to 30 C.
• the tow On the drying rolls, the tow is laced between an upper horizontal row of rolls and a lower horizontal row of rolls, passing alternately over an upper roll and under a lower roll in a serpentine path.
• Each roll is electrically or steam heated to a temperature of at least about 130 C. and preferably about 150 C., although higher or lower temperatures may be used.
• As the tow passes around each heated roll part of the moisture in the tow is driven off, the exact amount being a function of roll temperature and tow contact time and area.
• the tow is passed around 2 to 8 pairs of heated rolls, and preferably around 4 to 6 pairs of rolls heated to between 155 C. and 165 C. and operating at a speed such that the moisture in the tow is reduced to between 55 and 5 percent while the surface temperature of the tow is heated to at least about 70 C. and preferably to above 80 C.
• the heated fibers are then impregnated with the soil resistant finish of the composition as hereinbefore described. This finish is conveniently applied to the tow as a spray, although a pad bath may be used wth good results.
• the process steps as described above be carried out in the order described. Specifically, it is necessary that the conventional textile finish be applied first to the fiber, that the fiber then be partially dried, and that the soil resistant finish be applied to the hot fiber. After the application of the soil resistant finish, the tow is laced over an additional series of heated rolls to finally dry the fiber and reduce the fiber moisture content to less than about 0.5 percent. The final drying operation also causes any voids within the fiber commonly associated with wet spinning to collapse and thereby increase fiber density.
• the dried fiber is then processed on into yarns and textile goods using established procedures.
• the dried fiber may be crimped, steam relaxed, cut to staple, and converted into yarn using standard cotton or wool processing machinery. If the fiber is of a high denier, such as about denier, it can be processed on woolen machinery to form yarns suitable for tufting or weaving into high quality carpets. Carpets made from such yarns spun in accordance with this invention possess markedly superior resistance to soiling, and are also easier to clean when soiled.
• the difference in the reflectance readings indicate the anti-soiling properties or characteristics of the samples, i.e. a large number indicates poor anti-soiling properties whereas a small number indicates good anti-soiling properties.
• the photo reflectance readings are measured by using a Photovolt Reflectance Meter (Model No. 610, Photovolt Corp., New York, N.Y.).
• the samples of the textile articles are soiled by either of two methods, i.e. by an artificial soiling test or by a floor soiling test.
• the artificial soiling test is accomplished by placing the samples in a one gallon wide mouth jar having therein two glass rods (5% long by 78" diameter) glued on 0pposite sides of the jar and containing 10% (based on weight of the sample) of artificial soil and 10 number two rubber stoppers.
• the artificial soil has the following composition (the soil is sifted through a 30 mesh screen):
• the jar is then sealed, placed on a ball mill and rotated at 95-100 r.p.m. for 30 minutes in a clockwise direction and 30 minutes in a counter-clockwise direction at the same r.p.m. Thereafter the samples are removed from the jar, vacuumed, and the photo reflectance readings of the two samples measured.
• the difference between the average initial reflectance readings and the average of the final reflectance readings indicate the degree of soil resistance.
• a small photo reflectance difference number indicates a good anti-soiling property whereas a large number indicates a poor antisoiling property of the textile article.
• Control samples that is samples which have been treated only with the conventional finish, are soiled under the same conditions as the test samples.
• the filaments were then passed through a bath containing an aqueous solution of a convetnional finish comprised of 66 percent of a lubricating agent containing sorbitan monopalmitate and 40% castor fatty acid with 200 moles of ethylene oxide, and 34 percent of an antistatic agent consisting of soya dimethylaminoethyl etho sulfate.
• a convetnional finish comprised of 66 percent of a lubricating agent containing sorbitan monopalmitate and 40% castor fatty acid with 200 moles of ethylene oxide, and 34 percent of an antistatic agent consisting of soya dimethylaminoethyl etho sulfate.
• the tow proceeded from the fourth roll, it was sprayed with an excess of a second finish containing in aqueous solution a combination of the conventional finish composition described above and a soil resistant finish comprised of zirconium acetate and sulfamic acid.
• the tow then proceeded over the remainder of the drying rolls where its moisture content was reduced to about 0.2 percent.
• the amount of finish applied to the fiber from the conventional bath and from the spray was varied to determine the effectiveness of the treatment at various levels. The levels evaluated are shown for each condition in Table I.
• C.F. Conventional finish
• ZrAe Zirc0nium acetate
• S.A. Sulfamie acid
• o.w.f. on weight of fiber.
• Example II The process of Example I was repeated under substantially the same conditions described in Example I except that a different polymer batch resulted in a uniformly lower level of carpet reflectance readings as shown in Table II.
• Example III The process of Example I was repeated except that the spinning solution was comprised of 25 parts of an acrylic polymer containing 89.8% acrylonitrile, 7.5% vinyl acetate, and 2.7% vinyl bromide, and 75 parts of dimethylacetamide solvent.
• the soil resistant finish was applied to the fiber at two different concentrations as shown in Table III.
• Carpet reflectance readings were talren before and after laboratory soiling to measure propensity of the various yarn samples according to the method of Example I, and the results of the test are shown in Table III below.
• acrylonitrile constitutes at least precent of the fiber TABLE 111 Percent finish app1iedo.w.f. Carpet reflectance reading From 5 ra Percent p y Spray Before After Percent improve- C.F. ZrAc S.A. pH soiling soiling soiled ment 11 pH adjusted with sodium metasilicate.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Artificial Filaments (AREA)
• Chemical Or Physical Treatment Of Fibers (AREA)
• Treatments For Attaching Organic Compounds To Fibrous Goods (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=24803991

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (6)

Cited By (1)

Citations (5)

• 1968
  • 1968-01-16 US US698120A patent/US3541075A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 1969
  • 1969-01-16 FR FR6900694A patent/FR2000309A1/fr not_active Withdrawn
  • 1969-01-16 BE BE726970D patent/BE726970A/xx unknown
  • 1969-01-16 GB GB2580/69A patent/GB1246014A/en not_active Expired
  • 1969-01-16 LU LU57787D patent/LU57787A1/xx unknown
  • 1969-01-20 IL IL31455A patent/IL31455A/en unknown

Patent Citations (5)

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