WO1993006270A1 - Ameliorations apportees et relatives aux files et aux fibres discontinues - Google Patents

Ameliorations apportees et relatives aux files et aux fibres discontinues Download PDF

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Publication number
WO1993006270A1
WO1993006270A1 PCT/US1991/006500 US9106500W WO9306270A1 WO 1993006270 A1 WO1993006270 A1 WO 1993006270A1 US 9106500 W US9106500 W US 9106500W WO 9306270 A1 WO9306270 A1 WO 9306270A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
filaments
polyester
freshly
finish
caustic
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US1991/006500
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Teddy Hodge Grindstaff
Original Assignee
E.I. Du Pont De Nemours And Company
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by E.I. Du Pont De Nemours And Company filed Critical E.I. Du Pont De Nemours And Company
Priority to PCT/US1991/006500 priority Critical patent/WO1993006270A1/fr
Publication of WO1993006270A1 publication Critical patent/WO1993006270A1/fr

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Classifications

    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D01—NATURAL OR MAN-MADE THREADS OR FIBRES; SPINNING
    • D01F—CHEMICAL FEATURES IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FILAMENTS, THREADS, FIBRES, BRISTLES OR RIBBONS; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CARBON FILAMENTS
    • D01F6/00—Monocomponent artificial filaments or the like of synthetic polymers; Manufacture thereof
    • D01F6/58—Monocomponent artificial filaments or the like of synthetic polymers; Manufacture thereof from homopolycondensation products
    • D01F6/62—Monocomponent artificial filaments or the like of synthetic polymers; Manufacture thereof from homopolycondensation products from polyesters
    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D01—NATURAL OR MAN-MADE THREADS OR FIBRES; SPINNING
    • D01F—CHEMICAL FEATURES IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FILAMENTS, THREADS, FIBRES, BRISTLES OR RIBBONS; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CARBON FILAMENTS
    • D01F11/00—Chemical after-treatment of artificial filaments or the like during manufacture
    • D01F11/04—Chemical after-treatment of artificial filaments or the like during manufacture of synthetic polymers
    • D01F11/08—Chemical after-treatment of artificial filaments or the like during manufacture of synthetic polymers of macromolecular compounds obtained otherwise than by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds

Definitions

  • This invention concerns improvements in and relating to spun yarns of the polyester type, and more particularly to such yarns whose fibers have been modified to provide entirely new properties, and including precursor tows and staple fiber, and to textile articles such as fabrics and garments containing such yarn and/or fiber.
  • polyester staple fiber has been an industrial commodity that has been manufactured and used in such textile yarns on a very large scale, primarily in blends with natural fibers, especially cotton, such blends having been spun (twisted) into spun yarns that have been made into textile fabrics, and eventually into garments and other textiles. Practically all such polyester staple fiber has been of round cross-section and solid, as opposed to hollow; references herein to solid refer to such solid cross-section.
  • Such staple fiber is generally of average denier about 1-1/2, and of cut length about 1-1/2 inches, but the average denier and cut length can vary up to about 3 and down to about 1, and the ratio of average denier to cut length is generally about 1 and less than 2:1.
  • Polyester staple fiber has been recognized as having significant advantages over cotton in some respects, for instance its thermoplastic characteristics that enable polyester- containing fabrics to hold their shape, for instance a crease, and to have wash-wear characteristics, their greater uniformity, which provides processing advantages 5 and their superior strength and resistance to degradation.
  • An important objective of this invention is to provide such polyester staple fiber, or its precursor tow, in a new form such that it can be formed into spun yarns, which can then be formed into fabrics and garments that can show improved moisture-wicking properties, as discussed hereinafter.
  • Polyester filaments are characterized by their extreme hydrophobic character, as mentioned in 5 "Polyester Fibres - Chemistry and Technology", by
  • Polyester staple fiber has generally been manufactured commercially by a process of melt-spinning (i.e. extruding molten polyester polymer) into a bundle of filaments, collecting such filaments into a tow, which can be relatively small and converted directly,
  • finish is generally an aqueous emulsion comprising a lubricant and an antistat.
  • finish is generally an aqueous emulsion comprising a lubricant and an antistat.
  • the spin-finish is the first contact that a freshly-extruded filament encounters after solidification.
  • the finish was generally applied by a finish roll, rotating in a bath of the finish, so that the filaments pass through the finish emulsion as they brush past the finish roll on their way from the solidification zone to the feed roll that determines the withdrawal speed from the spinneret.
  • the finish roll it is generally desirable to avoid or minimize contact between the filaments and solid objects, and so the only other closely-adjoining solid objects are generally guides that are intended to confine the filaments before contacting the finish roll.
  • a finish roll is not the only method of applying finish, and other methods have been used and suggested, including spraying or metering the finish onto the filaments.
  • precursor tows and staple fiber, and downstream articles such as fabrics and garments incorporating such spun yarns or staple fiber, as described hereinafter, wherein the surface of the polyester fiber has been modified to improve moisture-wicking by such treatment of the freshly-extruded filaments with caustic soda, and by washing.
  • polyester For convenience, despite the fact that the surface has been changed, so that the moisture-wicking characteristics are not what has hitherto been associated with “polyester” fibers and yarns, we shall refer to both treated and untreated materials by the term “polyester”, for reasons which will be apparent. We shall also refer mainly to caustic soda, although other bases such as lye (KOH) can also render polyester filament surfaces hydrophilic.
  • the preparation of a polyester filamentary tow may be carried out conventionally except for the application of caustic soda to the freshly-extruded filaments, and then the treated filaments may be processed conventionally, with conversion into staple fiber and into spun yarns, and eventually fabrics, e.g. by knitting or weaving, and garments.
  • undrawn polyester filaments have been prepared by melt-spinning, and the undrawn filaments have been collected into a tow, which is subsequently processed by drawing, and if desired, annealing, followed by crimping and relaxing and drying before conversion to staple fiber and subsequent conversion into spun yarns.
  • this conventional process is modified by treating the freshly-extruded filaments with caustic.
  • this is most conveniently effected by adding an appropriate amount of caustic soda to the finish that is applied to the freshly-extruded filaments, . since the application of finish is essentially the first treatment or contact that the freshly-extruded filaments encounter after solidification. It is important, according to the invention, that this treatment with caustic be effected on these freshly-extruded filaments, which are often referred to as "live" filaments. The effect appears to be different from that obtained if caustic soda is applied at a later stage to the fabrics containing drawn fibers, according to prior art teaching. Also, if the application of the caustic is delayed, or not sufficiently prompt, then caustic will not be effective in providing a significant improvement in moisture wicking. This is shown in the Comparison at the end of Example 1, hereafter.
  • the filaments travel at relatively high speeds (of several hundreds of meters per minute) so that it is difficult to avoid 'slinging 1 , i.e., release of droplets of finish from these high speed filaments after application of the finish.
  • the fiber surface In order to obtain the improvement in moisture-wicking, the fiber surface must be washed. This is generally most conveniently effected by washing the eventual fabrics or garments, and is believed to have the effect of removing the sodium ions. As indicated later, if the desired hydrophilic properties are lost, they may be revived by washing the fabric in a commercial material such as TIDE, followed by rinsing.
  • CE Carboxyl Equivalent
  • the core appears to be relatively unchanged from regular polyester polymer, whereas the surface has been significantly changed so that the yarn, fabric and garments show improved moisture-wicking properties. Since the treatment is applied to the surface of the freshly-extruded filament, which is undrawn, and this filament is then subjected to a drawing process, in which the surface of the filament is significantly increased, which must mean that new surface is created from polymer that had previously been concealed beneath the surface of the undrawn filament, it is extremely surprising that the improvements in properties are shown in the fabrics and garments, that contain drawn material, whereas it was the undrawn filament that was treated with caustic soda. Indeed, we have found that the CE value is higher for the drawn filament than for the undrawn filament.
  • hydrophobic fiber such as polyester
  • cotton absorbs water, which can be a disadvantage, as the water will be retained longer, so the fabric and garment can feel wet and clammy in comparison.
  • CE surface carboxyl content
  • the amount of caustic picked up by the filaments will- depend on the concentration of caustic in the finish, and on the amount of finish picked up by the filaments, which we have found can vary widely, depending on the method of application, the characteristics of the finish and the characteristics of the filaments. Thus, one first determines the amount of wet pick-up of total finish by . the filaments, and then arranges the concentration of caustic in the finish so as to provide the desired amount of caustic on the filaments. We have used sufficient caustic to pick-up about 0.05 to about 0.15%. We have found that as little as 0.2% pick-up leads to further problems in processing, and even less is preferable, depending on the processing equipment.
  • polyester fiber having a surface that is in all essential respects equivalent to a freshly-extruded filament in the sense of the present invention, can possibly be recreated artificially, although this is still speculation. Indeed, much of our teaching herein is based on speculation, and it is possible that the subsequent drawing process has an importance, the exact nature of which has not yet been recognized.
  • the effect of the invention is different from that of mercerizing, i.e. the effect of soaking fabrics or drawn yarns in hot strong NaOH, such as been described by Ludewig and others, whereby a significant amount of the fiber is removed as if it was peeled away.
  • Such treatment wastes a significant amount of the polyester and leaves a very different surface, which is extremely rough when examined under high magnifications, and this roughness (under high magnification) produces lower fiber-to-fiber friction. In other words, the fibers can slip by each other more easily.
  • This can be a desirable effect, especially if the treatment is applied to the fabric, but produces processing difficulties if such treatment is applied to fibers, such difficulties being encountered especially in forming spun yarns from such fibers of low fiber-to-fiber friction.
  • a mercerizing-type treatment provides a different result in regard to the surface roughness, and is often undesired.
  • a stock solution of dye is made up by dissolving 2.0 g of Fuchsine in 500 ml of distilled water containing 5 ml of glacial acetic acid.
  • the dried samples are weighed, then extracted with three or four 20-25 ml portions of warm methanol/acetic acid (90/10) . These portions are combined and diluted with sufficient methanol/acetic 0 acid to provide 100 ml.
  • CE 0.2566 x Absorbance/Fiber Weight 0
  • the present invention has been found particularly advantageous as applied to staple fiber of intentionally mixed denier as disclosed, for instance, in the following Example, and to yarns, and fabrics therefrom, as well as precursor filamentary tows and the 5 staple fiber.
  • EXAMPLE 1 An intimate mixture of approximately equal numbers of polyester staple fiber (relative viscosity 28, LRV 21) of about 1-1/2 and about 3 dpf was obtained by a process, as described with reference to Figure 4 of copending application SN 07/266,712, involving ° conventionally melt-spinning to form a bundle of filaments, combining several bundles to form a large bundle, i.e.
  • the large bundle (tow) contained intimately mixed filaments of different dpf made by spinning through orifices and capillaries with different throughput on the same spinning machine, and except that NaOH was added to the spin finish in a concentration of 1%, by weight of the finish, to provide a pick-up of NaOH on the filaments of 0.13%.
  • the orifices were circular to provide filaments of round cross section.
  • the smaller filaments spun denier 4.16, natural draw ratio 1.61) were spun on one side, on 18 positions, each having 1590 orifices of diameter 15 x 30 mil (about
  • the tow amounting to about 56,000 filaments, was drawn at a draw ratio of 2.95X, to give drawn filaments of bundle tenacity 3.75 g/d, and dry heat shrinkage about 6-7%, crimped to give about 9 crimps per inch, and cut to a cut length of 1-1/2 inches, to give staple fiber with a finish level of 0.07% by weight, and 0.5 CE.
  • the nominal denier was 2.25, but about half the 5 filaments/fibers were of 1-1/2 denier and the other half of 3 denier.
  • Fabrics, especially woven fabrics, from the surface-modified fibers of this Example blended with cotton are found to provide garments with soft, dry, ⁇ - ⁇ - cool and airy aesthetics, and breathability, and show advantages (as compared with prior art polyester that has not been surface-modified) , especially where the improved moisture-wicking is important, such as coolness and dryness.
  • the percentage of cotton in such 5 blends may be reduced, without such significant loss of comfort as would be experienced using conventional polyester.
  • 100% polyester fabrics and garments thereof give improved comfort over conventional 0 prior art polyester.
  • the above filaments were prepared on spinning machines at a withdrawal speed of about 1800 ypm (about 1,650 meters/ in) , as indicated, with the finish roll located 148 inches (about 3.75 meters) distant from the 5 spinneret, and with an essentially radial quench system supplying 365 scfm of room temperature air.
  • Polyester fiber was prepared essentially as described in Example 1, except that NaOH was added to the spin finish in a concentration of 0.5%, by weight of finish, to provide a pick-up of NaOH on the filaments of 0.05%.
  • the fiber was processed essentially as described above to give a 0.2 CE.
  • the nominal denier was 2.25, but about half of the filaments were of 1-1/2 denier and the other half of 3 denier. The lower NaOH pick-up reduces corrosion during further processing of the fiber, which can be an advantage.
  • filaments (and cut fibers) of intentionally mixed denier were used in these Examples, the invention is not limited to this embodiment, and conventional average deniers may be used, e.g. of about 1 or less, up to about 3 or more, and conventional cut lengths (as disclosed in the copending application) for making spun yarns and fabrics and garments therefrom, using conventional techniques.
  • the filaments may be round or of other cross-sections, such as scalloped-oval, or trilobal, if desired, and are preferably solid, as indicated, as opposed to hollow in cross-section.
  • polyester staple fiber may be used as flock, or in dry-laid non-woven fabrics, with advantages, because of the improved comfort or aesthetics resulting from the improved moisture-wicking ability over conventional polyester fiber, especially when used in a surface of the fabric; for such uses, staple fiber is generally uncrimped.
  • the staple should be of conventional characteristics (other than the surface modification) according to the invention.
  • such staple is generally uncrimped, and of different dimensions.
  • such textile fabrics and garments should contain a significant amount of surface-modified polyester for the advantage to be noticeable, and this amount will generally depend on various considerations, such as the amount of polyester desired, the nature of the fabric, its construction and its intended use and desired aesthetics, but should generally be of the order of 10% by weight, although in some cases even 5% by weight may prove advantageous.
  • much larger quantities such as 25% or more, 50% or more, 75% or more, and 100% will provide greater advantage from the invention.
  • polyester i.e. poly(ethylene terephthalate)
  • copolymers e.g. with dye-modifiers
  • the relative viscosity may, if desired, be of low viscosity for low pilling 5 characteristics, and changes may be made accordingly to correspond with such changes to the polymer, e.g. in the methods of preparation and testing.
  • the advantage of the invention is that the normal hydrophobic surface is significantly changed by the simple treatment of - 1 - 0 freshly-extruded filaments with caustic according to the invention, and the invention is not considered restricted by the nature of the polyester polymer, nor by the cross-section or configuration of the filaments. Indeed, we believe that certain copolymers and special 5 configurations may respond somewhat more easily to surface modification than those in the Example.
  • Example shows application to a copolymer using a specific copolymer of fiber grade 0 molecular weight.
  • Example 3 A copolymer (LRV 24.5) of 83 mole % polyethylene terephthalate and 17 mole % polyethylene hexahydroterephthalate was spun in a conventional manner 5 using a spinneret temperature of 270 ⁇ C and wound up at 1450 ypm to give a yarn having 900 filaments and an overall denier of 2850. Between the spinneret and the wind up, the spun yarn contacts a finish roll which applies spin finish to the filaments.
  • the spin finish is composed of a 3.5% (by weight) aqueous emulsion of an anionic surfactant and nonionic lubricant and having 1.6% (by weight) of sodium hydroxide dissolved in the aqueous phase.
  • the wet pick-up of the spin finish on the spun yarn was 4.0% (by weight) giving a concentration of NaOH deposited on the yarn of 0.064% based on the weight of yarn.
  • Bundles of yarn were collected together forming a tow, of approximately 54,000 filaments, which was drawn, annealed, crimped, and cut.
  • the fibers were drawn at a ratio of 2.78X and annealed at 180°C to give a drawn fiber with a single filament tenacity of 5.3 grams per denier with an elongation of 16-18%, crimped to about 10 crimps per inch, and cut to 1-1/2 inches, to give a staple fiber with a finish level of about 0.08% by weight, and a 0.48 CE.
  • the nominal denier of the fiber was 1.3 denier per filament.

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  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Textile Engineering (AREA)
  • Chemical Or Physical Treatment Of Fibers (AREA)
  • Artificial Filaments (AREA)

Abstract

Modification de surface des fibres polyester solides des filés, des tissus et des vêtements, et de leurs précurseurs, les fibres discontinues et le câble de filaments, par traitement des filaments polyester non étirés, fraîchement extrudés, avec un agent caustique, de préférence dans un procédé d'apprêt de filage, de sorte que la surface soit modifiée et que les propriétés de l'imbibition par capillarité de l'humidité soient améliorées.
PCT/US1991/006500 1991-09-16 1991-09-16 Ameliorations apportees et relatives aux files et aux fibres discontinues WO1993006270A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/US1991/006500 WO1993006270A1 (fr) 1991-09-16 1991-09-16 Ameliorations apportees et relatives aux files et aux fibres discontinues

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/US1991/006500 WO1993006270A1 (fr) 1991-09-16 1991-09-16 Ameliorations apportees et relatives aux files et aux fibres discontinues

Publications (1)

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WO1993006270A1 true WO1993006270A1 (fr) 1993-04-01

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Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5069847A (en) * 1988-07-28 1991-12-03 E. I. Du Pont De Nemours And Company Improvements in process for preparing spun yarns

Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5069847A (en) * 1988-07-28 1991-12-03 E. I. Du Pont De Nemours And Company Improvements in process for preparing spun yarns

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