Bleaching and dyeing; fluid treatment and chemical modification – Chemical modification of textiles or fibers or products thereof – Cellulose fibers
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-07
2003-04-08
Delcotto, Gregory (Department: 1751)
Bleaching and dyeing; fluid treatment and chemical modification
Chemical modification of textiles or fibers or products thereof
Cellulose fibers
C510S326000, C510S336000, C510S337000, C510S342000, C510S356000, C510S506000, C510S361000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06544296
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a system for enhancing the properties of substrates, which comprise woven and non-woven fabric fibers. The substrates treated by the systems of the present invention have at least three enhanced properties either relative to untreated substrates or relative to prior art processes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Of all the various articles of manufacture, aside from those related to simple machines, articles comprising fabric are most ubiquitous and have been known since antiquity. These articles of manufacture, which comprise fabric are most readily found in the form of substrates, inter alia, clothing (apparel), furniture surfaces, shoelaces, draperies. The fabric comprising said substrates can be either natural material, for example, cotton, wool, and the like, or synthetic material, for example, polyester or polyester blend. The substrates can be rigid, flexible, a combination of both.
Important among substrates comprising fabric are articles of manufacture, which relate to clothing and other forms of wearing apparel. Manufacturers have used natural, synthetic, and mixtures thereof to form modern fibers that comprise the fabric. For wearing apparel per se, cotton is both functional and comfortable, thereby providing an inexpensive, renewable source of material. Synthetic fibers, alone or admixed with natural fibers, provide durability and wear properties, which are an improvement over fully natural fabric. For example, certain synthetic fabrics and blends do not exhibit the propensity to wrinkle like cotton. Nor do synthetic fabrics stain in the manner that natural fabrics stain.
Substrates comprising fabric can be classified into two categories: those comprising units having reactable units, inter alia, cotton, and those which have non-reactive or less reactive units, inter alia, polyester. For example, the hydroxyl units that comprise the polysaccharides of cotton can react with foreign substrates, i.e. food, dirt, oils, to form stains of varying durability. Therefore, fabric having these reactable units can become easily adulterated. This adulteration can profoundly affect the aesthetic form of the fabric, for example, color staining. However, fabric can also have bulk properties, which are directly related to its chemical structure, the most prevalent being the tendency of natural fibers, inter alia, cotton, and wool, to shrink.
Manufacturers of substrates comprising fabric have attempted to make use of the reactable nature of some fibers to imbue desirable properties into the final substrates. Permanent press cotton clothing is one example of modifying fabric to provide a benefit. Others include stain resistance, flame retardance, and enhanced whiteness (optical brightness). However, these improvements can have offsetting consequence. For example, many of the processes that apply permanent press modifiers are conducted under strongly acidic conditions, conditions which cause up to 50% of the natural fiber strength to be lost. In addition, fabric properties which are enhanced may be short-lived, and when this fact is coupled with, in many instances, diminished fiber strength, the overall effect is a lessening of the overall fabric quality. Also, the addition of anti-static or softening agents can change the softness profile of fabric thereby increasing the tendency of fabric to prematurely abrade.
There is a long felt need for a fabric comprising substrate having enhanced properties which do not sacrifice one desirable property in order to obtain one or more other desirable fabric properties.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention meets the aforementioned needs in that it has been surprisingly discovered that substrates which comprise fabric can have the fibers of said fabric modified in such a manner that a substrate is formed which has an enhancement of at least three fabric properties without the loss of any other desirable characteristics. The substrates of the present invention comprise fabric that has been treated at the point of manufacture or during the process of manufacturing fibers, which comprise said fabric. In addition, it is a property of the substrates of the present invention that the enhanced desirable properties are sustained during the useful life of said substrates and that the increase in these properties is not accomplished at the expense of fabric or fiber character, inter alia, strength, color, hydrophilicity.
The first aspect of the present invention relates to a substrate comprising fabric, the substrate treated with a composition comprising:
a) an aldehyde, said aldehyde a mono-functional aldehyde, a di-functional aldehyde, or mixtures thereof;
b) a polyethylene glycol having the formula:
R(OCH
2
CH
2
)
x
OR
wherein R is hydrogen, C
1
-C
4
alkyl, and mixtures thereof, and the index x has a value of 10 to 45;
c) an acid catalyst; and
d) optionally, a surface modifying agent;
wherein the treated substrate has at least three enhanced fabric benefits, said benefits selected from the group consisting of:
i) durable press;
ii) hand feel;
iii) anti-abrasion;
iv) anti-shrinkage; and
v) anti-yellowing.
The subject matter of the present invention is not limited to substrates but to any article of manufacture which comprises fibers which can be treated with the benefit enhancing compositions. To this end, the present invention also relates to an article of manufacture comprising fabric made up of woven or non-woven fibers, the fibers having at least three enhanced fabric benefits, said benefits selected from the group consisting of:
i) durable press;
ii) hand feel;
iii) anti-abrasion;
iv) anti-shrinkage; and
v) anti-yellowing;
wherein said benefits are achieved by treating said fibers with a composition comprising:
a) an aldehyde, said aldehyde a mono-functional aldehyde, a di-functional aldehyde, or mixtures thereof;
b) a polyethylene glycol having the formula:
R(OCH
2
CH
2
)
x
OR
wherein R is hydrogen, C
1
-C
4
alkyl, and mixtures thereof, and the index x has a value of 10 to 45;
c) an acid catalyst; and
d) optionally, a surface modifying agent.
One further embodiment of the present invention enhances four of the hereinabove identified fabric benefits, while another embodiment is capable of enhancing each of the fabric benefits. Other embodiments of the present invention provide at least three of the benefits while enhancing other benefits, inter alia, water absorbency, fire retardance.
The present invention further relates to processes for applying to fabric or fibers, which are to be formed into fabric, the compositions of the present invention wherein said fabric is subsequently used to form a substrate.
These and other objects, features, and advantages will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from a reading of the following detailed description and the appended claims. All percentages, ratios and proportions herein are by weight, unless otherwise specified. All temperatures are in degrees Celsius (° C.) unless otherwise specified. All documents cited are in relevant part, incorporated herein by reference.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The substrates of the present invention comprise fabric, which has been treated in a manner which enhances three or more identified fabric properties. The manner in which the fabric is treated obviates the problems, which have existed in the prior art, namely, preserving all the desirable properties of fabric, or the fibers comprising said fabric, while selectively enhancing other properties.
The present invention relates to the fabric properties or benefits selected from the group consisting of:
i) durable press;
ii) hand feel;
iii) anti-abrasion;
iv) anti-shrinkage; and
v) anti-yellowing.
It has now been surprisingly discovered that fabrics comprising reactable moieties can be treated with a composition which provides at least three of the above-identified fabric benefits while maintaining the balance of the listed properties. In other variations and embodiments of the present invention, four and five of the benefits are enhan
Gardner Robb Richard
Littig Janet Sue
Sivik Mark Robert
Delcotto Gregory
Dinsmore & Shohl LLP
The Proctor & Gamble Company
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