Fabric (woven – knitted – or nonwoven textile or cloth – etc.) – Woven fabric – Including strand which is stated to have specific attributes
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-27
2001-10-02
Morris, Terrel (Department: 1771)
Fabric (woven, knitted, or nonwoven textile or cloth, etc.)
Woven fabric
Including strand which is stated to have specific attributes
C442S301000, C428S921000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06297178
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to flame-proof fabrics based on melamine resin fibers, fire-safety blankets and clothing manufactured therefrom and their use for extinguishing fires and protecting persons and objects from fire, combustion products and/or extinguishants.
Conventional fire-safety blankets, or just “fire blankets”, are generally used for fighting minor fires by extinguishing the flames through suffocation.
Known fire-safety blankets and fire-safety clothing frequently consist of glass fiber fabrics. These fire-safety blankets have the disadvantage of being very brittle and of melting easily. More particularly, there is consequently a danger that fire-safety blankets made of this material will burn through in the event of a fire. Furthermore, fire-safety blankets based on aramid fibers are known, but such blankets are still very costly. Furthermore, the fire-retarding effect of aramid-based fabrics is still unsatisfactory. In addition, fire-safety clothing in these fabrics has only moderate wear comfort.
However, there is also a need for fire-safety blankets which are not primarily used as fire-extinguishing blankets, but which should be suitable in particular for protecting persons or objects from fire, heat, combustion products, such as soot, or extinguishants.
Such safety blankets would be particularly useful for example in churches and museums, which frequently house a multiplicity of irreplaceable works of art which are only badly protected against fire and, in the event of a fire, against the direct consequences of a fire, such as heat and soot, and also against the consequences of extinguishing measures.
Prior art fire-safety blankets are unsuitable for this specific purpose, since they are either too heavy, too stiff or too permeable to microparticles or liquids.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a flame-proof fabric for fire-safety blankets or clothing, which offers effective protection from fire, extinguishants and/or combustion products, i.e. is heat-, water-, soil- and/or oil-resistant.
We have found that this object is achieved by a flame-proof fabric comprising, based on the total weight of the fabric,
a) from 4.9 to 95% by weight of melamine resin fibers,
b) from 0 to 90.1% by weight of flame-proof fibers selected from the group consisting of aramid fibers, carbon fibers, glass fibers, flame-proof wool and flame-proof viscose, and
c) from 0 to 20% by weight of fillers, further comprising
d) from 4.9 to 95% by weight of normal-flammable fibers and/or
e) from 0.1 to 20% by weight of at least one heat-, oil-, soil- and/or moisture-resistant finish.
The present invention also provides fire-safety blankets and clothing which can be manufactured in the flame-proof fabric of the invention.
The invention further provides for the use of such fire-safety blankets for protecting objects from fire, heat, combustion products and/or extinguishants and also for the use for extinguishing fires.
Flame-retardant fabrics comprising the abovementioned constituents a), b), c) and d) can be conventionally woven from yarns or produced in the form of nonwovens from the fibers or fiber blends (see Ullmann's Enzyklopädie der Technischen Chemie, 4th edition, Vol. 23, “Textiltechnik”). Thereafter component e) is applied. It is also possible to finish the fibers a), b) and d), or the yarns spun therefrom, with component e), and then to further process the fibers or yarns to the fabrics of this invention.
In addition, however, the fabrics of this invention may further include from about 4.9 to 95% by weight, preferably from about 5 to 50% by weight, , in particular from about 10 to 45% by weight, of normal-flammable fabric, for example wool, cotton, polyamide fibers, polyester fibers and viscose. But the amount which is used of these fibers must not adversely affect the flame retardancy of the fabric.
The addition of normal-flammable fabric offers a number of advantages. If, for example, cotton or other comparable fibers are used as further component, it becomes possible to produce fabrics having an enhanced water absorption capacity, whereby it is possible to obtain improved protection from moisture, for example from water used in extinguishing the fire. Further, the addition of normal-flammable fibers can improve the wear comfort of fabrics. This is of particular advantage when protective clothing is to be manufactured from the fabrics. Also, the addition of normal-flammable fibers leads to a considerable reduction in the cost of flame-proof fabrics based on melamine resin fibers.
Instead of the normal-flammable fibers or in combination therewith, the fabrics of this invention may include from 0.1 to 20% by weight, preferably from about 0.5 to 10% by weight, of a heat-, oil-, soil- and/or moisture-resistant finish. The fabric can be impregnated or coated with the finish.
Examples of finishes which are suitable for use in conjunction with the present invention are one- or two-sidedly applied coats of metal, for example aluminum. Such metal coats, which are usually applied in a thickness of for example 5-200 &mgr;m, preferably 10-100 &mgr;m, so that the flexibility of the fabric is not adversely affected, protect from fire, the action of heat, especially radiant heat, soot and extinguishants, for example water and foams or powders. In line with the provisional European standard pr EN 1486, metallized fabrics are suitable for manufacturing protective suits for heavy duty fire and heat protection. The fabric is generally metallized by vacuum vapor deposition (see Ullmann's Enzyklopädie der Technischen Chemie, 3rd edition, Vol. 15, p. 276 and references cited therein). It is also possible to adhere thin metal foils to the fabric. Such metal foils consist in general of a polymeric support film coated with a thin film of metal. They preferably comprise a polymeric support based on polyester. The metal foils can be applied on one or preferably both sides of the fabric of this invention according to TL 8415-0203 (TL=technical supply specification of the German defense forces), for example by means of an adhesive or by hot calendering. Such foils are used for the coating of fabrics by various manufacturers (e.g. Gentex Corp., Carbondale PA, USA; C.F.Ploucquet GmbH & Co, D-89522 Heidenheim; Darmstädter GmbH, D-46485 Wesel).
It is also possible to produce the fabrics of this invention from metallized yarns or fibers. The yarns are preferably coated with aluminum in layer thicknesses within the range from 10-100 &mgr;m, while the fibers have metal coatings from 0.01 to 1 &mgr;m. Such yarns or fibers are producible for example in line with the processes described in DE-B 27 43 768, DE-A 38 10 597 or EP-A 528 192.
Further examples of finishes suitable for use in conjunction with the present invention are water-repellent hydrophobic layers applied on one or both sides of the fabric. Such layers consist preferably of polyurethane-including materials and/or polytetrafluoroethylene-including materials. Such coatings are already known for improving the weather protection of textiles (see Ullmann's Enzyklopädie der Technischen Chemie, 5th edition, Vol. A26, p. 306-312, and Lexikon fur Textilveredelung, 1955, p. 211 et seq.). These coatings can be formed in such a way that water vapor can diffuse through the layer, but liquid water or similar fire extinguishant products and combustion products can not pass through to any significant extent, if at all. These coatings are generally adhered or calendered onto the fabric as polymer films.
Further measures for improving the protection afforded by fire-safety blankets are finishing the fibers or the fabric with water-, oil- and/or soil-repellent compounds (hydrophobic or oleophobic finishing). Such compounds are known for use as textile assistants (cf. Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry 5th Ed., Vol. A26, p. 306-312). Examples of water-repellent compounds are metal soaps, silicones, organofluorine compounds, for example salts of perfluorinated carboxylic acids, polyacrylates of perfluorinated alcoho
Berbner Heinz
Eckel Ägidius
Eichhorn Hans-Dieter
Ott Karl
BASF - Aktiengesellschaft
Keil & Weinkauf
Morris Terrel
Torres Norca L.
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