Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Coated or structually defined flake – particle – cell – strand,... – Rod – strand – filament or fiber
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-18
2003-11-25
Juska, Cheryl A. (Department: 1771)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Coated or structually defined flake, particle, cell, strand,...
Rod, strand, filament or fiber
C428S365000, C528S272000, C528S293000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06652964
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a poly(trimethylene terephthalate)-base fiber and, more specifically, to a poly(trimethylene terephthalate)-base fiber dyeable into a dark shade by either one or both of a cationic dye and a disperse dye under atmospheric pressure, and also relates to a fabric using the fiber.
BACKGROUND ART
The poly(trimethylene terephthalate) fiber is an epoch-making fiber having all at the same time a soft touch attributable to the low modulus, the excellent elastic recovery analogous to a nylon fiber, and properties analogous to a poly(ethylene terephthalate) fiber, such as a wash-and-wear property, dimensional stability and good color fastness. By, virtue of these properties, the poly(trimethylene terephthalate) fiber is being applied to clothing, carpets and the like.
However, the poly(trimethylene terephthalate) fiber has a problem in the dyeability. That is, known poly(trimethylene terephthalate) fibers have a problem in their dyeing because the dye is limited to a disperse dye and dyeing into dark shade can be attained only at a high temperature of from 110 to 120° C.
The dye which can dye the fiber is limited to a disperse dye and this means that the resulting dyed product is low in the brilliance and slightly inferior in the color fastness against dry cleaning solvent, abrasion in wet state, dye sublimation and the,like.
The temperature for attaining the dyeing into dark shade is from 110 to 120° C. and this means that composite fiber fabric with other fibers which thermally decompose at the above-described high temperatures cannot be dyed. For example, by compounding the poly(trimethylene terephthalate) fiber with other fiber such as polyurethane elastic fiber, wool, silk or acetate fiber, a blend fabric having softness and touch unattainable by conventional techniques can be obtained. However, these other fibers have a problem in that when the temperature exceeds 110° C. at the dyeing stage, the fiber greatly decreases in the tenacity or loses transparency and turns white, and thereby the commercial value is seriously impaired.
These problems can be overcome if a poly(trimethylene terephthalate) fiber dyeable into dark shade with either one or both of a cationic dye and a disperse dye under atmospheric pressure is found, however, such a fiber has heretofore been not known.
Within the range of conventional techniques, a technique for rendering a poly(trimethylene terephthalate) fiber dyeable with a dye other than a disperse dye for example, a cationic dye, is not known at all.
For increasing the cationic dye dyeability of a polyester fiber including poly(ethylene terephthalate), a method of copolymerizing a polyester by adding thereto a sulfonic acid metal salt group or an isophthalic acid having a quaternary phosphonium sulfonate group before the completion of the polycondensation reaction (see, Japanese Examined Patent Publication (Kokoku) Nos. 34-10497, 47-22334 and 5-230113) is known, though its application to a poly(trimethylene terephthalate) fiber is not specifically described. However, the fiber obtained as such is not dyeable with a cationic dye under atmospheric pressure and has high modulus, therefore, only a fabric having rigid and stiff touch can be obtained. For imparting cationic dye dyeability under atmospheric pressure, it is known to use in the poly(ethylene terephthalate), a dicarboxylic acid such as adipic acid and isophthalic acid or an alkyl ester thereof as a copolymerizing component together with an isophthalic acid having a sulfonic acid metal salt group (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 57-66119). However, the fiber obtained as such also has high modulus and only a fabric having stiff touch can be obtained.
As a fiber having good dyeability with a disperse dye and having low modulus and excellent elastic recovery, for example, a poly(trimethylene terephthalate) fiber disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 52-5320 is known. Furthermore, a method of dyeing a poly(trimethylene terephthalate) fiber using a disperse dye under atmospheric pressure is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined International Publication (Kohyo) No. 9-509225. However, these fibers cannot be dyed at all with a cationic dye under atmospheric pressure. The present inventors have particularly studied thereon and, as a result, have found that in these techniques disclosed in the above-described known arts, the dyeing with a disperse dye under atmospheric pressure can be performed only with a very low dye concentration For example, the dye concentration used in Examples of Japanese Unexamined International Publication (Kohyo) No. 9-509225 is at most 0.5% owf (the unit “% owf” as used herein is a dye concentration in the dye solution shown by the wt % of dyed fabric). In the field of clothing, a fabric dyed into dark shade is demanded similarly to fabrics dyed into light or medium shade. In such dyeing into dark shade, the dye concentration must be 4% owf or more and in some cases, 10% owf or more. However, in the dyeing of a poly(trimethylene terephthalate) fiber, sufficiently high dye exhaustion cannot be attained under atmospheric pressure and therefore, the fiber cannot be dyed into a dark shade.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
One object of the present invention is to provide a poly(trimethylene terephthalate)-based fiber dyeable into a dark shade under atmospheric pressure using either one or both of a cationic dye and a disperse dye.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a poly(trimethylene terephthalate)-based fiber capable of giving a composite fiber product in blend or in union with polyurethane elastic fiber, wool, silk, acetate fiber or the like, which can be dyed without impairing the physical properties of the fiber combined having relatively low heat resistance.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a union woven fabric, blend yarn fabric or union knitted fabric composed of a poly(trimethylene terephthalate)-based fiber capable of fast dyeing under atmospheric pressure in combination with other fiber material.
One specific object of the present invention includes providing a fabric made of a blend of a polyurethane elastic fiber and a poly(trimethylene terephthalate)-based fiber, which can be fast dyed by a simple method using an atmospheric dyeing facility in common use.
The present inventors have found that the above-described objects can be attained by a polyester fiber prepared using, as the polymer, poly(trimethylene terephthalate) with which a specific third component is copolymerized at a specific copolymerizing ratio, such that the fiber has a peak temperature of loss tangent, a modulus and an elastic recovery each falling within an extremely limited range. The present invention has been accomplished based on this finding.
More specifically, the present invention first provides a fiber comprising a polyester obtained by copolymerizing a third component with poly(trimethylene terephthalate), and also provides a fabric using the polyester fiber, wherein the third component is an ester-forming sulfonate compound in a copolymerizing ratio of from 0.5 to 5 mol %, the fiber has a peak temperature of loss tangent of from 85 to 115° C., and the modulus Q (g/d) and the elastic recovery R (%) of the fiber satisfy the following formula (1):
0.18≦Q/R≦0.45 (1)
Second, the present invention provides a fiber comprising a polyester obtained by copolymerizing a third component with poly(trimethylene terephthalate), and also provides a fabric using the polyester fiber, wherein the third component is at least one selected from the group consisting of (1) an aliphatic or alicyclic glycol having from 4 to 12 carbon atoms in a copolymerizing ratio of from 1.5 to 12 wt %, (2) an aliphatic or alicyclic dicarboxylic acid having from 2 to 14 carbon atoms or isophthalic acid in a copolymerizing ratio of from 3 to 9 wt %, and (3) a poly(alkylene glycol) in a copolymerizing ratio of from 3 to 10 wt %, the fiber has a peak temperature of loss tangent of fro
Fujimoto Katsuhiro
Kato Jinichiro
Asahi Kasei Kabushiki Kaisha
Juska Cheryl A.
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