Fabric (woven – knitted – or nonwoven textile or cloth – etc.) – Nonwoven fabric – Including strand or fiber material which is of specific...
Reexamination Certificate
1997-05-06
2001-05-15
Cole, Elizabeth M. (Department: 1771)
Fabric (woven, knitted, or nonwoven textile or cloth, etc.)
Nonwoven fabric
Including strand or fiber material which is of specific...
C442S344000, C442S351000, C442S415000, C442S416000, C428S332000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06232249
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a short fiber-containing down-feather wadding and a process for producing the same. More specifically, the present invention relates to a down-feather wadding in which functional chemical fibers are uniformly mixed with down-feathers and a process for producing the same.
The down-feather wadding here referred to means a wadding containing a mixture of downs and feathers having an excellent heat-retaining property at a ratio of from 0 to 100%. The downs refer to those in which yarn-like barbs are grown on tips of quills (attached to the skin of fowl through bases), and the feathers refer to those in which many barbs are grown on quills in rows and tiny barbs are further grown on the barbs in rows.
2. Description of Related Art
Down-feathers find wide acceptance in a down-feather mattress or comforter, a feather pillow, down-wear, a sleeping bag and the like.
It is sometimes requested to impart a far-infrared effect, a deodorant activity, a microbicidal activity, an acaridan-proof, a fire resistance and the like to down-feathers.
However, down-feathers are usually collected from waterfowl such as geese, ducks and the like, and have a high level of a water repellency (a ratio of a nonpolar amino acid is high on surfaces thereof). Accordingly, it was ordinarily difficult to impart activities by dissolving chemicals in a warm water bath and absorbing the same into down-feathers with stirring.
Meanwhile, it is also considered that chemical or natural fibers which have been subjected to the above mentioned treatment are mixed with down-feathers (in the case of chemical fibers, the chemicals can be incorporated therein at the spinning stage).
For example, rayon, polyester fibers, acrylic fibers and polyamide fibers which are typical chemical fibers are all polar materials. Cotton, hemp, silk and wool are fibers having a cellulose structure or a peptide structure, and these are also polar materials.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel short fiber-containing down-feather wadding in which synthetic or natural fibers are uniformly incorporated into down-feathers, and a process for producing the same.
The short fiber-containing down-feather wadding of the present invention is a down-feather wadding in which short fibers are incorporated in down-feathers. The above-mentioned object is achieved by entangling short fibers into barbs of down-feathers.
A process for producing short fiber-containing down-feather wadding in the present invention is a process for producing short fiber-containing down-feather wadding in which the short fibers are entangled in the down-feathers. The above-mentioned object is achieved by a process which comprises
(1) a washing step of washing down-feathers in a cleaning bath in which a detergent is dissolved in water, and then rinsing and dehydrating the same,
(2) a softening treatment step of softening the short fibers in a softening bath in which a surfactant-type softener is dissolved in water while stirring the same,
(3) an entangling step of charging and stirring the washed down-feathers in the softening bath in which the short fibers softened are dispersed to entangle the short fibers into the barbs of the down-feathers, and
(4) a heat-setting step of dehydrating and drying the mixture entangled, and then heat-setting the product entangled.
Consequently, in the short fiber-containing down-feather wadding of the present invention, the short fibers are entangled in the barbs and the tiny barbs with knots of the down-feathers, that is, the short fibers formed of synthetic or natural fibers are uniformly incorporated therein inseparably, making it possible to impart the properties of the short fibers to the down-feather wadding. Further, the short fibers are heat set, so that these short fibers are curled and hardly separated from the down-feathers. Especially when functional fibers are used as short fibers, it is possible to impart a far-infrared effect, an anion effect, an exothermic effect, a deodorant activity, a microbicidal activity, an acaridan-proof, a fire resistance and the like to a down-feather wadding.
The other process for producing a short fiber containing down-feather wadding in the present invention comprises charging washed down-feathers (including refined down-feathers) into a mixer, then charging short fibers which have been loosened using a short fiber loosening machine, and mixing the down-feathers with the short fibers in the mixer.
Accordingly, the other process can dispense with 1) the entangling step of charging and stirring the down-feathers into the softening bath in which the short fibers softened are present to entangle the short fibers into the barbs of the down-feathers, and 2) the step of dehydrating and drying the mixture entangled.
Therefore, the process for producing the short fiber-containing down-feather wadding and the apparatus used in the same in the present invention have outstanding effects that the short fiber-containing down-feather wadding in which the short fibers are entangled in the barbs of the down-feathers can be produced by a relatively small number of steps.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4134167 (1979-01-01), Kazuo
patent: 4837067 (1989-06-01), Carey, Jr. et al.
patent: 54-027069 (1979-03-01), None
Armstrong Westerman Hattori McLeland & Naughton LLP
Cole Elizabeth M.
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