Compositions – Textile processing aid compositions – or processes of preparing – For textile materials consisting wholly or in part of...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-16
2001-10-09
Acquah, Samuel A. (Department: 1711)
Compositions
Textile processing aid compositions, or processes of preparing
For textile materials consisting wholly or in part of...
C528S274000, C528S279000, C528S300000, C528S301000, C252S008610, C252S008810
Reexamination Certificate
active
06299789
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a finish composition for synthetic fiber characterized by containing specific polyether polyester compounds which are biodegradable, minimize broken filament and ends down in production and processing of synthetic filament applied with the compounds and enable the production of high-quality textile products.
TECHNICAL BACKGROUND
Synthetic filament, such as polyester and nylon, is applied with a finish just after being extruded from spinnerets for the purpose of eliminating broken filament and ends down in yarn production and processing, passing the filament through the processes easily and being processed into high quality textile products.
Especially, the finishes applied in the spinning process of polyester or nylon filament to be processed into textured yarn or industrial textiles are required to be thermally durable because such filament is exposed to heat on heater rolls or plates in yarn production, texturing or further processing stages. The thermal durability mentioned here is a special property of finishes that do not easily decompose to change into fume during a short time heating and decomposes easily during a long time heating not to remain as tar buildup on heater rolls or plates. In addition, the finishes for polyester or nylon filament to be processed into textured yarn or industrial textiles are also required to impart superior lubricity, antistaticity and yarn winding performance to filament at high temperature for the purpose of minimizing ends down, broken filament and deposit in yarn production and processing, passing filament easily through yarn production and processing stages and producing excellent textile products.
Recent increase of yarn production and processing speed and demand for high-quality textile products resulted in the increase of the temperature of heater rolls or plates and consequently the demand for finishes that do not generate fume or tar buildup mentioned above has been increasing. In addition, the increase of the processing speed has accelerated the demand to finishes to impart lubricity, antistaticity and yarn winding performance at high temperature.
Furthermore those finishes are expected to be biodegradable because they are washed with water before yarn is processed into end products and the washed off finishes are treated in the wastewater.
In the conventional processes, the polyester or nylon filament to be fed to texturing process has been applied with finishes of which major component is ethylene oxide/propylene oxide block or random copolymers having 1,000 to 20,000 molecular weight and containing ethylene oxide and propylene oxide from 9:1 to 1:9 mol ratio.
The above copolymers do not easily decompose to change into fume during a short time heating but easily decompose during a long time heating not to remain as tar buildup on heater rolls or plates. They are commonly used even at present owing to their superior lubricity and antistaticity at high temperature.
However, the above copolymers has poor biodegradability and cannot meet the demand for the recent high-speed process and high quality textile products because of their unacceptable yarn winding performance and insufficient lubricity and antistaticity at high temperature.
Thus a finish for synthetic filament that causes neither fume nor tar buildup in high speed and high temperature process, imparts superior lubricity, antistaticity and yarn winding performance to filament and is biodegradable is required.
For solving the above problem, WO 95/21956 suggests polyether polycarbonate produced by reacting polyether and dialkyl carbonate as a biodegradable lubricant. However, the reaction proceeds inefficiently and the target compound cannot be produced in high yield.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,062 suggests a glycol monoester of ethylene oxide/propylene oxide random copolymer and fatty acid as a water-soluble and biodegradable lubricant for synthetic fiber. However, the lubricant causes tar buildup and stain on heaters at high temperature.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
The present invention provides a finish composition for synthetic filament containing one or more of polyether polyester compounds represented by a general formula, X—(A—B)
n
—A′—Y and having 1,000 to 20,000 molecular weight. And the object of the present invention is to provide a novel biodegradable finish for synthetic fiber that has superior function for preventing the generation of fume and tar buildup and imparting lubricity, antistaticity at high temperature and yarn winding performance to fiber.
In the general formula, each of X and Y is independently hydrogen or the residue of linear or branched saturated alcohol or fatty acid having 1 to 18 carbon atoms; A and A′ are the residue of ethylene oxide/propylene oxide block or random copolymer containing ethylene oxide and propylene oxide from 9:1 to 1:9 mol ratio; B is the residue of aliphatic dibasic acid represented as OOC(CH
2
)
m
COO; m is an integer from 1 to 4; and n is an integer from 1 to 3.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
The present invention is explained in detail as follows.
The molecular weight of the polyether polyester compound of the present invention is from 1,000 to 20,000. A compound having a molecular weight below 1,000 is not proper because it decomposes during a short-time heating and generates fume in yarn production and processing. And a compound having a molecular weight above 20,000 is not proper because it imparts poor lubricity on fiber and increases ends down, broken filament and deposit in yarn production and processing.
Each of the X and Y in the above formula is independently hydrogen or the residue of linear or branched saturated alcohol or fatty acid having 1 to 18 carbon atoms. A saturated alcohol or fatty acid having more than 18 carbon atoms is not suitable for the purpose because it cannot be easily applied due to its poor hydrophilicity and causes a lot of tar buildup. Unsaturated alkyl groups are not suitable too for the purpose of the present invention because they also cause a lot of tar buildup.
The A and A′ in the above formula are the residue of ethylene oxide/propylene oxide block or random copolymer containing ethylene oxide and propylene oxide from 9:1 to 1:9 mol ratio. The mol ratio of ethylene oxide to propylene oxide greater than 9:1 causes a lot of tar buildup and that smaller than 1:9 results in copolymers of decreased hydrophilicity. A copolymer containing ethylene oxide in 6:4 or greater mol ratio to propylene oxide is particularly suitable for the purpose of the present invention for its superior biodegradability.
The B in the above formula is the residue of aliphatic dibasic acid represented by OOC(CH
2
)
m
COO and m is an integer from 1 to 4. An m greater than 4 is not suitable because of increased tar buildup.
The n in the above formula is an integer from 1 to 3. An n greater than 3 is not suitable for the purpose of the present invention because of decreased lubricity.
The polyether polyester compound of the present invention can be easily produced in high yield by mixing random or block copolymer of ethylene oxide/propylene oxide with low molecular weight aliphatic dibasic acid, its anhydride or dimethyl ester in a proper mol ratio and reacting the mixture at 120 to 240° C. for 3 to 7 hours similarly to general esterification or transesterification processes.
The above esterification or transesterification is carried out in nitrogen atmosphere with known catalysts. Preferable catalysts are those having strong acidity such as paratoluene sulfonic acid or those having weak acidity such as titanium tetra-n-butoxide or titanium tetra-i-propoxide Alkaline compounds such as sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide or sodium methylate are not preferable because they decompose ethylene oxide/propylene oxide block or random copolymer and form polyether polyester compounds causing a lot of tar buildup. Titanium tetra-n-butoxide and titanium tetra-i-propoxide are preferable because they easily hydrolyze when water is added and precipi
Doi Tetsuo
Tatemoto Shinichi
Yada Yasuhiko
Acquah Samuel A.
Foley & Lardner
Matsumoto Yushi-Seiyaku Co. Ltd.
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