ULTRAFINE COMPOSITE FIBER, ULTRAFINE FIBER, METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SAME, AND FIBER STRUCTURE

• US 20100297443A1
• Filed: 11/28/2009
• Published: 11/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Daiwabo Holdings Company Limited, Daiwabo Polytec Co., Ltd. (Daiwabo Holdings Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: Daiwabo Holdings Company Limited, Daiwabo Polytec Co., Ltd. (Daiwabo Holdings Company Limited)
• Inventors: Ogata, Nobuo, Kamisasa, Toshio
• Application Number:
  US12/745,389
• Publication Number:
  US 20100297443A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 428/374
• CPC Class Codes: D01D 1/04 Melting filament-forming substances
• CPC Class Codes: D01D 10/00 Physical treatment of artificial filaments or the like during manufacture, i.e. during a continuous production process before the filaments have been collected finishing D02J
• CPC Class Codes: D01D 5/0023 the material being a polymer melt
• CPC Class Codes: D01D 5/30 Conjugate filaments; Spinnerette packs therefor
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 1/728 by electro-spinning electro-spinning methods and apparatus D01D5/0007
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 3/00 Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of yarns or like filamentary material of substantial length
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 3/005 Synthetic yarns or filaments D04H3/013 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 3/016 characterised by the fineness
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 3/147 Composite yarns or filaments
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 3/16 with bonds between thermoplastic filaments produced in association with filament formation, e.g. immediately following extrusion
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/2929 Bicomponent, conjugate, composite or collateral fibers or filaments [i.e., coextruded sheath-core or side-by-side type]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/2931 Fibers or filaments nonconcentric [e.g., side-by-side or eccentric, etc.]

Abstract

An ultrafine composite fiber of the present invention is obtained by heating and melting a composite-resin-formed product in front of a supply-side electrode and/or in a space between electrodes and extending the composite-resin-formed product by electrospinning, wherein the composite-resin-formed product is a solid-state composite-resin-formed product having two or more phases and including a resin that has a volume specific resistance of 10¹⁵ Ω·cm or less, and that is exposed on 30% or more of a surface of the composite-resin-formed product. With this, an ultrafine composite synthetic fiber and an ultrafine synthetic fiber can be obtained by electrospinning, without a solvent being mixed in a supply resin, and further, a method for manufacturing an ultrafine composite fiber, as well as a fiber structure containing an ultrafine composite fiber, are provided.

Claims

1. An ultrafine composite fiber obtained by heating and melting a composite-resin-formed product in front of a supply-side electrode and/or in a space between the supply-side electrode and a collection-side electrode and extending the composite-resin-formed product by electrospinning,

wherein the composite-resin-formed product is a solid-state composite-resin-formed product having two or more phases and including a resin that has a volume specific resistance of 10¹⁵ Ω

·

cm or less and that is exposed on 30% or more of a surface of the composite-resin-formed product, and

fiber components composing the ultrafine composite fiber are in a phase separation state.

2. The ultrafine composite fiber according to claim 1, containing no solvent therein.

3. The ultrafine composite fiber according to claim 1, wherein the composite-resin-formed product is a fiber having a phase structure of a sea-island type, a splittable type, or a core-sheath type.

4. The ultrafine composite fiber according to claim 1, wherein the composite-resin-formed product is a monofilament, a multifilament composed of a plurality of monofilaments bundled, or a tow.

5. The ultrafine composite fiber according to claim 1, wherein the resin component exposed on 30% or more of the surface of the composite-resin-formed product is at least one selected from ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymers, polyesters, nylons, and polyurethanes, and a resin component of another phase is at least one selected from polyolefins, polyesters, nylons, and polylactic acids.

6. An ultrafine fiber obtained by removing any of the components composing the ultrafine composite fiber according to claim 1.

7. A method for manufacturing an ultrafine composite fiber, the method comprising the steps of:

supplying a composite-resin-formed product to a supply-side electrode, wherein the composite-resin-formed product is a solid-state composite-resin-formed product having two or more phases and including a resin that has a volume specific resistance of 10¹⁵ Ω

·

cm or less and that is exposed on 30% or more of a surface of the composite-resin-formed product;

heating and melting the composite-resin-formed product in front of the supply-side electrode and/or in a space between the supply-side electrode and a collection-side electrode; and

extending the molten composite-resin-formed product by electrospinning.

8. The method for manufacturing an ultrafine composite fiber according to claim 7, wherein a heating-extending region is provided between the collection electrode and a position where the composite-resin-formed product is heated and molten.

9. A fiber structure obtained by heating and melting a composite-resin-formed product in front of a supply-side electrode and/or in a space between the supply-side electrode and a collection-side electrode, and extending the composite-resin-formed product by electrospinning,

wherein the composite-resin-formed product is a solid-state composite-resin-formed product having two or more phases and including a resin that has a volume specific resistance of 10¹⁵ Ω

·

cm or less and that is exposed on 30% or more of a surface of the composite-resin-formed product, and

fiber components composing the ultrafine composite fiber are in a phase separation state.