MULTICOMPONENT FIBERS

• US 20190309445A1
• Filed: 04/02/2019
• Published: 10/10/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2018
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Eastman Chemical Company
• Original Assignee: Eastman Chemical Company
• Inventors: Rudisill, Edgar N., Everett, Charles Stuart, Holbert, JR., Richard Moore, Holbrook, JR., Loady Palmer, Smith, Johnathan Wayne, Urman, Kevin Leonard
• Application Number:
  US16/373,057
• Publication Number:
  US 20190309445A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: C08G 63/6886 Dicarboxylic acids and dihydroxy compounds
• CPC Class Codes: C08J 2300/14 Water soluble or water swellable polymers, e.g. aqueous gels
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 2205/025 containing two or more polymers of the same hierarchy C08L, and differing only in parameters such as density, comonomer content, molecular weight, structure
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 67/02 Polyesters derived from dicarboxylic acids and dihydroxy compounds C08L67/06 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: D01D 5/30 Conjugate filaments; Spinnerette packs therefor
• CPC Class Codes: D01D 5/36 Matrix structure; Spinnerette packs therefor
• CPC Class Codes: D01F 8/00 Conjugated, i.e. bi- or multicomponent, artificial filaments or the like; Manufacture thereof
• CPC Class Codes: D01F 8/14 with at least one polyester as constituent
• CPC Class Codes: D02G 1/16 using jets or streams of turbulent gases, e.g. air, steam interlacing filaments D02J1/08
• CPC Class Codes: D02G 3/02 Yarns or threads characterised by the material or by the materials from which they are made
• CPC Class Codes: D02G 3/045 all components being made from artificial or synthetic material
• CPC Class Codes: D02G 3/406 where the polymeric solution is removable at a later stage, e.g. by washing
• CPC Class Codes: D02J 1/08 Interlacing constituent filaments without breakage thereof, e.g. by use of turbulent air streams
• CPC Class Codes: D10B 2331/00 Fibres made from polymers obtained otherwise than by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds, e.g. polycondensation products
• CPC Class Codes: D10B 2401/024 soluble
• CPC Class Codes: D10B 2403/02 Cross-sectional features for three-dimensional features D10B2403/033
• CPC Class Codes: D10B 2501/00 Wearing apparel
• CPC Class Codes: D10B 2503/00 Domestic or personal
• CPC Class Codes: D10B 2505/00 Industrial
• CPC Class Codes: D10B 2507/00 Sport; Military
• CPC Class Codes: D10B 2509/00 : Medical; Hygiene

Abstract

A multicomponent fiber having a shaped cross section is provided in this invention. The multicomponent fiber comprises:

• • (A) at least one water dispersible polymer; and
  • (B) a plurality of domains comprising one or more water non-dispersible polymers, wherein said domains are substantially isolated from each other by said water dispersible polymer intervening between said domains; and
    wherein said water dispersible polymer is present at the perimeter of the outside cross-section of said multicomponent fiber in a proportion of not greater than 55% water dispersible polymer. Articles produced from the multicomponent fiber are also provided.

Claims

1. A multicomponent fiber having a shaped cross section, said multicomponent fiber comprising:

(A) at least one water dispersible polymer; and

(B) a plurality of domains comprising one or more water non-dispersible polymers, wherein said domains are substantially isolated from each other by said water dispersible polymer intervening between said domains; and

wherein said water dispersible polymer is present at the perimeter of the outside cross-section of said multicomponent fiber in a proportion of not greater than 55% water dispersible polymer.

2. The multicomponent fiber according to claim 1 wherein the water dispersible polymer is selected from the group consisting of sulfopolyesters, polyvinyl alcohols, acrylics, polyethylene glycols, polyvinyl methyl ethers, polyethyleneimines, polyquaternary amines, polymers of ethylene oxide, starches, and modified cellulosics.

3. The multicomponent fiber according to claim 2 wherein said water dispersible polymer is a sulfopolyester.

4. The multicomponent fiber according to claim 1 wherein said water dispersible polymer is present at the perimeter of the outside cross-section of said multicomponent fiber of this invention in a proportion of no greater than about 45% water dispersible polymer.

5. The multicomponent fiber according to claim 1 wherein said water dispersible polymer is present at the perimeter of the outside cross-section of said multicomponent fiber of this invention in a proportion of no greater than about 40% water dispersible polymer.

6. The multicomponent fiber according to claim 1 wherein said water dispersible polymer is present at the perimeter of the outside cross-section of said multicomponent fiber of this invention in a proportion of no greater than about 35% water dispersible polymer.

7. The multicomponent fiber according to claim 1 wherein said water dispersible polymer is present at the perimeter of the outside cross-section of said multicomponent fiber of this invention in a proportion of no greater than about 30% water dispersible polymer.

8. The multicomponent fiber according to claim 1 wherein said multicomponent fiber has a striped or ribbon cross-section with 11 stripes;

wherein the outer stripes comprises water non-dispersible synthetic polymer;

wherein 6 stripes comprise water non-dispersible synthetic polymer; and

wherein 5 stripes comprise water dispersible polymer.

9. The multicomponent fiber according to claim 8 wherein the water dispersible polymer comprises sulfopolyester, and the water non-dispersible polymer comprises polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

10. The multicomponent fiber according to claim 1 wherein said multicomponent fiber is cut to a length of about 0.1 mm to about 100 mm.

11. The multicomponent fiber according to claim 3 wherein the ratio by weight of the sulfopolyester to water non-dispersible synthetic polymer component in said multicomponent fiber ranges from about 98:

2 to about 2;

98.

12. The multicomponent fiber according to claim 3 wherein said sulfopolyester comprises 50 percent by weight or less of the total weight of the multicomponent fiber.

13. The multicomponent fiber according to claim 3 wherein said sulfopolyester comprises dicarboxylic acid residue of at least 60 mole percent;

wherein said dicarboxylic acid is selected from the group consisting of aliphatic dicarboxylic acids, alicyclic dicarboxylic acids, aromatic dicarboxylic acids, or mixtures of two or more of these acids.

14. The multicomponent fiber according to claim 3 wherein said sulfopolyester comprises from about 4 to about 40 mole percent, based on the total repeating units, of residues of at least one sulfomonomer having 2 functional groups and one or more sulfonate groups attached to an aromatic or cycloaliphatic ring wherein the functional groups are hydroxyl, carboxyl, or a combination thereof.

15. The multicomponent fiber according to claim 14 wherein said sulfomonomer residues is selected from the group consisting of monomer residues where the sulfonate salt group is attached to an aromatic acid nucleus, metal sulfonate salts of sulfophthalic acid, sulfoterephthalic acid, sulfoisophthalic acid, or combinations thereof, and 5-sodiosulfoisophthalic acid and esters thereof.

16. The multicomponent fiber according to claim 3 wherein said sulfopolyester comprises one or more diol residues;

and wherein said diol residues are selected from the group consisting of ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, polyethylene glycols, 1,3-propanediol, 2,4-dimethyl-2-ethylhexane-1,3-diol, 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-propanediol, 2-ethyl-2-butyl-1,3-propanediol, 2-ethyl-2-isobutyl-1,3-propanediol, 1,3-butanediol, 1,4-butanediol, 1,5-pentanediol, 1,6-hexanediol, 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,6-hexanediol, thiodiethanol, 1,2-cyclohexanedimethanol, 1,3-cyclohexanedimethanol, 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol, 2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-1,3-cyclobutanediol, p-xylylenediol, and combinations of one or more of these glycols.

17. The multicomponent fiber of claim 3 wherein said sulfopolyester has a glass transition temperature of at least 25°

C. as measured on the dry polymer using standard techniques well known to persons skilled in the art, such as differential scanning calorimetry (“

DSC”

).

18. The multicomponent fiber according to claim 1 wherein said water non-dispersible polymer is selected from the group consisting of polyolefins, polyesters, copolyesters, polyamides, polylactides, polycaprolactone, polycarbonate, polyurethane, acrylics, cellulose ester, and polyvinyl chloride.

19. The multicomponent fiber according to claim 1, wherein the configurations of said multicomponent fiber is selected from the group consisting of eccentric sheath core, side by side, segmented pie, striped (ribbon), islands-in-the-sea, and combinations thereof.

20. The multicomponent according to claim 1 wherein said multicomponent fiber is textured.