U.S. patent application number 15/746224 was filed with the patent office on 2018-07-26 for method for manufacturing and device for manufacturing ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric.
This patent application is currently assigned to Kasen Nozzle Mfg. Co. Ltd.. The applicant listed for this patent is Kasen Nozzle Mfg. Co. Ltd.. Invention is credited to Masahiro Goto, Tsuyoshi Harada, Hirokazu Suemitsu.
Application Number | 20180209081 15/746224 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 57800102 |
Filed Date | 2018-07-26 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180209081 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Suemitsu; Hirokazu ; et
al. |
July 26, 2018 |
METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING AND DEVICE FOR MANUFACTURING ULTRAFINE
FIBER NONWOVEN FABRIC
Abstract
A spinning die for producing ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric is
made miniaturized and its productivity thereof is enhanced. The
spinning die has a substantial cuboid shape and a plurality of
nozzle holes is disposed in a longitudinal direction. A slit for
jetting hot air is disposed only in one side of the nozzle holes.
Thermoplastic polymer is melt blown from the nozzle of the spinning
die to obtain ultrafine fibers. Hot air is jetted from the slit
disposed at only one side of the nozzle holes. The result is that
the ultrafine fibers melt blown in a direction inclined with
respect to an axis direction of the nozzle. The blown ultrafine
fibers are accumulated by sucking to downward to obtain ultrafine
fiber nonwoven fabric.
Inventors: |
Suemitsu; Hirokazu;
(Ibara-shi, Okayama, JP) ; Goto; Masahiro;
(Ibara-shi, Okayama, JP) ; Harada; Tsuyoshi;
(Ibara-shi, Okayama, JP) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Kasen Nozzle Mfg. Co. Ltd. |
Osaka-shi, Osaka |
|
JP |
|
|
Assignee: |
Kasen Nozzle Mfg. Co. Ltd.
Osaka-shi, Osaka
JP
|
Family ID: |
57800102 |
Appl. No.: |
15/746224 |
Filed: |
July 12, 2016 |
PCT Filed: |
July 12, 2016 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/JP2016/070580 |
371 Date: |
January 19, 2018 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
D04H 3/033 20130101;
D10B 2503/00 20130101; D01D 10/00 20130101; D01D 5/0985 20130101;
D10B 2505/04 20130101; D01D 4/025 20130101; D04H 3/16 20130101;
D04H 3/016 20130101; D01D 5/08 20130101 |
International
Class: |
D04H 3/033 20060101
D04H003/033; D01D 4/02 20060101 D01D004/02; D01D 5/08 20060101
D01D005/08; D01D 10/00 20060101 D01D010/00; D04H 3/016 20060101
D04H003/016; D04H 3/16 20060101 D04H003/16 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 22, 2015 |
JP |
2015-144966 |
Claims
1. A method for producing ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric,
comprising: a step of melt blowing thermoplastic polymer from a
plurality of nozzle holes which are disposed in a longitudinal
direction at a longitudinal lower end of a spinning die having a
substantial cuboid shape to obtain ultrafine fibers, a step of
jetting out hot air from a slit disposed in only one side of the
nozzle holes to blow the ultrafine fibers at an angle inclining
with respect to the direction of an axial line of the nozzles, and
a step of accumulating the blown ultrafine fibers which are sucked
downward from the spinning die to form the ultrafine fiber nonwoven
fabric.
2. The method for producing ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric
according to claim 1, wherein the slit is provided in either a
right side or a left side of a line of the nozzle holes.
3. The method for producing ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric
according to claim 1, wherein the ultrafine fibers are blown with
hot air at an angle inclining 30.degree. to 60.degree. with respect
to the axis line of the nozzles.
4. An apparatus for producing ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric,
comprising a plurality of nozzle holes disposed in a longitudinal
direction at a longitudinal lower end of a spinning die having a
substantial cuboid shape, and a slit for jetting hot air disposed
in only one side of a line of the nozzle holes.
5. The apparatus for producing ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric
according to claim 5, wherein the slit is provided in only a right
side of a line of the nozzle holes.
6. The apparatus for producing ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric
according to claim 5, wherein the slit is provided in only a left
side of a line of the nozzle holes.
7. A combined apparatus for producing ultrafine fiber nonwoven
fabric is disposing at least two of the apparatus according to
claim 5 in parallel.
8. A combined apparatus for producing ultrafine fiber nonwoven
fabric is disposing at least two of the apparatus according to
claim 6 in parallel.
9. A combined apparatus for producing ultrafine fiber nonwoven
fabric of claim 4, further comprising a first apparatus in which
the slit is provided in only a right side of a line of the nozzle
holes and a second apparatus in which the slit is provided in only
a left side of a line of the nozzle holes.
10. The apparatus of producing ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric
according to claim 4, wherein the hot air from the slit is jetted
at an angle inclining 30.degree. to 60.degree. with respect to the
axis direction of the nozzles.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a National Phase application filed under
35 USC 371 of PCT International Application No. PCT/JP2016/070580
with an International Filing Date of Jul. 12, 2016, which claims
under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 119(a) the benefit of Japanese Application
No. 2015-144966 filed on Jul. 22, 2015, the entire contents of
which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND
(a) Technical Field
[0002] The present disclosure relates to a method for producing
ultrafine fiber (or filament) nonwoven fabric and an apparatus
therefor, in particular to the method which has excellent
productivity and the apparatus therefor with a reduced size.
(b) Description of the Related Art
[0003] Hitherto, ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric has been produced
with using a spinning die of a substantial cuboid shape, which has
nozzle holes for melt blowing thermoplastic polymer and slits for
jetting hot air in both sides of the nozzle holes. The nozzle holes
are linearly arranged in a longitudinal direction of the
substantial cuboid spinning die. The spinning die is set to adjust
the longitudinal direction of the spinning die to a width direction
of the ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric. A lot of ultrafine fibers
are blown from the nozzle holes and accumulated to form ultrafine
fiber nonwoven fabric.
[0004] A schematic cross sectional view of the spinning die is
shown in FIG. 1. The longitudinal direction of the spinning die 1
is the direction from the front side to the back side of the paper
sheet on which FIG. 1 is drawn. A plurality of nozzle holes 2 are
aligned in a determined space distance along the longitudinal
direction of the spinning die 1 (the direction from the front side
to the back side of the paper sheet). Molten thermoplastic polymer
is flowed from a polymer passage 3 to downward, and passed through
an upper end of a nozzle to reach the nozzle hole 2. Hot air is
flowed in pipes 6, 6 in a pressurized condition and passed through
hot air passages 5, 5 to jet from slits 4, 4 which are disposed to
both side of the nozzle hole 2. Thus, the molten thermoplastic
polymer at the nozzle hole 2 is blown to a direction of an axis
line of the nozzle with hot air jetted from the slits 4, 4 to
obtain ultrafine fibers. A spinning die similar to the above is
disclosed in Japanese Publication 2015-14065.
[0005] However, the spinning die 1 needs to have the pipes 6, 6,
the hot air passages 5, 5 and the slits 4, 4 in both sides of the
nozzle hole, to result in a drawback of a large-sized apparatus.
The object of the present disclosure is to overcome the drawback
and to make a small-sized apparatus. In addition, the spinning die
is small-sized and a plurality of the spinning dies may be arranged
in parallel, thus a productivity of ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric
may be enhanced.
SUMMARY
[0006] In order to solve the above problems, according to the
present disclosure, it is not always necessary to include the slits
in both sides of the nozzle hole. Accordingly, the reason why the
conventional spinning die includes the slits in both sides of the
nozzle hole is considered that the thermoplastic polymer is melt
blown from the nozzle hole 2 by jetting hot air to the axis
direction of the nozzle and the melt blown ultrafine fiber is
extended to the direction of the axis to enhance the strength of
the ultrafine fiber. However, it has been found that, even if hot
air is jetted to the direction of axis of the ultrafine fiber in
the condition, because the ultrafine fiber is floating in the air,
almost no extension effects of the fiber are obtained.
[0007] Accordingly, in the present disclosure, hot air has been
jetted from only one side of the nozzle hole to produce ultrafine
fiber nonwoven fabric, and it was found that the resultant
ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric has almost the same properties as
the conventional ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric. Thus, the present
disclosure provides a method for producing ultrafine fiber nonwoven
fabric, which comprises: a step of melt blowing thermoplastic
polymer from a plurality of nozzle holes which are disposed in a
longitudinal direction at a longitudinal lower end of a spinning
die having a substantial cuboid shape to obtain ultrafine fibers, a
step of jetting out hot air from a slit disposed in only one side
of the nozzle holes to blow the ultrafine fibers at an angle
inclining with respect to the direction of an axial line of the
nozzles, and a step of accumulating the blown ultrafine fibers
which are sucked downward from the spinning die to form the
ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] FIG. 1 shows a schematic cross sectional view of a
conventional spinning die for a producing apparatus for ultrafine
fiber nonwoven fabric.
[0009] FIG. 2 shows a schematic cross sectional view of an example
of the spinning die employed in the producing apparatus for the
ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric of the present invention.
[0010] FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a relation of an
axial line of the nozzle with a blowing direction of the ultrafine
fiber or a jetting direction of hot air.
[0011] FIG. 4 shows a schematic cross sectional view of another
embodiment of the spinning die employed in the producing apparatus
for the ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric of the present invention.
FIG. 5 shows a schematic cross sectional view of the producing
apparatus of ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric, which combines two of
the spinning dies of FIG. 2.
[0012] FIG. 6 shows a schematic cross sectional view of the
producing apparatus of ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric, which
combines two of the spinning dies of FIG. 4.
[0013] FIG. 7 shows a schematic cross sectional view of the
producing apparatus of ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric, which
combines the spinning die of FIG. 2 with the spinning die of FIG.
4, in which the jetting directions of hot air are faced with each
other.
[0014] FIG. 8 shows a schematic cross sectional view of the
producing apparatus of ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric, which
combines the spinning die of FIG. 2 with the spinning die of FIG.
4, in which the jetting directions of hot air are leaving apart
with each other.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0015] The production method of the present disclosure is conducted
with using a specific spinning die. The specific spinning die may
include an embodiment shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 shows a schematic
cross sectional view of a spinning die having a cuboid shape and a
direction from the front side to the back side of the paper sheet
on which FIG. 2 is drawn is a longitudinal direction of the
spinning die 1. A plurality of nozzle holes 2 are aligned in the
longitudinal direction (the direction from the front side to the
back side of the paper sheet) in a determined space distance.
Thermoplastic polymer is melt blown from the nozzle holes to form
ultrafine fibers.
[0016] A slit is provided in only a right side of the nozzle hole
2. Hot air is flowed in pipes 6 in a pressurized condition and
passed through hot air passage 5, thus jetting from slit 4.
Accordingly, the ultrafine fibers from the nozzle 2 are blown to a
left side to the axis line direction of the nozzle by jetting hot
air. FIG. 3 schematically shows the direction of the axis line of
the nozzle and the direction of blowing ultrafine fibers. The
direction of blowing ultrafine fibers inclines a determined angle
of .theta. with respect to the direction of the axis line of the
nozzle. The angle of .theta. can be any value and may generally be
preferred to be within a range of 30.degree. to 60.degree.. For
setting an angle of the direction of blowing ultrafine fibers to
.theta., it is needless to say that a jetting angle of hot air is
made .theta. with respect to the direction of the axis line of the
nozzle.
[0017] Hot air is jetted to the ultrafine fibers at an angle of
.theta. inclining with respect to the direction of the axis line of
the nozzle. In this air jetting, it is necessary that the ultrafine
fibers are sucked downward of the spinning die 1. Without sucking,
it is not so easy that the ultrafine fibers are uniformly
accumulated on a conveyer provided under the spinning die 1, thus
deteriorating qualities of the resultant ultrafine fiber nonwoven
fabric. The sucking can generally be conducted by a reduced
pressure using a suction box from a lower portion of a breathable
conveyer, such as a wire mesh chain conveyer and the like.
[0018] In FIG. 2 the slit is disposed in only a right side of the
nozzle hole 2, but it can be disposed only in a left side.
Accordingly, the die is symmetrical with the spinning die of FIG. 2
and its cross sectional view is shown in FIG. 4 as a spinning die 1
using same number.
[0019] The apparatus for the production method of the present
disclosure is comprised of the spinning die 1 shown in FIG. 2
and/or FIG. 4. Accordingly, the spinning die 1 comprises a pipe for
providing hot air and a passage for providing thermoplastic
polymer.
[0020] Actually, the production of the ultrafine fiber nonwoven
fabric may be conducted by an apparatus of only one of the spinning
die 1 as shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 4, or an apparatus of a
combination of more than two spinning dies 1 shown in FIG. 2 (for
example as shown in FIG. 5). It may also be conducted by an
apparatus of a combination of more than two spinning dies of shown
in FIG. 4 (for example as shown in FIG. 6). In addition, it may be
an apparatus of a combination of the spinning die 1 shown in FIG. 2
and the spinning die 1 shown in FIG. 4 (for example as shown in
FIG. 7 and FIG. 8). The combined apparatus shown in FIG. 7 has the
jetting directions of hot air, which are faced with each other. The
combined apparatus shown in FIG. 8 has the jetting directions of
hot air, which are left apart with each other. Further, the
combined apparatus can be assembled with two or more apparatuses or
can be manufactured as one body.
[0021] The term "ultrafine fiber" as used herein means fiber having
a fiber diameter of about 1 to about 15 .mu.m. The thermoplastic
polymer employed herein can be polyolefin, polyamide, polyester or
the like. The nozzle hole 2 can generally have a diameter of about
0.1 to about 0.5 mm. Number of the nozzle holes can be 30 to 100
dies/inch and the nozzle holes are arranged in a longitudinal
direction at a longitudinal lower end of a spinning die 1. The
nozzle generally has a length of about 1 to about 5 mm.
[0022] In the combined apparatus of the present disclosure, a mixed
ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric can be obtained by changing the
sorts of the thermoplastic polymer melt blown from each of the
apparatuses. For example, polyester fiber is melt blown from one of
the combined apparatus and polypropylene is melt blown from the
other of the combined apparatus, thus obtaining a
polyester/polypropylene ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric. In the
combined apparatus of the present disclosure, another mixed
ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric can be obtained by changing each
diameter of the nozzle hole 2, thus obtaining a ultrafine fiber
nonwoven fabric having different fiber diameter. For example, a
thermoplastic polymer is melt blown from one of the combined
apparatus which provides nozzle holes having a diameter of 0.1 mm
and a thermoplastic polymer is melt blown from the other of the
combined apparatus which provides nozzle holes having a diameter of
0.5 mm, thus obtaining a ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric having a
mixed fiber diameter.
[0023] The ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric obtained by the
production method of the present disclosure can be used for
applications, such as filter material, cleaning cloth or the
like.
[0024] The apparatus of the present disclosure has technical
effects of making it miniaturized because it has the pipe flowing
hot air, the passage for hot air and the slit only in one side of
the nozzle holes, as it is clear when comparing with the
conventional apparatus of FIG. 1. In addition, even if two of the
apparatuses of the present disclosure are combined, the resulting
combined apparatus has the same size with the conventional
apparatus. According, the present disclosure has excellent
technical effects in that the productivity of the ultrafine fiber
nonwoven fabric of the present disclosure can be double in
comparison with that of the conventional apparatus.
* * * * *