U.S. patent number 3,726,955 [Application Number 05/105,500] was granted by the patent office on 1973-04-10 for process for producing filaments and yarns of blended incompatible polymers.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Phillips Petroleum Company. Invention is credited to Louis C. Bearer, James K. Hughes, Albert F. Stegelman.
United States Patent |
3,726,955 |
Hughes , et al. |
April 10, 1973 |
PROCESS FOR PRODUCING FILAMENTS AND YARNS OF BLENDED INCOMPATIBLE
POLYMERS
Abstract
Conjugate filaments the components of which are comprised of the
same constituents in dissimilar relative concentrations are
produced by allowing the constituents of the molten stream of
blended incompatible polymers partially to segregate in a forced
flow conduit so that material removed from the outer periphery of
the stream near the wall of the conduit will be of different
relative concentration of constituents than material remaining near
the center of the conduit and then removing separate streams of
partially segregated material which are fed through suitable
spinnerets to produce conjugate filaments. In another embodiment
yarns the filaments of which are comprised of the same constituents
in dissimilar relative concentrations are produced in the same
manner.
Inventors: |
Hughes; James K. (Greenville,
SC), Stegelman; Albert F. (Greenville, SC), Bearer; Louis
C. (Bartlesville, OK) |
Assignee: |
Phillips Petroleum Company
(N/A)
|
Family
ID: |
22306200 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/105,500 |
Filed: |
January 11, 1971 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
264/172.14;
264/168; 264/172.12; 264/172.17; 264/172.15; 264/172.18 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B29C
48/21 (20190201); D01D 5/30 (20130101); B29C
48/19 (20190201); B29C 48/05 (20190201) |
Current International
Class: |
B29C
47/04 (20060101); D01D 5/30 (20060101); B29f
003/10 (); D01d 005/22 () |
Field of
Search: |
;264/171-174,168
;161/173-175 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Woo; Jay H.
Claims
We claim:
1. A method for producing streams of dissimilar concentration of
components from a single molten stream of blended incompatible
polymers comprising: (a) force flowing said molten blend through a
conduit of sufficient length to allow partial segregation of said
polymers; (b) removing from the conduit a portion of the polymer
nearest the conduit walls or from the center of the conduit; and
(c) removing the remaining polymer from the conduit.
2. A method of claim 1 wherein said molten polymer nearest said
conduit wall is pumped from said conduit.
3. A method of claim 2 wherein said material nearest said conduit
wall is removed from the conduit by the action of a gear pump with
gears placed in the flow within the conduit to preferentially
remove polymer nearest said conduit wall.
4. A method for producing conjugate filaments comprised of
components of dissimilar concentration from a molten blend of
incompatible polymers which method comprises: (a) producing streams
of molten polymer of dissimilar concentration by the method of
claim 1 and (b) passing said molten streams separately into a
spinpack suitable for producing continuous conjugate filaments
wherein the molten polymer is joined in the conjugate elements by
passage through the said spinpack.
5. A method of claim 4 wherein said conjugate filaments are of a
type chosen from sheath-and-core and side-by-side.
6. A method for producing yarn comprised of filaments of dissimilar
concentration of blended incompatible polymers which method
comprises: (a) producing streams of molten polymer of dissimilar
concentration by the method of claim 1 and (b) passing said molten
streams separately into a spin-pack suitable for producing a yarn
from dissimilar feed materials so that the yarn produced has some
filaments comprised of an incompatible polymer blend dissimilar in
concentration from the concentration of the blend of incompatible
polymers in the remaining filaments of the yarn.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to filaments and yarns of blended
incompatible polymers. In one of its aspects, it relates to
conjugate filaments the components of which differ in concentration
of constituents. In another of its aspects, this invention relates
to producing streams of different concentrations of blends of
incompatible polymers from a single molten stream of blended
incompatible polymers. In still another of its aspects, this
invention relates to the production of conjugate filaments the
components of which differ in concentration of constituents. In
still another of its aspects, this invention relates to the
production of yarn in which the filaments differ in concentration
of constituents.
In one concept of the invention a method is provided for producing
streams of blended incompatible polymers of different concentration
from a single molten stream of blended incompatible polymers by
removing from a conduit a portion of the blended incompatible
material that has been allowed partially to segregate within the
conduit. In another of its concepts, the invention provides a
method for removing portions of the partially segregated blend of
incompatible polymers from the conduit to produce a sidestream of
different concentration from the molten material remaining in the
conduit. In still another concept of the invention, a method is
provided for producing a conjugate filament by combining components
of blended incompatible polymers, which components differ in
concentration of constituents, in a spinning block suitable for
producing conjugate fibers from disparate feeds. In still another
concept of the invention, a method is provided for producing a yarn
by combining components of blended incompatible polymers which
components differ in concentration of constituents in a spinning
block suitable for producing yarns from disparate feeds.
The production of conjugate filaments from incompatible polymers
has been accomplished by melting the individual constituents in
separate extruders and conducting the molten material into
spinnerets adapted to produce side-by-side or sheath-and-core
conjugate filaments. It is possible to produce both conjugate
filaments and yarns of disparate concentrations of blended
incompatible polymers using multiple extruders and blending the
molten polymers, but these processes require a large investment in
equipment.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an
economical and efficient method for producing conjugate fibers of
blended incompatible polymers. It is another object of this
invention to provide an economical and efficient method for
producing yarn of blended incompatible polymers. It is another
object of this invention to provide a conjugate filament of
components consisting of the same incompatible polymers but blended
in different relative concentrations. It is another object to
provide a yarn containing filaments comprised of the same
incompatible polymers but with some filaments blended in a
concentration dissimilar to the remainder of the filaments in the
yarn bundle. It is another object to provide a method for producing
a yarn containing filaments comprised of the same incompatible
polymers but with some filaments blended in a concentration
dissimilar to the remainder of the filaments in the yarn
bundle.
Other aspects, concepts and objects of the invention are apparent
from a study of this disclosure, the drawing and the appended
claims.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention there is provided a conjugate
filament in which each component is composed of a blend of the same
incompatible polymers but in which the relative concentrations of
the incompatible polymers constituting each component are
different.
In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a method for
producing conjugate filaments comprised of components of dissimilar
concentration from a molten blend of incompatible polymers which
method comprises (a) force flowing the molten blend of incompatible
polymers through a conduit of sufficient length to allow partial
segregation of the polymers; (b) separating the molten material
into two streams by (1) removing from the conduit a portion of the
polymer stream nearest the conduit wall or at the center of the
conduit and (2) removing the remaining polymer from the conduit;
and (c) passing the separated molten streams separately into a
spinning block suitable for producing continuous conjugate
filaments so that the separated molten polymer streams are joined
into conjugate filaments.
In another embodiment of the invention there is provided a method
for producing yarn comprised of filaments of dissimilar
concentration of blended incompatible polymers which method
comprises (a) force flowing the molten blend of incompatible
polymers through a conduit of sufficient length to allow partial
segregation of the polymers; (b) separating the molten material
into two streams by (1) removing from the conduit a portion of the
polymer stream nearest the conduit wall or at the center of the
conduit and (2) removing the remaining polymer from the conduit;
and (c) passing the separated molten streams separately into a
spinning block suitable for producing a continuous yarn bundle of
dissimilar filaments so that a yarn is produced comprised of
filaments of the same incompatible polymers but with some filaments
blended in a concentration dissimilar to the polymer blend of the
remainder of the filaments in the yarn bundle.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
In the drawing,
FIG. 1 shows a complete system for carrying out the method of the
invention for producing conjugate fibers or yarn comprised of
components of dissimilar concentrations.
FIG. 2 shows the preferred means for removing partially segregated
polymer from the conduit line.
FIG. 3 shows a front view of the gear arrangement within the
conduit for preferentially removing partially segregated polymer
from the periphery of the conduit.
FIG. 4 shows an alternative means for removing segregated material
from a forced flow conduit for feeding into a spinning block.
FIGS. 5 and 6 show cross sections of typical conjugate filaments
produced by the process of this invention.
Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawing, which illustrates the
process of this invention. A pellet mixture of two incompatible
polymers is fed into a hopper 11. This mixture of polymers is
picked up by an extruder 12 in which the mixture is melted and
mixed into a homogeneous composition which is fed into an outlet
line 13. This outlet line 13 is of sufficient length that the
molten blend of the incompatible polymers will tend to separate
into two phases while flowing through the conduit with the
component having the lower melt viscosity tending to concentrate
near the wall of the conduit. In this illustration, a gear pump 14
consisting of two stages is placed in the line of flow. In the
first stage of the gear pump 15 partially segregated molten polymer
is drawn by the pump preferentially from the periphery of the
conduit. This material which is richer in the material of lower
melt viscosity is fed into an outlet conduit 16. The molten
material remaining in the conduit from the extruder is now richer
in the higher melt viscosity material. It is removed by the second
stage of the gear pump 17 into an outlet conduit 18. The material
in conduit 16 which is relatively richer in the lower melt
viscosity component and the material in conduit 18 which is
relatively richer in the higher melt viscosity component are fed as
separate streams into a suitable conjugate spinpack 19 to produce
side-by-side or sheath-and-core conjugate filaments. In producing
yarn a spinpack suitable for the use of disparate feeds 19 is used
wherein some of the spinnerets are fed from stream 16 and some from
stream 18 to produce a yarn 20 in which some of the filaments are
composed entirely of material of one concentration of incompatible
polymers and the remaining filaments in the yarn have another
concentration of incompatible polymers.
In the preferred embodiment of this invention a split stream gear
pump is used to separate the partially segregated molten
incompatible polymers in the conduit from the extruder into streams
of dissimilar concentration. This is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3
of the drawing, In the cut-away top view of the gear pump
illustrated in FIG. 2 the blended incompatible polymer stream which
has partially segregated so that the material near the conduit wall
is richer in the lower melt viscosity constituent enters the gear
pump 14 through conduit line 13. The first stage of the gear pump
15, which can be better visualized in the front view of the gear
pump illustrated in FIG. 3, is positioned with respect to conduit
13 so that the gears 21 of the pump preferentially draw the lower
melt viscosity rich material from the periphery of conduit 13 into
the outlet line 16. The material left in the conduit line which is
then relatively richer in the higher melt viscosity material is
removed to outlet line 18 by means of the second stage of the pump
17.
FIG. 4 shows an alternative means for separating the partially
segregated incompatible polymers in the conduit 13. In a forced
flow system an outlet inserted in the conduit in the manner of a
pitot tube 23 can serve to conduct material from the larger conduit
line 13. The relative concentrations in separated outlet lines 22
and 24 would depend on the placement of the pitot tube 23 within
the conduit. A placement near the center of the conduit 13 would
draw material relatively richer in higher melt viscosity material
into line 24, while a placement near the periphery of the conduit
13 would draw material of relatively lower melt viscosity into the
outlet line 24. The separate streams are individually passed into
the conjugate spinpack 19 to produce conjugate filaments 20.
The filaments produced are of the types shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 of
the drawing. In FIG. 5 is shown a side-by-side conjugate filament
half of which is relatively rich in the lower melt viscosity
incompatible constituent 25 and the other half is relatively rich
in the higher melt viscosity material 26. By varying the amount of
material fed into the conjugate spinpack the configuration of the
filament cross section can be varied from the half and half
configuration illustrated here to a barely discernible quantity of
one of the components. In FIG. 6 is shown the sheath 27 and core 28
configuration of a conjugate filament. Variation of the amounts of
material in the filament cross section configuration is well within
the skill of the art.
As shown in the discussion of the drawing various means can be
employed for removing the partially segregated incompatible polymer
from the conduit line. Variations of the pitot tube outlet or other
means for preferentially withdrawing material from a specific
portion of the conduit can be employed. At present, a split stream
gear pump as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawing is the
preferred means for producing two streams of material of dissimilar
concentration from a single stream of blended incompatible
polymers.
The length of the conduit from the outlet of the mixing and melting
means to the point of removal of material from the conduit will
vary with the relative incompatibility of the materials in the
blended mixture. The conduit must be of sufficient length to allow
the amount of segregation required to yield streams of conjugate
filament components of the degree of similarity desired.
It should be understood that while an extruder is cited as a
preferred means for melting and blending the incompatible polymer
mixture other means are not precluded. This invention can employ
any means of producing a relatively homogeneous blend of
incompatible polymers in a molten state which can be force flowed
in a conduit to allow segregation of the constituents.
Various mixtures of polymers are appropriate for use in this
invention. The polymer mixes must be sufficiently incompatible to
allow segregation while flowing in the molten state in a conduit.
Particularly appropriate are blends of polypropylene and
polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene terephthalate and nylon
66, polypropylene and polyethylene, nylon 66 and arylene sulfide
polymer, and the like.
The following example illustrates the production of component
streams of dissimilar concentration of blended incompatible
polymers from a single stream of homogeneously blended incompatible
polymers which can be used as feed to a conjugate spinpack to
produce the conjugate filaments of this invention.
EXAMPLE 1
A pellet blend of 100 parts polypropylene and 35 parts polyethylene
terephthalate was passed through a screw extruder where the
material was melted and mixed. In the test runs identified by a "C"
in the table below, the blended material was passed through a
conduit and allowed to segregate before entering a Zenith type-HPD
2-stage gear pump. In the test runs marked "D" in the table below,
a Kenics static mixer was introduced in the line upstream of the
gear pump to decrease segregation of the material within the
conduit. The Zenith pump was connected to a spinneret pack so that
discharge from the upstream set of gears was fed into the right
side of the spinneret pack. This set of gears contacts the stream
within the conduit only at or near the wall of the conduit. The
remaining portion of the stream deadends in the pump cavity serving
the downstream set of gears so that all material discharging into
the left portion of the spinpack contains material deficient in
material from near the wall. Data collected are presented in the
table below.
TABLE 1
Extruder Screw C or D Position Pump Density Pressure Right or Left
Gears Range Average psi 2750 C right 1st 0.9833 0.9929 0.9897 C
left 2nd 0.9861 0.9879 0.9867 D right 1st 0.9700 0.9937 0.9829 D
left 2nd 0.9700 0.9937 0.9829 4000 C right 1st 0.9980 1.0067 1.0020
C left 2nd 0.9836 0.9950 0.9925 D right 1st 0.9881 0.9960 0.9943 D
left 2nd 0.9881 0.9997 0.9948
These data illustrate that streams of dissimilar concentration
suitable for the production of conjugate filaments or a yarn were
produced from a homogeneous blend of incompatible polymers.
Reasonable variation and modification are possible within the scope
of the foregoing disclosure, the drawing and appended claims to the
invention the essence of which is that there has been provided a
method for producing feedstreams of dissimilar concentrations for
the production of conjugate filaments by allowing the segregation
of an incompatible polymer blend in a conduit from which a
feedstream is taken from the center or the periphery of the conduit
leaving the remainder of the material in the conduit as a second
feedstream.
* * * * *