A METHOD OF PRODUCING NON-COMBUSTIBLE THREAD OR TEXTILE AND THE SAME THEREFROM
Technical Field
The present invention relates to amethod for producing an incombustible (flame-retardant) thread or textile and an incombustible thread or textile produced by the method.
Background Art
Flame-retardant or flameproof textiles are produced by the following three treatments.
First, a flame-retardant or flame-proofing agent is coated on the surface of textiles. Specifically, a flame-proofing agent, such as ammonium biphosphate, sodium stannate, ferric oxide, manganese dioxide, urea phosphate, calcium carbonate or aluminum .hydroxide, or bromine- or antimony-type flame-proofing agent is spray-coated on the surface of textiles. Or, textiles are dipped in a solution containing a flame-proofing agent. By this treatment, the limited oxygen index (LOI) values of fibers and fabrics are increased from 15% to 45%. The treatment can be applied to both natural and synthetic fibers. However, the treatment has the risk that the flame-proofing agent may be separated from the textiles when washed with water, thus causing poor flame retardance.
Secondly, a highly fire-resistant chemical element, such as nitrogen, carbon, halogen ormetal, is addedto acrylic fibers to enhance the intermolecular bonding of the acrylic fibers. By this treatment, the elemental arrangement of the acrylic fibers is changed. Fibers are formed from polymers having the following fourmolecular structures: linear cyclic polymers, segmented ladder polymers, complete ladder polymers, and web polymers. As the molecular structure of polymers is close to a web shape, the fire resistance of fibers is enhanced. Polymers that can be produced into textiles are limited to linear cyclic polymers and ladder polymers. Accordingly, modification to the molecular structure of polymers leads toanincrease inthe fire-resistanceof fibers. The second treatment wherein the molecular structure of polymers is changed to improve the fire resistance of acrylic fibers is more stable than the first treatment.
Thirdly, fibers or textiles are treated by oxidation. Specifically, polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibers are oxidized at high temperatures (pre-oxidation) . In the oxidation of PAN fibers, rings of linear cyclic polymers constituting the fibers are changed to a ladder shape. After oxidation, the
LOI value of the oxidized fibers is increasedto 45% or greater.
The oxidized fibers can be produced into thread or textiles.
To enhance the fire resistance of oxidized fibers or textiles, it is required to increase the LOI value. However, anexcessive increase inLOIvaluecausesmanyproblems. Since the stiffness of the fibers is enhanced, cohesive force of
the fibers is poor, which renders the production of the fibers into textiles difficult. That is, spinnability of the fibers drops. This lowers the yield of finished thread and textile products to 50-75%, resulting in a rise in production costs. Various attempts have been made to increase the yield of the finished products. For example, PAN fibers are spun and then oxidized (post-oxidation) .
This treatment has advantages in terms of minimized consumption during production and high yield of finished products, but has the problem that the fire resistance of thread and textile products is poor when compared to the pre-oxidation. Since the molecular structure of polymers constituting PAN fibers is changedfromlinearto spiral shape, the volume and density of the fibers vary. This change destroys conditions where the amount of heat generated during high-temperature oxidation can be rapidly diffused, and thus the heat is accumulated inside the fibers. Accordingly, the surface of the fibers is hardened, and the flexibility and tension of the fibers are decreased, causing poor crease resistance. Moreover, a firemayoccurduringthe oxidation.
Disclosure of the Invention
Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to enhance the fire resistance of a threador textile by increasing the LOI value of the thread or textile while
maintaining the spinnability of a fiber, thereby increasing the yield of finished products.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, there is provided a method for producing an incombustible (flame-retardant) thread or textile, comprising the steps of: primarily oxidizing a fiber while stretching to form an oxidized fiber (step 1); and processing the oxidized fiber to obtain a thread or textile and secondarily oxidizing the thread or textile (step 2) . According to one embodiment of the present invention, the fiber is a PAN fiber.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the fiber has a fineness of 3 dtex or less. dtex is the unit representing the fineness of a fiber. One dtex refers to the fineness of a fiber weighing one gram per 1,000 meters in length.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the primary oxidation of the fiber in step 1 is carriedout bypassing the fiber at a rate of 30-120m/h through a high-temperature furnace at 160~290°C.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the fiber is stretched by 12% or less during the primary oxidation in step 1.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the oxidized fiber has a limited oxygen index (LOI) of 35-60%.
According to another embodiment of the present
invention, the secondary oxidation of the thread or textile in step 2 is carried out by passing the thread or textile at a rate of 50-90 m/h through a high-temperature furnace at 220~310°C. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the thread or textile is stretched by 2% or less during the secondary oxidation in step 2.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the secondarily oxidized thread or textile has a limited oxygen index (LOI) of 45-85%.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an incombustible
(flame-retardant) thread or textile produced by the method.
In step 1, a fiber having a linear molecular structure is oxidized while being stretched. At this step, since the fiber can rapidly diffuse the amount of heat generated during oxidation at hightemperatures, hardening of the fiber surface is prevented. The LOI value of the oxidized fiber is increased to 35-60%. Since the oxidized fiber remains unchanged in processingproperties, it canbe readilyproducedintoa thread or textile. The yield of the finished products is as high as 98%.
In step 2, the fiber obtained in step 1 is spun into cotton, wool or felt to produce a thread or textile, followed by secondary oxidation. The LOI value of the secondarily oxidized products is increased to 45~85%. The yield of the finished products is maintained at about 94-97%.
The fiber used in the method of the present invention is preferably a PAN fiber, including a copolymer or homopolymer. The thread number of the fiber may be 3K, 6K, 12K, 24K, 320K, 480K or 640K. The fineness of the fiber is preferably 3.5 dtex or less, and more preferably 1.5 dtex or less.
During spinning in step 2, the fiber or thread may be swollen, tangled, or wound around spinning equipment. To solve these problems, the use of a small amount of anantistatic agent is considered.
The fiber secondarily oxidized in step 2 is produced into a 32-, 21-, 16-, 10- or 8-strand thread. 1 kg of the oxidized fiber can be weaved into a fabric of 0.5-4.5 m2. Further, a 1.0~30 mm-thick felt is produced. The fiber is preferably passed at a rate of 30 m/h to 120 m/h and more preferably 40 m/h to 90 m/h through a high-temperature furnace in step 1. The reactiontemperature is preferably elevated to 160~290°C at a rate of 0.6-4 °C/min. A PAN fiber having a linear molecular structure is preferably stretched within 12% of the original length of the fiber.
Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention
The present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the following examples. However, these examples are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.
Example 1-1
A copolymerized 12K PAN fiber of 1.12 dtex was passed at 90 m/h through a high-temperature furnace equipped with athermostat. The fiberwas reactedinthe furnaceatl80~280°C for 135 minutes. The fiber was stretched by 7%. The stretching rate means the percentage of the length extended by stretching both ends of the fiber relative to the original length.
The characteristics of the oxidized fiber passed through the high-temperature furnace are shown in Table 1 below.
Example 1-2
Ahomopolymerized 320K PAN fiber of 1.67 dtexwas passed at 40 m/h through a high-temperature furnace equipped with athermostat. The fiberwas reactedinthe furnaceat 170~275°C for 297 minutes. The fiber was stretched by 10%.
The characteristics of the oxidized fiber passed through the high-temperature furnace are shown in Table 1 below.
Table 1
Example 2-1
A thread was produced from the oxidized fiber formed in Example 1-1 by cotton production processes. The thread was passed at 90 m/h through a high-temperature furnace equipped with a thermostat. The thread was reacted in the furnace at 240~310°C for 132minutes. Thethreadwas stretched by 1.5%.
The characteristics of the thread passed through the high-temperature furnace are shown in Table 2 below.
Example 2-2
A textile was produced from the oxidized fiber formed in Example 1-1 by cotton production processes. The textile was passed at 50 m/h through a high-temperature furnace equipped with a thermostat. The textile was reacted in the furnace at 220~295°C for 237 minutes. The textile was stretched by 0.5%.
The characteristics of the textile passed through the high-temperature furnace are shown in Table 2 below.
Example 2-3
A felt was produced from the oxidized fiber formed in Example 1-1. The felt was passed at 60 m/h through a high-temperature furnace equipped with a thermostat. The felt was reacted in the furnace at 230~310°C for 198 minutes. The felt was stretched by 1.0%.
The characteristics of the felt passed through the high-temperature furnace are shown in Table 2 below.
Table 2
Inthe table, thetensile strength is themeasuredvalue of a force required to cut the thread produced in Example 2-1 by stretching both ends of the thread. The tear strength is the measured value of a force required to tear the textile produced in Example 2-2 or the felt produced in Example 2-3 by stretching both ends of the textile or felt.
In Table 2, 47.6 tex represents that 21 m was drawn from one gram of a fiber.
Industrial Applicability
Accordingtothemethodofthepresent invention, highly fire-resistant, incombustible thread and textile having a LOI value of 45-85% can be produced. In addition, since the spinnability of fiber is maintained, the yield of the finished products can be increased to 94% or higher. Therefore, the products can be stably produced at reduced costs.
Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.