# US 5,346,422 A · Toy articles of manufacture comprising spontaneously wettable fibers > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 5,346,422 A - Document ID: US5346422A - Status: Granted - Kind: A - Application number: 07/986,837 - Filed: 1992-12-08 - Granted: 1994-09-13 - Earliest claimed: 1992-12-08 - Assignees: Eastman Chemical Company - Inventors: Shriram Bagrodia; Bobby M. Phillips; E. Phillip Smith; Kenny R. Parker; Paul A. Rundquist - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US5346422A ## CPC - A63H 3/44: Dolls' hair or wigs; Eyelashes; Eyebrows (wigs, eyelashes, eyebrows for humans A41G) - Y10S 428/913: Material designed to be responsive to temperature, light, moisture - Y10T 428/29: Coated or structually defined flake, particle, cell, strand, strand portion, rod, filament, macroscopic fiber or mass thereof - Y10T 428/2913: Rod, strand, filament or fiber - Y10T 428/2925: Helical or coiled - Y10T 428/2933: Coated or with bond, impregnation or core - Y10T 428/2973: Particular cross section - A63H: TOYS, e.g. TOPS, DOLLS, HOOPS OR BUILDING BLOCKS - Y10S: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS - Y10T: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION ## Abstract This invention relates to an article of manufacture consisting of a toy having a plurality of synthetic fibers capable of spontaneously transporting water on the surface thereof, said fibers satisfying the following equation (1-X cos .theta..sub.a)<0, wherein .theta..sub.a is the advancing contact angle of water measured on a flat film made from the same material as the fiber and having the same surface treatment, if any, X is a shape factor of the fiber cross-section that satisfies the following equation ##EQU1## wherein P.sub.w is the wetted perimeter of the fiber and r is the radius of the circumscribed circle circumscribing the fiber cross-section and D is the minor axis dimension across the fiber cross-section. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An article of manufacture consisting of a toy having a plurality of synthetic fibers capable of spontaneously transporting water on the surface thereof, said fibers satisfying the following equation (1-X cos .theta..sub.a)<0, wherein .theta..sub.a is the advancing contact angle of water measured on a flat film made from the same material as the fiber and having the same surface treatment, if any, X is a shape factor of the fiber cross-section that satisfies the following equation ##EQU9## wherein P.sub.w is the wetted perimeter of the fiber and r is the radius of the circumscribed circle circumscribing the fiber cross-section and D is the minor axis dimension across the fiber cross-section. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The article of claim 1 which satisfies the equation ##EQU10## wherein .gamma..sub.A is the surface tension of water in air in dynes/cm, .rho. is the fiber density in grams/cc, and dpf is the denier of the single fiber. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The article of claim 1 wherein said plurality of fibers define only a portion of said article, at least a portion of said plurality of fibers defining a visible portion thereof arranged in a predetermined physical configuration. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The article of claim 1 further comprising at least one groove wherein the width of each groove in said fiber cross-section at any depth in the groove is equal to or less than the width of the groove at its mouth. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The article of claim 1 wherein ##EQU11## for said fiber cross-section is greater than 1. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The article of claim 1 wherein ##EQU12## for said fiber cross-section is between 1.5 and 5. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The article of claim 1 wherein X for said fiber cross-section is greater than about 1.2. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The article of claim 1 wherein X for said fiber cross-section is from about 1.2 to about 5. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The article of claim 1 wherein X for said fiber cross-section is from about 1.5 to about 3. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The article of claim 1 wherein X for said fiber cross-section is greater than about 3. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The article of claim 1 wherein said fiber has a single fiber denier of between 3 and 1,000. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The article of claim 1 wherein said fiber has a single fiber denier of between 10 and 70. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The article of claim 1 wherein said fiber has an effective adhesion tension for water of greater than about 38 dynes/cm. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The article of claim 1 wherein said fiber has an effective adhesion tension for water of greater than about 45 dynes/cm. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The article of claim 1 wherein said fiber has coated thereon a layer of a hydrophilic lubricant. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The article of claim 15 wherein said hydrophilic lubricant is selected from the group consisting of (1) 49% polyethylene glycol (PEG) 600 monolaurate, polyoxyethylene (13.64) monolaurate, 49% polyethylene glycol (PEG) 400 monolaurate, polyoxyethylene (9.09) monolaurate, and 2% 4-cetyl-4 ethylmorpholinium ethosulfate (antistat); (2) a modified polyester surfactant; (3) a soil release agent consisting of polyester, water and other ingredients; (4) polyoxyethylene (23) lauryl ether; (5) polyoxyethylene (20) oleyl ether; (6) polyoxyethylene glyceride ester, a nonionic surfactant; and (7) a polyoxylene-polyoxypropylene sorbitan linoleic phthalic ester. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The article of claim 15 wherein said fiber comprises poly(ethylene terephthalate) and said hydrophilic lubricant is a potassium lauryl phosphate based lubricant comprising about 70 weight percent poly-(ethylene glycol) 600 monolaurate which is uniformly applied at a level of at least about 0.05% by weight of the total fiber. ### Claim 18 (depends on 15) The article of claim 15 wherein said hydrophilic lubricant is a potassium lauryl phosphate based lubricant comprising about 70 weight percent poly-(ethylene glycol) 600 monolaurate which is uniformly applied at a level of at least about 0.5% by weight of the total fiber. ### Claim 19 (depends on 1) The article of claim 1 wherein said fiber has been plasma treated. ### Claim 20 (depends on 1) The article of claim 1 wherein said fiber is helically crimped. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The article of claim 20 wherein said helical crimping of fiber occurs through a process for helically crimping said fiber having both a major and a minor axis of symmetry, wherein quenching by air occurs perpendicular to the major axis of the fiber. ### Claim 22 (depends on 21) The article of claim 21 wherein said process of crimping fiber comprises the following steps: (A) extruding a PET fiber forming polymer; (B) passing the polymer through spinneret hole shapes; (C) orienting said spinneret hole shapes to the cross-flow quench air so that quenching occurs perpendicular to the major axis of the fiber; (D) controlling the quench air; (E) applying hydrophilic lubricants; (F) taking up the fibers at conventional speeds; (G) drafting the fibers using conventional drafting (single steam stage in steam or two stage in water and steam); (H) adding an additional amount of hydrophilic lubricant; and (I) relaxing the drawn fibers in a heated chamber to develop the helical crimp. ### Claim 23 (depends on 1) An article of manufacture according to claim 1 further comprising surface colorants wherein said surface colorants comprise edible household products in water solutions. ### Claim 24 (depends on 1) An article of manufacture according to claim 1 wherein said article of manufacture is a doll and further wherein said fibers comprise a doll's hair. ### Claim 25 (depends on 24) An article of manufacture according to claim 24 wherein said doll's hair is arranged in the form of a wig for demountable application to a doll's head. ### Claim 26 (depends on 24) An article of manufacture according to claim 24 wherein said doll's hair is permanently secured to a doll's head. ### Claim 27 (depends on 1) A process of surface coloration at a plurality of fibers which are attached to said article of manufacture of claim 1 wherein said process comprises the steps of surface coloration of said fibers with an aqueous surface colorant or surface colorants, rinsing said surface colorant with an aqueous fluid, and subsequent surface recoloration of said fibers. ### Claim 28 (depends on 27) The process of claim 27 wherein said aqueous surface colorant is food coloring. ### Claim 29 (depends on 27) The process of claim 27 wherein said aqueous fluid is water. ### Claim 30 (depends on 29) The process of claim 29 wherein said water is tap water or water wherein its temperature is room temperature.