Method for producing self-crimping polymer bi-component fibers
AssigneeEMS-Inventa AG
InventorsWerner Kaegi, Werner Stibal, Gunther Schaech, Rainer Straub, Gerhard Schmidt
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Abstract
A method for self-crimping of S/S bi-component fibers on a fiber line includes the steps of main drawing, post-drawing on a cold drawing unit, water application in the tensed state and relaxation at the dryer inlet in the compact closed state, which results in fibers with a novel .OMEGA.-shaped crimping structure.
Claims17
In a method for producing self-crimped bi-component fibers from a tow of bi-component fibers which have been side-by-side spun from bi-component material, comprising
- drawing said tow to provide a drawn tow;
- optionally finishing said drawn tow;
- then relaxing the drawn and optionally finished tow to provide a relaxed tow;
- drying and heat setting said, relaxed tow to provide a heat-set tow;
- and optionally cutting said heat-set tow;
- the improvement further comprising
- post-drawing said drawn tow prior to said optional finishing and said relaxing said post-drawing being carried out in a hot and dry state on a cold drawing unit;
- after said post-drawing with said tow being in a tensed state, prior to said relaxing, providing said post-drawn tow with a water coating of between 10 and 30 weight percent, measured prior to relaxation, to provide a water-coated tow;
- carrying out said drying of said water-coated tow in a dryer having an inlet;
- and
- carrying out said relaxing of said water-coated tow at the inlet of said dryer while said water-coated tow is in a compact, closed state to provide bi-component fibers having two-dimensional .OMEGA.-crimped bows.
A method for producing self-crimped polymer bi-component fibers having at least partially two-dimensionally .OMEGA.-crimped bows from spun self-crimpable bi-component fibers in a fiber tow, comprising
- drawing said tow on a device comprising plural hot drawing rollers to provide a drawn tow;
- post-drawing said drawn tow on a cold drawing unit to produce a post-drawn tow;
- applying a water coating of between 10 and 30 weight percent to said post-drawn tow and to provide a water-coated tow;
- relaxing said water-coated tow at an inlet of a dryer to provide a relaxed tow;
- drying and heat setting said relaxed tow to provide a heat-set tow;
- and
- optionally cutting said heat-set tow.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.