JP2717141B2 - Method for producing fiber bundle for holed brush - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method for producing a synthetic fiber bundle having at least a hollow portion used as a brush for a cosmetic brush, a paint brush, a brush, and the like.

[Prior art] Conventionally, for brushes and ears, animal hair such as horse hair, wool, pig hair, etc. are bundled by hand and tied with a wire or thread string, and the cross section is formed into a predetermined shape as necessary. Or by hardening with high-viscosity glue. This method has the disadvantages of being extremely labor intensive and of low production efficiency. Further, in the case of sizing, there is also a disadvantage that the degree of penetration of the sizing liquid requires kneading.

On the other hand, in recent years, the replacement of animal hair brushes and spikes with synthetic fiber brushes and spikes has been promoted in order to address resource constraints of animal hair and hygienic environmental problems in animal hair treatment. And
Higher-performance manufacturing methods utilizing the properties of synthetic fibers are also being sought.

Therefore, the present inventor has proposed the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-148610.

In the method disclosed in this publication, an energy beam is applied to the converged end face of the thermoplastic fiber bundle whose at least one end face is converged, and the fibers are fused to each other at the end face portion. By this method, it was possible to obtain sufficiently strong fusion, no discoloration or the like, and the advantage that the fusion time could be greatly reduced, but it was possible to obtain a so-called holed hole having at least one hollow portion. It was not immediately applicable to fiber bundles used for brushes and ears. In other words, simply applying a mask and irradiating an energy beam,
A fiber bundle having such a hollow portion was not obtained.

Conventionally, in cosmetic tools, painting tools, writing instruments, etc.
Coating agents (liquid, creamy, powdery) have been used with general brushes and brushes as described above.
Also in such fields, a form in which a coating agent such as a brush pen is incorporated has become mainstream. In the production of these forms, it is essential to have a hollow portion in production.

Conventionally, a method for producing a brush or a neck having such a hollow portion (hereinafter, collectively referred to as a brush) from thermoplastic fibers is as shown in FIG.

First Step A material (muku state) corresponding to one product to be manufactured is quantitatively taken from a fiber bundle made of thermoplastic synthetic fibers (FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b)).

Second step: Set in a jig or the like that matches the required shape (outer shape) (multiple pieces can be taken), and heat and melt it by contact or non-contact with an electric heating plate or a burning iron (FIG. 3 (c)).

After curing the melt-molded portion, a desired medium diameter (hollow portion) is obtained with a punch or a drill (FIG. 3 (d) to (d)).
(E)).

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, such a conventional method has the following problems.

In a later step, a step of providing a hollow portion (hole) with a punch or a drill is required.

It is substantially difficult to provide one or more hollows (holes) that are decorative or fine.

When using fibers with poor stability, fusion is practically impossible, and even if fused, fusion heat and thermal decomposition proceed simultaneously due to the heat of fusion, and the fusion surface becomes brittle. .

 It takes a considerable amount of time for fusion, resulting in poor working efficiency.

Of these problems, and are solved by irradiating the energy beam disclosed in the above-mentioned JP-A-62-148610, but the above-mentioned problems have not been solved.

The present invention has been made to achieve the above-mentioned object,
Regardless of the type of thermoplastic resin fiber, not only is it possible to completely fuse the end face with excellent work efficiency, but also it is possible to provide decorative or fine one or more hollows without the need to provide a hollow part. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for producing a fiber bundle for a brush with a hole from which a portion can be obtained.

[Means for Achieving the Object] An object of the present invention is to provide a method for masking a portion other than a desired portion, and irradiating the entire portion of the desired portion with an energy beam at least once. Energy beam on the end face while shifting
It is achieved by irradiating more than once.

That is, the method for producing a fiber bundle for a brush with a hole according to the present invention comprises:
A method of manufacturing a brush fiber bundle having at least one hollow portion, using a mask that masks all portions other than a desired portion of a bundled end surface of a fiber bundle having at least one end surface bundled and a portion of a desired portion. A mask is always applied to a portion other than the desired portion of the end surface, and the energy beam is applied to the end surface while sequentially shifting the mask position with respect to the desired portion so that the entire portion of the desired portion is irradiated with the energy beam at least once. Is irradiated twice or more, and the fibers of only a desired portion of the end face are fused to each other.

 Next, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic process chart showing an example of the production method of the present invention.

First, as shown in FIG. 1 (a), a fiber bundle (hank) made of thermoplastic fiber is cut into a required length (sum of the product length and the fused portion). The fibers used here are not limited to their types, but acrylic fibers and modacrylic fibers are preferable in terms of their surface condition and feel when considered as substitutes for animal hair, and all have the properties similar to wool. Also known as In order to make at least one end face of the fiber bundle flat, a so-called staple-shaped already bundled fiber may be cut as a bundle,
Further, the end faces of the single fibers having a predetermined length may be aligned by giving vibration or the like.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), a mask having a predetermined shape is applied to one end surface of the fiber bundle. In this case, the mask is masked at a portion other than the desired portion, that is, at an end surface which does not need to be fused, and a portion of the desired portion is partially masked to support the mask in the hollow portion (a dash portion). After such masking, an energy beam such as a carbon dioxide laser beam is irradiated. By this irradiation, a desired portion is irradiated with an energy beam for the first time except for a masked laundering portion, and fusion between fibers is performed.
The desired portion is partially fused as shown in FIG.

Next, the mask is replaced or rotated to support the mask in the hollow portion other than the portion where the desired portion of the mask has been applied (the lashing portion). The mask is masked in the same manner as above except for the desired portion. Perform the second irradiation,
The desired portion, which has been masked by the first irradiation, is also fused.

By irradiating at least twice in this manner, the entire desired portion is irradiated with the energy beam as shown in FIG. 1 (d), and only the desired portion is fused. The irradiation with the energy beam is required at least twice, but the irradiation may be performed three or more times by exchanging or rotating the mask in the same manner as the second irradiation, in order to ensure complete fusion of the desired portion.

The fiber bundle with the end face fused is obtained by removing the fiber bundle with no fusion, and the fiber bundle in the hollow portion can be easily removed by pressing or using air pressure. Thus, a fiber bundle having a hollow portion as shown in FIG. 1 (e) and having an end face fused is obtained. The removed fiber bundles are aligned again, the end face is masked again as described above, and energy beam irradiation is performed to obtain a fiber bundle having a desired shape in which the end faces are fused.

The fiber bundle obtained by fusing the end face thus obtained is
For example, various shapes as shown in FIGS. 2 (a) to (f) can be obtained, and it is also possible to obtain a decorative one or a fiber bundle having a plurality of fine hollow portions.

The free end of this fiber bundle is formed into a brush by sharpening the free end like the tip of animal hair by, for example, the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-4113.

In the above description, the thermoplastic fiber is used as the fiber. However, other fibers are used, a fixed amount of thermoplastic resin powder is adhered to the fused portion of the end face, and the same processing is performed as described above. Bundles are also possible.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail based on examples.

Example 1 A fiber bundle having a hollow portion was manufactured according to FIG.

First, the length of a fiber bundle (hank) with a diameter of about 50 mm made of Kanecord fiber with a fiber diameter of 0.03 mm from Kanekofuchi Chemical Co., Ltd.
Cut to 25mm to make a cutting hank, outer diameter 5mmφ, medium diameter 2mmφ
A mask made of a 2 mm hot iron plate having a plurality of arc-shaped punched portions at equal intervals in a semicircular contour of (inner diameter) is arranged on one end face of the cutting hank at a distance of about 3 mm, and the punched portion has a diameter of 13 mm. A single-mode carbon dioxide laser beam with an output of 100 W was irradiated for 0.53 seconds.

Next, in the above-mentioned irradiation, the same mask as described above was displaced by 90 degrees so that a masked portion (a ladder portion) as a desired portion was irradiated, and a single-mode carbon dioxide laser beam was irradiated for 0.53 seconds.

The mask was removed, the fused portion was pulled out, the attached fibers were removed, and the fiber bundle in the hollow portion was also removed by pressing. Thus, a fiber bundle for end face fusion brush having a hollow portion of a desired shape was obtained.

The thickness of the fusion layer of the fiber bundle is almost constant at 0.3 mm,
The surface reproduces the pattern before fusion caused by slight rubbing of the fiber end face as it is, the strength of the fusion part is sufficient as a fiber bundle for brush, and it can be folded even if the fusion part is slightly bent by hand Hair loss did not occur from the fused portion without any problem.

The brush fiber bundle formed in this manner is inserted and fixed in a flocked hole of a handle together with an adhesive, and the free end of the fiber bundle is pruned to an approximate contour.
When the hair was sharpened like the tip of animal hair by the method disclosed in JP-A-58-4113, a cosmetic brush having a brush tip firmly fixed to a handle was obtained.

[Effects of the Invention] In the present invention as described above, by irradiating an end face of a fiber bundle with an energy beam, fusion can be performed even when a fiber having poor thermal stability is used. In addition to the effect that the portion is strong, the fusion speed is high, and the working efficiency is excellent, the following effects are exhibited.

The process of providing the hollow portion with a punch or a drill is unnecessary, and there is no disturbance in the shape of the hollow portion such as entanglement of fibers,
Further, the removed fiber bundle in the hollow portion can be used again.

Since a fiber bundle having a decorative shape or one or more fine hollow portions can be easily obtained, it can be used for various applications.

Therefore, the present invention is suitably used as a method for producing a fiber bundle for a brush with a hole having a hollow portion.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 (a) to 1 (e) are simplified process charts showing respective steps of a method of manufacturing a fiber bundle for a brush with holes according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 (a) to 2 (f) are FIGS. 3A to 3E are perspective views showing an example of a fiber bundle obtained by the present invention, and FIGS. 3A to 3E are simplified process diagrams showing each step of a conventional method for producing a fiber bundle for a brush with holes.

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for producing a fiber bundle for a brush having one or more hollow portions, wherein at least one end surface of the bundle of fibers has a portion other than a desired portion of the bundled end surface and a portion of the desired portion. A mask is always applied to portions other than the desired portion of the end face, and the masked portion of the desired portion is sequentially irradiated so that the entire portion of the desired portion is irradiated with the energy beam at least once. A method for producing a fiber bundle for a brush with holes, characterized in that the end face is irradiated with an energy beam two or more times while being shifted, so that fibers of only a desired portion of the end face are fused to each other. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the energy beam is a carbon dioxide laser beam. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fibers of the brush fiber bundle are thermoplastic fibers. 4. The manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein when the fibers of the brush fiber bundle are not thermoplastic fibers, the energy beam is irradiated by applying a fixed amount of thermoplastic adhesive powder to an end face of the fiber bundle. Method.