JP4097626B2 - Ultra short fiber manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for producing short fibers having a length of several mm or less (particularly, 0.1 mm or less) after cutting from long fibers.

  Conventionally, various fiber bundles are used to bundle long fibers made of a thermoplastic synthetic polymer such as polyester and polyamide into a fiber bundle and cut the fiber bundle to obtain short fibers having a length of several to several tens of millimeters. Cutting devices are commonly used. For example, as such a cutting device, a bundle of fibers is wound around a cutter roller having a large number of cutting blades radially provided, and the fibers wound on the cutting blade are continuously pressed to a predetermined length while pressing the fibers against the cutting blade. A roller cutter type fiber bundle cutting device that cuts the blade is used. A so-called guillotine cutter type fiber bundle cutting device has also been known for a long time, in which a fixed blade and a moving blade are provided as shear blades, and a fiber bundle is extruded to the shear blade by a predetermined cutting length.

  In an environment where such a conventional fiber bundle cutting device is used, recently, a very short synthetic fiber to be mixed in some cosmetics, an ultrafine fiber used for a floc processed product with a soft texture, or a short chopped elasticity The demand for textiles has increased. Accordingly, short fibers having a fiber length after cutting of 0.1 mm to several mm have been required.

  However, in the case of the former roller cutter type fiber bundle cutting device, for example, it is required to extremely reduce the interval between adjacent cutting blades of a group of cutting blades provided radially on a rotating cutter roller. However, in such a case, the fibers cut between the cutting blades are clogged, making it difficult to discharge them. In addition, there is a problem with the thickness of the cutting blade itself, and it is a limit to shorten the cutting fiber length. There is.

  On the other hand, in the case of the latter guillotine cutter type fiber bundle cutting device, it is possible to cope even with a cut fiber length of about 0.5 mm. However, when trying to cut thin and long fibers with small single fiber fineness using a conventional fiber bundle cutting device, the fibers are bent or buckled due to the elasticity of the fibers themselves, and perpendicular to the fixed blade. Will not abut. In addition, it becomes extremely difficult to adjust the clearance between the fixed blade and the movable blade, and a lot of miscuts such as oblique cutting and uneven cutting length occur.

  Then, in order to obtain a short fiber having a uniform fiber length, it is necessary to select and take out only those that are normally cut from a large number of miscut fibers. However, such a sorting and taking out operation is extremely complicated, and when the number of miscut fibers that do not fit within the allowable cut length increases, the yield of the fibers that have been cut correctly also deteriorates.

  Then, the apparatus for solving the said problem which a guillotine cutter type fiber bundle cutting device has is proposed by Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2003-11962, for example. In this prior art, a guide for wrapping the supplied fiber bundle with a continuous sheet is attached prior to cutting the continuous fiber bundle supplied. Then, the fiber bundles wrapped with the sheet-like material are cut after being overlapped so as to wrap the long-fiber bundles traveling by the continuous sheet-like material running along with the fiber bundles through the guide roller. In other words, the fiber bundle itself is made flexible by wrapping a fiber bundle that is flexible and difficult to cut with a sheet-like material, and by cutting the rigid fiber bundle, it is intended to cut into short fibers of a predetermined length. is there.

  However, even when such a guillotine cutter fiber bundle cutting device is used, the fiber length that can be cut is 0.1 to 30 mm, and it is extremely difficult to stably obtain a cut fiber of less than 0.1 mm with a good yield. Have difficulty. Moreover, as a sheet-like material used to coat the fiber bundle in order to obtain such short fibers, organic polymer films such as paper, polyolefin, polyester, and cellophane, fabrics, and nonwoven fabrics must be used.

  However, when such a sheet-like material is used, it is required to separate the cut fiber and the sheet-like material after cutting. However, it is difficult to completely separate them, and the amount is small. However, there is a possibility of mixing into the cut fiber. Moreover, as the cut fiber length approaches 0.1 mm, the fiber bundle needs to be more rigidly constrained. Therefore, a sheet-like material that can be used is required to be more rigid. Technology has its limitations.

  If it does so, since the yield accompanying miscutting will fall significantly and production efficiency will also fall, it is difficult to obtain the short fiber which has the cut fiber length of 0.1 mm or less substantially. Moreover, once a large number of single fiber groups are bundled to form a thick fiber bundle, a strong restraining force can be applied to the single fibers constituting the fiber bundle even if the fiber bundle is wrapped with a film-like sheet. Since it is difficult, the short fibers can move freely. Therefore, it is not easy to cut this short.

Further, when individual single fibers are taken out from the single fiber group constituting the fiber bundle, the single fibers are extremely thin, for example, 0.001 to 10 dtex, and also have high elasticity. It easily deforms in the direction in which it acts and escapes from the cutting blade. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to normally cut the fiber with a high yield without miscutting it to an extremely short length of 0.1 mm or less.
JP 2003-11962 A

  In order to produce a very short fiber having a fiber length of 0.1 mm or less with good yield by cutting the long fiber bundle, the applicant of the present application (1) bundles the long fibers aligned in one direction and bundles the fiber bundle. And (2) impregnating the fiber bundle with a gas state or liquid state embedding agent (referred to as “embedding material” when in the solid state), and wrapping the outer periphery thereof with the embedding material, (3) The embedding agent is solidified and phase-changed into an embedding material, and the single fiber group constituting the fiber bundle is restrained by the embedding material, and (4) the end face of the embedding-treated fiber bundle is not cut. We propose cutting technology and have applied for a patent for these series of technologies. At that time, it has also been proposed that at least one material selected from a material group consisting of dry ice, ice, paraffin, and thermoplastic resin can be suitably used as the embedding material.

  At that time, the end face of the fiber bundle embedded as described above (hereinafter, “embedded fiber bundle” is also referred to as “material to be cut”) is formed into a flat plate-like tool rest that moves relative to the end face. We have also proposed a device that cuts a material to be cut into a thin side with a cutting blade that is brought into contact with and slightly protruded from the plane of the tool post.

  Certainly, by using such an apparatus, an extremely short fiber having a fiber length of 0.1 mm or less can be produced satisfactorily. However, if cutting is continued for a long time while the workpiece is brought into contact with the tool rest and sliding, heat is generated due to friction with the tool rest. Then, the embedding material that constitutes a part of the work to be in contact with the tool post is melted or vaporized by frictional heat, or the work itself is thermally expanded to change its dimensions. Occur.

  That is, for example, when ice is used as the embedding material used for the workpiece, the ice liquefies and changes phase into water due to friction with the tool post. Then, even though an ultrashort fiber having a fiber length of 0.1 mm or less can be obtained, the fiber length of the obtained ultrashort fiber varies, and an ultrashort fiber having a uniform fiber length is obtained. I can't do that.

  Therefore, the object of the present invention is to suppress heat generation during cutting of such a workpiece as much as possible, thereby obtaining ultrashort fibers having a uniform fiber length of 0.1 mm or less with a stable and high yield. It is to provide an apparatus for producing ultrashort fibers that can be used.

  As a result of intensive studies to achieve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventor brought the work material into contact with the tool post only during cutting, and kept the work piece in contact with the tool post while cutting was not performed. The inventors have investigated that the above-mentioned problems can be solved by making contact, and have completed the present invention.

  Here, as an invention for solving the above-mentioned problem, the embedding treatment is performed by at least one embedding material selected from the group of materials consisting of dry ice, ice, paraffin, and thermoplastic resin according to claim 1. A cutting blade for cutting a material to be cut made of a bundle of fibers into a thin piece, a tool post on which a contact flat surface for contacting the material to be cut is formed and provided with the cutting blade, and the material to be cut Holding means for holding, driving means for relatively moving the holding means and / or the tool post in the cutting direction, contact pressure applying means for bringing the workpiece into contact with the contact plane with a predetermined contact pressure, Contact release means for bringing the end surface of the workpiece into non-contact with the contact plane, and applying the workpiece to the contact plane for a predetermined time required to cut the workpiece. Made of ultra-short fibers characterized by contact Device "is provided.

  At that time, as in the invention according to claim 2, the holding means includes a cold insulation means and / or a cooling means for maintaining a solidified state of the embedding material during cutting of the workpiece. Preferably, the apparatus for producing ultrashort fibers according to claim 1 is used.

  Furthermore, as in the invention described in claim 3, “the apparatus for producing ultrashort fibers according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the driving means is a driving means for rotationally driving or reciprocating linearly driving the tool post”. It is desirable.

  According to the present invention described in claim 1 described above, various problems of the prior art as described in the “Background Art” column can be solved, and the stability is reduced to 0. It is possible to produce a large amount of ultrashort fibers having a fiber length of 1 mm or less with a high yield.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the cutting material 1 is kept cold so that the embedding material constituting a part of the material to be cut does not vaporize or liquefy from the solidified state during the cutting of the material 1 to be cut. Or cool. Therefore, for example, even when cutting is performed for a long time at room temperature, the situation is such that the embedding material is vaporized or liquefied and the single fiber group constituting the fiber bundle cannot be restrained by the solid embedding material. can do. Further, even if heat is generated in the material to be cut, the generated heat can be quickly taken away from the material to be cut, and the embedding material can always be maintained in a solid state.

  And according to this invention of Claim 3, a tool post (cutting blade) and a to-be-cut material are rotationally driven or a reciprocating linear drive, and it is made to move relative to each other in a cutting direction, and a to-be-cut material is made into a thin piece shape. Can be cut. For this reason, a mechanism for moving the tool post (cutting blade) and the workpiece to be cut in the cutting direction can be configured very simply and inexpensively.

  In the apparatus of the present invention, in order to produce ultrashort fibers having a fiber length after cutting of 0.1 mm or less, at least one selected from the group of materials consisting of dry ice, ice, paraffin, and thermoplastic resin A fiber bundle embedded in an embedding material (embedding agent) is used as a material to be cut, and the end of the fiber bundle carried on the embedding material is thinly cut with a cutting blade together with the embedding material.

  However, if the cutting material is always pressed against the tool post and brought into contact with the tool post and continuously cut with a cutting blade slightly protruded from the tool post, the fiber of the cut ultrashort fiber is affected by friction. The variation in length increases. Therefore, the apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the workpiece is brought into contact with the tool rest for a necessary time while the workpiece is subjected to cutting by the cutting blade, thereby avoiding an adverse effect due to friction. And Hereinafter, this feature of the apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic apparatus configuration diagram schematically illustrating an ultrashort fiber manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, in which 1 is a workpiece, 2 is holding means, 3 is a tool post, 4 is a cutting blade, and 5 is a cutting blade. Contact pressure applying means, 6 is a fixing member, 7 is a contact release means, 8 is a rotation driving means for the tool post 3, 9 is a collection means for ultrashort fibers, 10 is a mount, 11 is a rotation detection means, 12 is a controller, Reference numeral 13 denotes a contact pressure applying solenoid valve, and reference numeral 14 denotes a contact pressure releasing solenoid valve.

Reference symbol P indicates a contact plane of the tool post 3 that presses the cutting end surface of the workpiece 1 with a predetermined contact pressure. Since this contact plane P is a cutting reference surface, sufficient smoothness is obtained. It is necessary to form with flatness. Further, in FIG. 1, the illustration of the cooling means and / or the cooling means included in the holding means 2 is omitted, but these will be described later. Further, the collection means 9 shown in the figure is for collecting the cut ultrashort fibers, and is constituted by, for example, a collection bag or a collection cylindrical container. Accordingly, by providing so as to surround the outer periphery of the tool rest 3 which rotates the recovery means 9, can be recovered very short fibers that are cut into the collection means 9.

  Here, FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing an embodiment in which four cutting blades 4 are provided radially on the tool post 3, and the workpiece 1 is cut by the four cutting blades 4. An embodiment example is shown. However, in this example, the number of cutting blades 4 provided on the tool post 3 is four, but may be one, two, three, or five or more. Further, in this example, the number of workpieces 1 is one, but a plurality of workpieces 1 may be provided or may be provided in one-to-one correspondence with the number of cutting blades 4 provided.

Further, the cutting blade 4 provided on the tool post 3 is adjusted so as to protrude by a protrusion length C from the contact plane P of the tool post 3. For example, the protrusion length C is adjustable to a height of 1 mm or less, preferably 0.001 to 0.1 mm. At this time, the cutting end surface of the workpiece 1 is pressed against the contact plane P of the tool post 3 with a predetermined contact pressure by the contact pressure transmitting member 5c constituting a part of the contact pressure applying means 5.
Although it is a good design matter, a 0.2-12.0 mm thing can be used conveniently.

  In this way, the tool post 3 provided with the cutting blade 4 is rotationally driven by the rotational driving means 8. The rotational drive means 8 includes a drive device 8a such as a hydraulic motor or an electric motor that is a supply source of drive power, a drive-side power transmission member 8b, a power propagation member 8c, a driven-side power transmission member 8d, and a rotational drive. The shaft 8e, the bearing 8f, and a fixing member 8g of the bearing 8f are included, and the driving device 8a and the fixing member 8g are respectively positioned and fixed to the gantry 10b. Further, a driven-side power transmission member 8d is fixed to one end of the rotary drive shaft 8e, and a tool post 3 is fixed to the other end, and is further rotatably supported by a bearing 8f at an intermediate portion thereof. .

  Therefore, the power from the drive device 8a is transmitted as rotational force to the rotary drive shaft 8e through the drive-side power transmission member 8b, the power propagation member 8c, and the driven-side power transmission member 8d in this order. Then, the tool post 3 fixed to the other end of the rotational drive shaft 8e is rotationally driven. Therefore, when the cutting blade 4 is rotationally driven together with the tool rest 3, the workpiece 1 that comes into contact with the tool rest 3 is cut by the cutting blade 4. In addition, it is preferable that the rotation speed of the tool post 3 can be changed in accordance with the properties of the workpiece 1, for example, 0.05 to 1,500 rotations per minute. At this time, as specific examples of the power transmission members 8b and 8d, a toothed pulley, a pulley for a V belt, a gear, and the like can be exemplified, and the power propagation member 8c includes a toothed belt (timing belt). ), V belts, chains, intermediate gears, and the like.

  At that time, the rotation speed of the tool post 3 is changed, for example, as is well known in the art. The drive device 8a is an AC motor such as an induction motor or a synchronous motor, the frequency is controlled by an inverter, or the drive device 8a is supplied as a pulse motor. This can be done by controlling the number of pulses or by providing a driver device that controls the frequency by chopping a direct current using the drive device 8a as a direct current motor.

  In this way, the cutting blade 4 provided on the tool post 3 provided with the cutting blade 4 is rotated, and the workpiece 1 is pressed against the rotating cutting blade 4 and cut into a thin piece. Very short fibers can be obtained. Then, corresponding to the protrusion length C of the cutting blade 4 adjusted with respect to the contact plane P, a fiber length of 0.005 mm or more and 1 mm or less (particularly, a fiber length of 0.005 mm or more and 0.1 mm or less). It becomes possible to cut the ultrashort fiber which has this from the material 1 to be cut. In addition, what is necessary is just to optimize suitably about the thickness of the cutting blade to be used according to the property of the to-be-cut material 1. FIG.

  However, instead of rotating the cutting blade 4 together with the tool post 3, the tool post 3 is fixed, and conversely, the workpiece 1 is rotated so that the workpiece 1 is brought into contact with the contact plane P of the tool post 3. The ultrashort fibers may be cut by bringing them into contact with each other. Further, the tool post 3 is reciprocated linearly with respect to the workpiece 1, and the workpiece 1 is brought into contact with the tool post 3 at the time of the forward linear motion and is cut by the cutting blade 4, and the tool post at the time of the return linear motion. 3 may be kept in a contacted state and not cut. In short, what is important in the present invention is to manufacture ultrashort fibers from the bundle of fibers that have been embedded, and for this purpose, the workpiece 1 and / or the cutting blade 4 are moved relative to each other in the cutting direction. Any mechanism that can obtain ultrashort fibers from the workpiece 1 may be used.

  However, the material 1 to be cut is composed of a fiber bundle 1a embedded by the embedding material 1b. In addition, the fiber bundle 1a is comprised from many arranged long single fiber groups, and the total fineness of the fiber bundle 1a is adjusted to 10,000-10 million dtex. Further, the total length of the fiber bundle 1a used at this time is not particularly limited, but is usually set to 5 to 1000 mm in consideration of workability and productivity, and further considering the ease of embedding processing.

  Further, as a reminder, in FIG. 1, the embedding material 1b existing inside the fiber bundle 1a is not shown in the figure, but already exists inside the fiber bundle 1a regardless of the amount. Needless to say. This is because the single fiber group constituting the fiber bundle 1a must be restrained by the embedding material. In particular, as the total fineness of the fiber bundle 1a increases, the single fiber group constituting the fiber bundle 1a moves in the direction in which the cutting blade 4 moves during cutting (the direction of the white arrow shown in FIG. 3). In order to prevent the blade 4 from escaping, it is important to restrict the degree of freedom of movement by the embedding material 1b.

  However, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, in a separate process different from the cutting process, the fiber bundle 1 a cut to a predetermined length is embedded with the embedding material 1 b to form the work material 1, and then the work material 1. The aspect which cut | disconnected the end surface of by batch processing was shown. However, the material 1 to be cut is continuously embedded by immersing the long fiber bundle 1a composed of the continuous long single fiber group in the embedding agent and solidifying the embedding agent. You may make it cut.

  When the apparatus of the present invention configured as described above is used, ultrashort fibers can be manufactured by cutting the workpiece 1 into a thin piece with the cutting blade 4 while pressing the workpiece 1 against the contact plane P. . However, if cutting is continued for a long time, if the temperature of the working environment for cutting is higher than the solidification temperature of the embedding material 1b, the embedding material 1b may be vaporized or liquefied to play its role. It will not be possible. This is because when the ultrashort fiber manufacturing apparatus of the present invention is used, ultrashort fibers can be obtained from the material 1 to be cut, but if cutting is continued for a long time, the temperature of the cutting work environment is buried. This is because if the temperature is higher than the solidification temperature of the packaging material 1b, the embedding material 1b is vaporized or liquefied and cannot play its role.

  For this reason, a cooling means (not shown) is provided in the holding means 2 that holds the workpiece 1. At this time, if it is not possible to cope with only the cooling means, a cooling means (not shown) for actively taking heat and cooling is provided to sufficiently cool the embedding material 1b so as not to vaporize or liquefy. Is required. Moreover, in order to achieve the said objective, it is also a preferable aspect that the circumference | surroundings of the to-be-cut material 1 are cooled locally, or the whole cutting device is cooled.

  As the cooling means (not shown), a known refrigerant circulation cooling device can be preferably used. Specifically, a jacket capable of circulating a refrigerant such as ammonia, chlorofluorocarbon, or alternative chlorofluorocarbon is attached to the outer peripheral portion of the gripping member 2a of the workpiece 1 constituting the holding means 2 and the refrigerant is supplied to the jacket. This jacket can be achieved by circulation, and this jacket may be fixed to the gantry 9c by the fixing member 2b. When the gripping member 2a is cooled by the cooling means as described above, it is preferable to use a material having good thermal conductivity, for example, a metal material such as stainless steel, as the gripping member 2a. However, when relying on the cold insulation means, a low thermal conductivity material such as a plastic material that is not good in heat conduction to the workpiece 1 is preferable.

  In addition to the problems received from the working environment temperature described above, there is a problem of heat generation due to the contact between the work material 1 and the tool post 3, and the present invention is the most effective in eliminating or suppressing such heat generation. It is a feature. In other words, if cutting is continued while the workpiece 1 is always in contact with the contact plane P of the tool post 3, heat is generated between the contact plane P and the workpiece 1 and the fiber bundle is heated. The problem of causing expansion arises. Moreover, if this heat generation is further increased, the embedding material for embedding the fiber bundle may be melted, resulting in fiber miscutting.

  Therefore, in the ultrashort fiber manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, in order to suppress this heat generation, when it is not necessary to cut the workpiece 1, a portion where the blade 4 is not present on the contact plane P, that is, A contact releasing means 7 is provided for bringing the workpiece 1 and the contact plane P into contact with each other during a time when it is not necessary. That is, the contact pressure applying means 5 for bringing the workpiece 1 into contact with the contact plane P is provided only while it is necessary to bring the workpiece 1 into contact with the cutting blade 4 to perform cutting. Examples of the contact pressure applying means 5 and the contact release means 7 include a fluid pressure operating cylinder that is operated by a fluid pressure such as the pressure of compressed air or hydraulic pressure as shown in the figure.

  Here, the former contact pressure applying means 5 plays a role of pressing the workpiece 1 against the contact plane P of the tool post 3 with a predetermined force. As illustrated in FIG. The rod member 5b is configured to include a contact pressure transmission member 5c to the workpiece 1 and a fixing member 6, and is positioned and fixed to the gantry 10 (10c) via the fixing member 6. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the latter contact release means 7 applies a force to the opposite side to the contact pressure applying means 5 so that the work material 1 comes into contact with the contact plane P. 1, a release force generator 7 a that generates a force for releasing contact pressure, a connecting rod member 7 b, a release force transmission member 7 c that transmits a contact pressure release force to the workpiece 1, and a fixing member 6. And is fixed to the gantry 10 via the fixing member 6.

  However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, and is pressed against the contact plane P of the tool post 3 of the workpiece 1 with a predetermined contact pressure and release of the contact pressure application. If it is an apparatus which can do this, this can be used conveniently. For example, it is possible to use a device for applying and releasing contact by a combination of a mechanical cam and a spring.

  As described in detail above, in the present invention, the workpiece 1 and the contact plane P are brought into contact with each other or brought into a non-contact state by the contact pressure applying means 5 and the contact release means 7. Is a major feature. Therefore, such features of the present invention will be described in detail and specifically below with reference to FIG. However, the examples described below are for explaining the device of the present invention in detail and specifically, and are not limited to these examples as long as the technical idea of the present invention is satisfied. . Note that FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram schematically illustrating the time of cutting (FIG. A) and the time of non-cutting (FIG. B) of the material to be cut by the cutting blade. It is the typical front sectional view typically illustrated.

  First, in one example illustrated in FIG. 3 (a), a long single fiber group made of polyester is bundled into a long fiber bundle of 2 million dtex, and this is a fiber bundle cut into a predetermined length, For example, it freezes in the state immersed in the water with which the pot was filled, and the to-be-cut material 1 which uses ice as an embedding material is obtained. Then, the cutting end surface of the obtained workpiece 1 is cut by a rotary cutter having a circular cutting blade to form a clean cutting surface, for example, a cylindrical workpiece 1 having a length of φ75 mm × 40 mm and To do. Using a device similar to that illustrated in FIG. 1, the workpiece 1 is sandwiched between gripping members made of a pair of halved cylinders. The gripping member 2a constitutes a part of the holding means 2, and a jacket in which, for example, a refrigerant (brine) circulates is provided on the outer periphery of the gripping member 2a to cool the gripping means 2a to -4 ° C. To do.

  At that time, the shape of the workpiece 1 held by the holding means 2 is not limited to a round bar shape, but may be any shape such as a square column shape, a hexagonal column shape, an elliptical column shape, or a column shape whose cross section has a donut shape. Can be adopted. Such a shape is obtained by embedding the fiber bundle 1a and water in the pot under conditions for embedding the fiber bundle 1a with the embedding material 1b, for example. In the case of performing the packaging process, the shape of the workpiece 1 depends on the shape of the pot, and also varies depending on the condition of the gripping member 2 a of the holding means 2 that holds the workpiece 1.

  In the state shown in FIG. 3A described above, as shown in the figure, the gripping member 2a constituting a part of the holding means 2 is released from the gripping of the workpiece 1 so that the workpiece is cut. The cutting material 1 is allowed to move freely in the vertical direction. At this time, an air cylinder having a cylinder diameter of 50 mm and a stroke length of 100 mm is employed as the contact pressure applying means 5 as in the embodiment shown in FIG. Further, an air cylinder having a cylinder diameter of φ50 mm and a stroke length of 10 mm is adopted as the contact release means 7.

  In the example of FIG. 3, as the contact pressure applying means 5 and the contact release means 7, a fluid pressure drive cylinder that operates with a fluid pressure such as compressed air or hydraulic pressure is used as an actuator. However, the present invention is not limited to such a mechanism, and employs a well-known mechanism such as a mechanism such as a linear motor, a crank mechanism, and a cam mechanism that converts the rotation of the electric motor into a linear motion in the vertical direction. be able to.

  Further, the connecting rod member that supports the upper end of the workpiece 1 by flowing a normal and reverse current through the electromagnetic coil using a connecting rod member made of a permanent magnet (or an electromagnet) and an electromagnetic coil surrounding the connecting rod member. (Reference numerals 5b and 7b are cylinder rods, but in the example of FIG. 3, this cylinder rod corresponds to a connecting rod member) may be moved in the vertical direction. Here, the important thing is that the workpiece 1 can be moved in the intended direction at the intended timing, and the workpiece 1 can be brought into contact with the contact plane P or can be brought into a non-contact state. Any device that exhibits such an action can be preferably used.

  At this time, when compressed air of 0.11 MPa is supplied to the air cylinder on the contact pressure applying side, the air cylinder for releasing the contact pressure always applies a force in the direction of pressing the workpiece 1 against the contact plane P. Can be hung. In such a state, the end face of the workpiece 1 is cut into a thin piece with the cutting blade 4 protruding from the contact plane P by a predetermined protruding length C, whereby the fiber length is 0.1 mm or less. Short fibers can be suitably produced.

  On the other hand, in the present invention, in order to avoid heat generation due to contact between the workpiece 1 and the tool post 3, as illustrated in FIG. Compressed air of 0.2 MPa is supplied to the air cylinder. Then, a force is applied in a direction in which the workpiece 1 is released from contact with the contact plane P, and the workpiece 1 is maintained in a non-contact state with the contact plane P.

  As described above, immediately before the workpiece 1 comes into contact with the cutting blade 4, a force is applied in the direction in which the workpiece 1 is pressed against the contact plane P by the air cylinder on the contact pressure release side. Immediately after the cutting blade 4 passes through the workpiece 1 and cutting is completed, the air cylinder on the contact pressure release side is operated to release the contact pressure of the workpiece 1. Then, the above-mentioned problem due to heat generation can be avoided. For this reason, there is no miscutting, and an ultrashort fiber having a uniform cut fiber length can be suitably produced.

  For example, if an example of the manufacturing conditions is shown, the rotary drive shaft (the tool post) is rotated at 30 revolutions per minute through the timing belt with the tool post 3 by an inverter motor with a reduction gear. At that time, the cutting blade 4 used is a high-speed steel having a thickness of 0.25 mm, a blade attachment angle of 25 °, and a blade retraction angle of 30 °. At this time, when the projecting length C of the cutting blade 4 was adjusted to 0.02 mm and cutting was performed, an extremely short fiber having a fiber length of 0.025 mm was obtained. At this time, after draining water from the obtained ultrashort fiber, it was dried with a hot air of 120 ° C. in a known hot air dryer. The cut surface of the ultrashort fiber after drying was in a clean state, and almost no miscut short fiber was found.

  In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the operation switching between the contact pressure applying side air cylinder and the contact pressure releasing side air cylinder as described above is performed by using the rotation detecting means 11 such as a rotary encoder, and the rotation drive shaft 8e. This can be done by detecting the rotation angle. That is, based on the rotation angle detected by the rotation detecting means 11, the supply of compressed air to be supplied using the contact pressure applying solenoid valve 13 and the contact pressure releasing solenoid valve 14 is switched. In order to control the motor 8a rotating the rotary drive shaft 8e and the electromagnetic valves 13 and 14 in synchronization, for example, a microcomputer is used based on the signal from the rotation detecting means 11. Such a controller 12 can be realized by controlling the switching timing and the like.

  At that time, the gripping member 2a constituting a part of the holding means 2 holds the workpiece 1 as in the case of FIG. 3 (a), or the gripping member as in the case of FIG. 3 (b). The controller 12 similarly controls whether or not the workpiece 1 is held by opening 2a. At this time, it is preferable that the gripping member 2a be an electromagnetic chuck to control by exciting or demagnetizing the electromagnetic chuck by flowing or cutting a current to the gripping member 2a. However, the gripping member 2a is not limited to such a mode, and the mode is limited as long as the gripping member 2a has a structure capable of quickly and reliably gripping or releasing the workpiece 1 at a necessary timing. There is no particular reason.

  In the above-described embodiments, the turret 3 (cutting blade 4) and the workpiece 1 are each rotated and rotated, but the turret 3 (cutting blade 4) and the workpiece 1 are removed. It is also possible to adopt a method of cutting by linearly moving each other. In such a case, a driving means capable of reciprocally driving the tool post 3 (cutting blade 4) or the workpiece 1 linearly with each other is configured, and the tool post 3 has a single cutting blade 4 or a predetermined cutting tool. A plurality of cutting blades 4 arranged in a straight line at intervals of.

  Then, the workpiece 1 is cut into a thin piece by causing the tool post 3 (cutting blade 4) / the workpiece 1 to reciprocate linearly with respect to the workpiece 1 / the tool post 3 (cutting blade 4). However, at this time, during the forward linear movement, the workpiece 1 is brought into contact with the contact plane P of the tool post 3 by the contact pressure applying means, and the cutting blade 4 can be cut. However, in the present invention, it is important in the present invention that the workpiece 1 is brought into a non-contact state with the contact plane P of the tool post 3 by the contact release means during the return linear motion to prevent the workpiece 1 from generating heat. The mechanism for performing the reciprocating linear motion is not particularly limited. For example, a well-known mechanism such as a crank mechanism that converts the rotational motion of the motor into linear motion can be employed. In addition, a mechanism employed in a well-known planer, shaper, and sharpener can be used as it is.

  Next, the material of the fiber bundle which obtains the very short fiber manufactured with the apparatus of this invention is demonstrated. Examples of the fiber material constituting such a fiber bundle include synthetic fibers made of polymers such as polyester, polyamide, and polyolefin, and composite synthetic fibers in which two or more kinds of polymers are combined, but are not particularly limited thereto. I don't mean. That is, it can be obtained from natural fibers such as silk thread, cotton thread and hemp thread, or semi-synthetic fibers such as cellulose fiber and acetate fiber.

  The fibers described above are usually obtained as multifilament yarns composed of long fiber groups having a single fiber fineness of 0.001 to 10 dtex. Therefore, as the fiber bundle used in the present invention, the multiple multifilament yarns are aligned and bundled so as to be parallel to each other in the fiber direction, and the total fineness is set to 10,000 to 10,000,000 dtex. Next, the fiber bundle thus prepared is sufficiently impregnated with a low-viscosity and amorphous embedding agent in a liquid state or a gas state, and then the embedding agent is solidified to embed the fiber bundle. The workpiece 1 is obtained by being embedded in the packaging material and integrated.

  In this way, the single fibers that are very thin and flexible one by one and are therefore easily deformed in the direction in which the cutting force acts and escape, are fixed by the embedding material, and each short piece is fixed. The state of being unable to move easily appears by restricting the freedom of movement of the fiber. And if it cuts into a thin piece shape with a cutting blade in this state, the very short fiber which has a fiber length of 0.1 mm or less can be manufactured easily.

  The property required of the embedding agent to achieve the above-mentioned purpose is that it can be changed into a low-viscosity fluid state exhibiting an amorphous shape, and the fibers from the outer periphery can be easily surrounded and encased by the fiber bundle. It is easy to enter the gap inside the bundle and then solidify as it is. Therefore, as an embedding agent (embedding material) having the above-mentioned properties, for example, when heated, it causes a phase change that evaporates from a solid to carbon dioxide gas like dry ice, or when heated like ice for example, from a solid Use materials that cause a phase change that liquefies into water.

  In the present invention, it is also a great feature that the ultrashort fiber and the embedding material can be easily and completely separated after cutting when the ultrashort fiber is manufactured. Therefore, in order to easily and completely separate them, it is preferable to use dry ice or ice as the embedding material. This is because, when dry ice is used as an embedding material, it should be noted that cutting is performed under conditions where dry ice does not vaporize and become carbon dioxide gas. The room temperature maintained at (5) can be easily and easily separated from the ultrashort fibers.

  If ice is used as an embedding material, it is heated to a temperature higher than 0 ° C. and returned to water, and then passed through a drying step, so that it is easy and easy to embed ultrashort fibers and embedding. The material can be separated. As described above, when ice is used as the embedding material, the fiber bundle can be easily frozen using a simple device, which is particularly preferable. In addition, when obtaining very short fibers from a composite fiber or the like that is susceptible to temperature changes, the frozen fiber bundle is subjected to freeze-drying as it is, and dried without being heated back to water. You can also.

  The ultrashort fiber obtained by the production method of the present invention is cut to have a fiber length of 0.005 mm or more and 1 mm or less, particularly 0.005 mm or more and less than 0.1 mm. For example, JP-A-11-241223 A very short optical interference fiber as described in the official gazette is mixed in an adhesive and used as a paint, or mixed in cosmetics or used as a flocking toner material for a printing press. A wide range of applications can be expected such as being able to be used.

  Moreover, according to the production apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to stably and easily produce ultrashort fibers of 0.005 mm or more and 1 mm or less, particularly 0.005 mm or more and 0.1 mm or less, and further, miscut products. Is extremely reduced, and the production yield is also good, so that ultrashort fibers can be produced on an industrial scale.

It is the schematic apparatus block diagram which illustrated typically the manufacturing apparatus of the polar single fiber of this invention. It is the top view which showed typically the example of an embodiment which provided the four cutting blades in the tool post. FIG. 3A is an explanatory view schematically illustrating the state of the workpiece being cut by the cutting blade, and FIG. 3B is a schematic view illustrating the state of non-cutting.

Explanation of symbols

1 Embedded fiber bundle (cutting material)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 Holding means 3 Tool post 4 Cutting blade 5 Contact pressure provision means 6 Fixing member 7 Contact release means 8 Drive means 9 Ultrashort fiber collection means 10 Base 11 Rotation detection means 12 Controller 13 Contact pressure applying solenoid valve 14 Contact pressure Solenoid valve for release P Contact surface of tool post

Claims (3)

  A cutting blade for cutting a cut material made of a fiber bundle embedded in at least one embedding material selected from a material group consisting of dry ice, ice, paraffin, and thermoplastic resin into a thin piece; A tool post on which a contact plane for contacting the work material is formed and the cutting blade is provided, a holding means for holding the work material, and the holding means and / or the tool rest relative to the cutting direction. Driving means for moving, contact pressure applying means for bringing the workpiece into contact with the contact plane with a predetermined contact pressure, and contact release means for bringing the end surface of the workpiece into contact with the contact plane And the cutting material is brought into contact with the contact plane only for a predetermined time required for cutting the cutting material.   The ultrashort fiber manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the holding unit includes a cooling unit and / or a cooling unit for maintaining the solidified state of the embedding material during cutting of the workpiece.   The apparatus for producing ultrashort fibers according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the driving means is a driving means for rotating or reciprocatingly driving the tool post.

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