JP4660372B2 - Optical interference fiber manufacturing apparatus and manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical interference fiber spinning device and a spinning method for compositely spinning a yarn composed of optical interference fibers by measuring light obtained by irradiating and reflecting light on a yarn package.

  Optical coherent fibers (optical interference fibers) having an alternate laminate in which at least two kinds of polymers are alternately laminated in a thin film shape along the fiber axis direction are disclosed in, for example, JP-A-11-1818 and JP-A-11-1826. No. 11-1827, No. 11-1828, No. 11-1829, and the like.

  The fiber obtained in the above-mentioned patent document has a color having both deep color and luster of South American morpho butterflies, and exhibits completely different colors from dyes and pigments. It is known to be due to interference. Such an optical interference fiber having optical interference properties is obtained by spinning a polymer obtained by alternately laminating two kinds of polymers from a spinning hole in a spinneret having a complicated structure, thereby forming an alternate laminate along the fiber axis. It is manufactured by forming. At this time, unless the thickness of each layer of the alternating laminate is precisely controlled as designed, a light interference fiber exhibiting the targeted color cannot be manufactured.

  For this reason, when manufacturing a spinneret for spinning optical interference fibers as designed, high-precision manufacturing dimensions and assembly accuracy are required. Also, it is necessary to strictly manage the spinning conditions in the melt spinning process for spinning the optical interference fiber. However, if the optical interference fiber is repeatedly manufactured over a long period of time, the assembly accuracy of the spinneret deteriorates and wear due to the polymer flow occurs, so that a normal optical interference fiber cannot be obtained. Situation arises.

  Conventionally, a method for inspecting the quality abnormality of such an optical interference fiber having optical interference has been performed by a method in which a yarn sampled from a wound yarn package is sensuously inspected by human eyes. It was. However, since it is extremely difficult for an inspector to confirm color development abnormality with the naked eye, until now, the color development property has been quantitatively evaluated using a spectrocolorimeter that can be used relatively easily. .

  At that time, when evaluating the color development of the fiber using the spectrocolorimeter, (1) a yarn sample is taken from the yarn package, and (2) the collected yarn sample is placed on a black plate (baren). Winding, so-called valene winding work, (3) After the work, each balene was fixed to the support part of the colorimeter, and the color measurement of each sample taken by the worker from the yarn package was performed, (4) Obtaining the peak wavelength at which the reflection spectrum for each wavelength obtained by measurement peaks, and (5) recording the presence / absence of abnormality for each yarn sample, following the procedure from (1) to (5) above Has been done.

  However, since the inspection procedures (1) to (5) are performed manually by workers, much time and labor are spent on the color development inspection. Therefore, in order to further shorten the color measurement time, an inspection method capable of performing color measurement in a package without performing valen winding work is required.

  As described above, the reason why the yarn sample should be taken out from the yarn package, wound around the barren, and subjected to the colorimetric inspection of the optical interference fiber is the colorimetry of the wound yarn with the yarn package as it is. This is because the reliability is high and stable data cannot always be obtained. This problem will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 4 shows a known spectroscopic method in which 10 packages are arbitrarily selected as measurement points after the package around which the color-forming yarn is wound, and the measurement conditions are all the same at these 10 measurement points. The reflection spectrum curve measured by the colorimeter is illustrated. In FIG. 4, the horizontal axis represents each wavelength (nm) obtained by spectroscopically analyzing the light reflected from the yarn package, and the vertical axis represents the reflectance (%).

  Normally, when measuring the color of a sample with a spectrocolorimeter that requires a certain degree of accuracy, the standard white plate approximated to a complete diffusion surface is irradiated with barium sulfate or the like, and the reflected light from this standard white plate is irradiated. Data is obtained, and then the measurement light is irradiated to the yarn package as the test sample to similarly obtain the reflected light amount data of the test sample. Then, the ratio of the reflected light amount data of the test sample to the reflected light amount data of the standard white plate is calculated to obtain the reflectance (%) of the test sample. The reflectance (%) of FIG. It is what I have requested.

  Thus, when FIG. 4 which illustrated the reflection spectrum of the yarn package measured with the spectrocolorimeter is seen, it can be seen that the reflection spectrum differs greatly at the measurement location. It can also be seen that each of the obtained reflection spectrum curves is not a smooth curve, but a shaky curve with large and small irregularities. Therefore, it is clear that such data cannot be obtained with high reliability and always stable data.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-1818 JP-A-11-1826 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-1827 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-1828 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-1829

  In view of the problems of the prior art described above, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to collect a sample from a yarn package wound up with a color development abnormality of a light interference fiber, wind it around a barren, and perform spectroscopy. Performs color measurement of optical interference fibers automatically and immediately, while maintaining high reliability and good stability, without relying on manual labor, which requires a lot of time and effort to perform color measurement with a colorimeter. In addition, it is possible to produce optical interference fibers having excellent quality while monitoring the quality abnormality of the optical interference fibers by directly feeding back the colorimetric results to the optical interference fiber manufacturing process. It is to provide an apparatus and method.

Here, as the present invention for achieving the above-mentioned problem,
(1) As a yarn package, a composite fiber having optical coherence, which is composed of two or more polymer thin films with different optical refractive indexes, which are parallel to each other along the fiber axis direction, is drawn after spinning. In an apparatus for winding and manufacturing an optical interference fiber,
Spectral colorimeter that spectrally measures reflected light from the rotating yarn package during or after winding, and a target by evaluating the color wavelength value of the yarn package from the spectrally measured reflected light A color development evaluation device for calculating a wavelength deviation value between the color development wavelength value and a feedback of a polymer discharge amount discharged from the composite spinneret so as to eliminate the deviation value calculated by the color development evaluation device. And a control means for controlling the optical interference fiber manufacturing apparatus.

(2) The color development evaluation apparatus obtains a peak wavelength at which the reflectance is maximum based on reflection spectrum data of reflected light obtained by the spectrocolorimeter, and obtains the obtained peak wavelength by an experiment in advance. It is an apparatus for evaluating the color development abnormality of the yarn package by evaluating whether the difference is between the control upper limit value and the control lower limit value compared with the reference peak wavelength (reference color development wavelength). 1) Optical interference fiber manufacturing apparatus according to
(3) Provided with a rotating device that rotates the wound yarn package after winding when performing the color development evaluation process using the reflection spectrum obtained from the reflected light from the yarn package rotated by the spectrocolorimeter. (1) or (2) optical interference fiber manufacturing apparatus, characterized in that
(4) A distance sensor for measuring a distance between the yarn package being wound and the measuring head, and a distance between the yarn package and the measuring head is made constant from distance information measured by the distance sensor. (1)-(3) optical interference fiber manufacturing apparatus, comprising a slide means for moving the measurement head to maintain
(5) A light projecting / receiving integrated measuring head in which the light emitting unit for projecting the light from the light source and the light receiving unit for receiving the reflected light from the yarn package are integrated. The optical interference fiber manufacturing apparatus according to any one of (1) to (4), further comprising an optical fiber that guides light from the light source to the peripheral portion of the yarn package to the peripheral position of the yarn package,
(6) Spinning optical interference fibers, which are formed by alternately laminating thin film layers composed of at least two types of polymers having different optical refractive indexes, in parallel with the fiber axis direction, from a composite spinneret. In the method of manufacturing an optical interference fiber that is unwound, stretched and wound up as a yarn package, the color wavelength value of the yarn package that rotates during or after winding is detected, and the detected color wavelength value and target A method for producing an optical interference fiber, comprising calculating a deviation value between a color development wavelength value and adjusting a melt spinning condition of the optical interference fiber so as to eliminate the calculated deviation value,
(7) In the adjustment of the melt spinning conditions, the peak wavelength at which the reflectance is maximized is obtained based on the reflection spectrum data measured from the reflected light of the yarn package, and the obtained peak wavelength is obtained in advance by experiments. The reference peak wavelength (reference color development wavelength) is compared and the deviation of the wavelength value is calculated as a deviation value, and the amount of polymer discharged from the composite spinneret in a direction to eliminate the deviation value is feedback controlled. The method for producing an optical interference fiber according to (6), which is an adjustment,
(8) The adjustment of the melt spinning conditions is based on the calculated deviation value, the temperature of the polymer spun from the composite spinneret, the temperature of the heater immediately below the spinneret, and / or the amount of cooling air that cools the spun yarn And a method for producing an optical interference fiber according to (6) or (7), wherein the temperature is finely adjusted,
(9) The optical interference fiber according to any one of (6) to (8), wherein the production of the optical interference fiber is performed in a direct spinning drawing process, and the color development wavelength value of the yarn package being wound is measured online. Manufacturing method,
(10) The color development wavelength value of the yarn package is represented by the L * a * b * value, and it was obtained from the reference L * a * b * value obtained beforehand by experiment and the L * a * b * value obtained by color measurement. The method for producing an optical interference fiber according to any one of (6) to (9), wherein the deviation value for feedback control is a color difference (ΔE ^* ab), and
(11) When measuring the reflected light reflected from the yarn package being wound, measure the light receiving position at a constant distance and the package at a constant light receiving angle. A method for producing the optical interference fiber according to claim 1 is provided.

  According to the present invention, since the color development wavelength is measured by the spectrocolorimeter for the yarn package rotating during or after winding, the spectrophotometer is different from the case of measuring the color of a stationary yarn package. The reflection spectrum obtained by is automatically smoothed. Therefore, by measuring the color of the rotating yarn package, it shows the maximum reflectance of the reflection spectrum obtained by spectroscopically reflecting the reflected light from the optical interference fiber. The peak wavelength value can be uniquely determined easily and automatically.

  As described above, according to the apparatus and method of the present invention, it is possible to automatically evaluate the color development abnormality while maintaining high reliability and good stability. For this reason, the inspection time can be greatly shortened without relying on the manual labor which spends much time and labor.

  Furthermore, if the color development evaluation can be performed immediately during winding during the production of the optical interference fiber, the color development abnormality occurring during the production of the optical interference fiber may be abnormal or abnormal. By adjusting the spinning conditions in the melt spinning process at the expected time, it is possible to immediately eliminate the occurrence of abnormal coloring of the optical interference fiber.

  Further, the smoothed reflection spectrum can be taken into the color development evaluation apparatus, and the reflection intensity (reflectance) at each wavelength can be analyzed and quantified. In addition, the color information data of each yarn package, for example, the peak wavelength value or the L * a * b * value can be calculated quickly.

Then, the target reference peak wavelength value or reference L * a * b * value can be compared with the calculated value, and the deviation value can be calculated to easily detect color abnormalities occurring in the yarn package. can do. When an L * a * b * value is selected as the evaluation index, the color difference (ΔE ^* ab) is a deviation value.

  When the deviation value is calculated as described above, the amount of polymer discharged from the composite spinneret that spins the optical interference fiber in a direction to eliminate the deviation value can be feedback controlled. As a result, it is possible to stably manufacture a light interference fiber having excellent quality without color variation. The temperature of the polymer spun from the composite spinneret, the temperature of the heater just below the base, and / or the spun yarn is cooled not only by the amount of polymer discharged from the composite spinneret but also by the calculated deviation value. By finely adjusting the air volume and temperature of the cooling air, it is possible to stably produce a light interference fiber having further excellent quality without color variation.

  In addition, when performing a color development test online, it is necessary to always perform color measurement at a certain distance in order to ensure the uniqueness of the color measurement data. For this purpose, in the present invention, the distance sensor measures the distance between the surface of the yarn package and the measuring head of the spectrocolorimeter, and keeps the distance constant while feeding back the measured distance signal to the computer. Such a problem can be avoided by moving the measurement head for measurement.

  First, the optical interference fibers used in the present invention include, for example, JP-A-11-1818, JP-A-11-1826, JP-A-11-1827, JP-A-11-1828, JP-A-11-. It can be produced by a known method described in Japanese Patent No. 1829. In this optical interference fiber, as described in the patent document, at least two kinds of polymers having different engineering refractive indexes are formed as an alternating laminate along the fiber axis direction. Here, an optical interference fiber having the following configuration is given as an example, but the optical interference fiber of the present invention is not limited to this example.

The two types of polymers constituting the alternate laminate in the optical interference fiber (color-forming filament) of the present invention must be a combination having a difference in refractive index. In general, the refractive index of the polymer is in the range of 1.30 to 1.82, of which the general-purpose polymer is preferably in the range of 1.35 to 1.75. Among these, when the refractive index of the polymer component on the high refractive index side is n ₁ and the refractive index of the polymer component on the low refractive index side is represented by n ₂ , the ratio of the refractive indexes of both polymers n ₁ / n _What is necessary is just to select what becomes ₂ in the range of 1.02-1.40. Specifically, a combination of polyester, nylon, polyolefin, and the like can be given.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of an optical interference fiber manufacturing apparatus and manufacturing method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic process diagram illustrating an embodiment in which the apparatus and method of the present invention are applied to a spinning direct drawing process in which the optical interference fiber spun in the melt spinning process is once taken up without being wound up. is there. In addition, although the example of embodiment of FIG. 1 has shown the direct spinning | stretching extending | stretching process, although the detail is mentioned later, the spinning process and winding process which wind up a thread | yarn once with a winder in a spinning process are each independent The apparatus and method of the present invention can be applied to the case where it is performed.

  In FIG. 1, for each reference numeral, 1 is a display, 2 is a light source that projects light onto the package, 3 is a spectrocolorimeter (for example, fiber type colorimeter: MCPD-3000 manufactured by Otsuka Electronics), and 4 is a package rotation. Apparatus, 5 is a fixing member, 6 is a measurement head, 7 is a yarn package, 8 is a distance sensor, 9 is a rotation speed controller, 10 is a cable made of an optical fiber, and 11 is a color development evaluation apparatus that performs color development evaluation processing. , 12 represents a winder (winder), and 13 represents a sliding means.

  The color development evaluation apparatus 11 has a function of calculating the spectral data of the reflected wavelength measured by the spectrocolorimeter 3 from the yarn package 7 made of optical interference fibers, and usually uses a microcomputer. It can be preferably used. Therefore, in the following description, “color development evaluation apparatus 11” is also simply referred to as “computer 11”.

  In FIG. 1, for each reference symbol, 21 is a driving means for metering means comprising a gear pump and the like, 22 is a metering means comprising a gear pump and the like, 23 is a composite spinneret (hereinafter simply referred to as “base” or “ ”, Also referred to as a spinneret”, 24 is a horizontal blow type yarn cooling device, and 25 and 26 are drawing rollers, respectively, which constitute the melt spinning process 20. The undrawn yarn spun in the melt spinning step is drawn by the drawing rollers 25 and 26 as it is without being wound once.

  In the apparatus and method of the present invention, the main feature of the present invention is that, in the above-described optical interference fiber spinning process or direct spinning drawing process, the color development property of the winding yarn package 7 is evaluated. There is to do spinning while doing. That is, in the optical interference fiber manufacturing process (spinning process or spinning direct drawing process), a winding process of winding the yarn package 7 onto the finally rotating bobbin is included. Then, the yarn package 7 that rotates during the winding process is used as the color development evaluation target, and the color development can be evaluated online during the production of the optical interference fiber.

Therefore, the importance of setting the rotating yarn package 7 as a color development evaluation target will be described with reference to FIG. 4 described in the “Background Art” section again.
As is apparent from FIG. 4, when the reflection spectrum is measured from the stationary yarn package 7 wound with the optical interference fiber, the reflectance of the reflected light is influenced by the effect of the yarn layer wound in a different direction at a predetermined traverse angle. Because the reflection directions are different at each location, the reflected light interferes with each other, and the reflection spectrum curve does not become a smooth curve depending on the location to be measured, but becomes a loose curve with large and small irregularities. . Further, the region where the peak wavelength exists becomes broad (wide and gentle shape), and the peak wavelength may not be specified.

  If it does so, an error will be included when calculating the peak value of the reflection spectrum of the light reflected from the yarn package 7. In addition, the reflection spectrum is not uniquely determined at different measurement points. In order to solve this problem, it is possible to average the data collected at each measurement point. However, this method cannot reduce the inspection time, which is the original purpose.

  Therefore, first, as a result of repeated experiments as a simpler inspection method, the inventors of the present invention can smooth the reflection spectrum by evaluating the color developability while winding the yarn package 7. It came to investigate. Hereinafter, this point will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 shows the case where the averaged processing of the measurement of the reflection spectrum of the stationary yarn package 7 at 10 different measurement points and the measurement of the reflection spectrum by rotating the yarn package 7 are overlapped with each other. FIG. As is apparent from FIG. 2, the reflection spectrum curve can be smoothed by rotating the yarn package 7, and the reflection spectrum of the stationary yarn package 7 measured at 10 different measurement points is obtained. It turns out that the result equivalent to the case of average processing is obtained.

  Therefore, when the present inventors have evaluated the color development after smoothing the reflection spectrum curve in this way, unlike the case of evaluating the color development of the yarn package 7 that has been statically wound up once. It was found that extremely stable color development can be evaluated. As a result of further investigation based on this knowledge, even when a color development abnormality occurs in the optical interference fiber in the spinning process over a long period of time, a normal optical interference fiber is obtained when this abnormality is detected. It was found that the conditions can be restored.

  That is, in the present invention, an on-line color measuring device is used to detect the color development wavelength at the time of spinning to detect a deviation from the target wavelength at which a normal optical interference fiber develops color so that the normal wavelength is obtained. To correct. However, even if a color development wavelength where a deviation has occurred is detected, what spinning conditions can be used to restore the target color development wavelength is the next target.

  Therefore, as a result of extensive investigations by the present inventors in order to correct the deviation in color development wavelength, surprisingly, the discharge amount of at least two kinds of polymers that form the alternately laminated body inside the optical interference fiber is very small. It has been found that the above problem can be solved by adjusting.

Hereinafter, this point will be specifically described with reference to FIG.
The graph shown in FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the discharge amount change (vertical axis) and the color development wavelength (horizontal axis) when the polymer forming the alternating laminate is discharged from the spinneret 23. As is apparent from FIG. 2, the relationship between the discharge amounts of the two types of polymers constituting the alternating laminate and the wavelength at which the optical interference fiber develops color is expressed in a form of a linear function.

  In addition, this relationship is based on the number of alternating laminates and the number of laminates provided that the change in the discharge amount of the polymer constituting the alternating laminate of optical interference fibers does not greatly affect the fineness of the single fibers. There is no relation to the ratio of the two types of polymers and the thickness of the protective polymer layer when the protective polymer layer is provided on the outer periphery of the alternating laminate. Therefore, the correction control method of the color development wavelength can be implemented very easily and can be used as a common adjustment method for all the optical interference fibers.

  As described above, when the coloring wavelength of the optical interference fiber detected from the rotating yarn package 7 being wound in the final drawing process (drawing by the drawing rollers 25 to 26) is smaller than the target wavelength, In the spinning step 20, the discharge amount of the polymer constituting the alternating laminate is increased. Then, it is preferable to increase the color development wavelength by thickening the alternately laminated portions.

  On the contrary, when the color development wavelength of the optical interference fiber detected is larger than the target wavelength, the discharge amount of the polymer constituting the alternating laminate is reduced. And it is preferable to make it change so that a coloring wavelength may be made small and the target wavelength may be approached by thinning an alternate laminated body by this.

  In this manner, the discharge amount of the polymer constituting the alternating laminated body from the die 23 is controlled in accordance with the detected shift in the color development wavelength. Then, the variation in the coloring wavelength can be reduced by controlling the discharge amount of the polymer.

  As described above, the present invention is characterized in that the color of the yarn package 7 rotated by the measuring head 6 of the spectrocolorimeter 3 is measured and the color development evaluation device 11 performs the color development evaluation process. Therefore, this point will be described.

  First, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 described above, the optical interference fiber is wound by the winder 12 in a direct spinning drawing process using, for example, an AW-908 type winder at 3000 m / min. At this time, the yarn package 7 is gradually thickened over time, and when the circumferential surface of the yarn package 7 to be measured is gradually increased due to the winding thickening, the gap between the measuring head 6 and the yarn package 7 is increased. The distance gradually approaches. If it does so, since the amount of reflected light from the yarn package 7 will change, the reflection spectrum of the yarn package 7 cannot be obtained correctly.

  Therefore, in order to solve such a problem, it is necessary to provide the distance sensor 8 and the slide means 13 for keeping the distance between the measuring head 6 and the surface of the yarn package 7 constant. That is, in the color development evaluation apparatus 11 of this example, as shown in FIG. 1, in order to calculate the distance between the measurement head 6 and the yarn package 7, first, the distance sensor 8 is provided in the measurement head 6. .

  Note that the distance sensor 8 described above irradiates the yarn package 7 with laser light and receives the laser light reflected from the yarn package 7, so that the measuring head 6 and the surface of the yarn package 7 are in contact with each other. It is preferable to use a projector / receiver integrated type that measures the distance between them.

  As described above, on the other hand, the distance between the measuring head 6 and the yarn package 7 is measured by the distance sensor 8 as, for example, an analog voltage value. Next, an analog voltage signal amplified by an amplifier as necessary is input from an analog input port to an A / D converter (analog / digital converter).

  Then, information converted into a digital signal via the A / D converter is taken in as distance information into the computer 11 (or a general-purpose sequencer) that functions as a control device that controls the distance at a constant level. Although the computer 11 is used as the control device here, a dedicated control device such as a general-purpose sequencer may be prepared separately from the computer 11.

  On the other hand, the measuring head 6 and the distance sensor 8 are fixed to the slide means 13 via the fixing member 5, and a pulse motor (not shown) is attached to the slide means 13. Therefore, the distance between the measurement head 6 and the surface of the yarn package 7 taken into the computer 11 is calculated by the computer 11 and converted to a pulse signal corresponding to the distance deviation so that the distance is always kept constant. The converted pulse signal is fed back to the servo motor.

  In this way, the measuring head 6 and the distance sensor 8 fixed together with the slide means 13 are controlled by the servo motor so as to keep the distance between the yarn package 7 constant. It should be noted that the movement of the measuring head 6 and the distance sensor 8 by the slide means 13 may be performed at every colorimetric sampling period, and it is sufficient to perform this colorimetric sampling periodically at intervals of several seconds to several minutes.

  At this time, light emitted from the light source 2 is projected onto the yarn package 7 from a light projecting unit (not shown) provided in the measuring head 6. Thus, the light irradiated on the yarn package 7 is reflected from the surface of the package 7. Therefore, the reflected light is received by a light receiving unit (not shown) provided in the measurement head 6.

  The reflected light finally received by the light receiving unit (not shown) of the measuring head 6 is taken into the spectrocolorimeter periodically every several milliseconds to several tens of milliseconds at intervals of several seconds to several minutes. Are continuously sampled as reflection spectrum data. In addition, it is preferable that the reflection intensity and reflectance with respect to each wavelength thus obtained can be confirmed on the display 1.

  The reflection spectrum data sampled as described above is sent to the computer 11 and stored in a storage device (not shown) attached to the computer 11. Next, the computer 11 takes out the reflection spectrum data stored in the storage device, and performs a color property inspection process for the yarn package 7.

  In this way, when the reflection spectrum data is obtained from the reflected light from the yarn package 7, for example, the peak wavelength value that becomes the peak value from the data for each wavelength and the representative color system corresponding thereto are obtained. The representative color value (color value) can be obtained by a computer.

  As described above, when the color development evaluation data of the yarn package 7 is obtained, it is compared with a reference value obtained in advance. Based on this comparison, the computer 11 determines whether or not the inspected yarn package 7 exhibits normal color development. At the same time, the peak wavelength value is obtained by the computer 11 from the data for each measured wavelength, and how much the obtained peak wavelength is deviated from the target coloring wavelength is calculated.

In addition, as a color system for evaluating color development abnormality in the present invention, L ^* a ^* b ^* color system established by the International Lighting Commission (Commission International de l'Eclairage, abbreviated name: CIE), XYZ The (Yxy) color system can be used.

  In addition, the peak wavelength value is adopted as an evaluation value for evaluating the color development abnormality, and the deviation (deviation value) between the reference peak wavelength value (target color development wavelength value) and the peak wavelength value of the inspected yarn package 7 is calculated. Obtained by computer 11. Then, it is evaluated whether or not the deviation value is within the reference value range between the control upper limit value and the control lower limit value that ensure the color developability. Then, when the obtained peak wavelength value does not fall within the reference value range, the color development abnormality is determined, and when the calculated peak wavelength value falls within the reference value range, it is determined as normal.

At that time, for example, in the case of employing the L * a * b * values as color system evaluates the yarn package as a reference for evaluation, previously first obtained the L ^* a ^* b ^* values of the reference package . Next, the yarn package 7 to be inspected is sequentially evaluated to obtain each L ^* a ^* b ^* value.

Next, the computer 11 calculates the reference package L ^* a from the well-known calculation formula of ΔE ^* ab = [(ΔL ^* ) ² + (Δa ^* ) ² + (Δb ^* ) ² ] ^1/2 according to the CIE standard. ^* b ^* calculated value, a color difference (ΔE ^* ab) between the L ^* a ^* b ^* value obtained from each package to be evaluated.

From the color difference (ΔE ^* ab) obtained in this way, it is evaluated whether the color difference is within the control upper limit value and the control lower limit value that guarantee the color developability. If there is a yarn package 7 that does not fall between the control upper limit value and the control lower limit value, it can be detected as a yarn package having an abnormal quality.

In the present invention, it is preferable to use the L ^* a ^* b ^* color system that is commonly used when the color developability of the yarn package is inspected. However, other color systems such as the XYZ (Yxy) color system and the L ^* C ^* h color system can be used in the same manner.

  In addition, when the half width of the reflection spectrum exceeds 200 nm, the fibers are colored multiple times, and furthermore, since these colors cancel each other, the color development cannot be visually recognized with the naked eye. Therefore, monitoring the half-value width of the reflection spectrum is also preferable as one item for evaluating the color developability of the yarn package.

  In the present invention, when the color development inspection process as described above is performed, the light projected from the light source 2 to the yarn package 7 is directly applied to the yarn package 7 via the cable 10 made of an optical fiber. Irradiation is preferred. This is because, by doing so, the light emitted from the light source 2 can be guided to the target position of the yarn package 7 with aiming.

  Therefore, in consideration of the points described above, the measuring head 6 is a light emitting / receiving pair type optical fiber type spectrocolorimeter (for example, MCPD-3000 manufactured by Otsuka Electronics, Macbeth Co., Ltd.) It is preferable to use Color-Eye 3100 manufactured by the company). The spot diameter (diameter) of the light beam projected from the measuring head 6 onto the peripheral surface of the yarn package 7 is preferably several mm to several tens of mm.

  At that time, it is needless to say that the measurement condition and the measurement accuracy of the spectrocolorimeter must always be kept constant before the color development test of the yarn package 7 is started. For this purpose, first, measurement light from the light source 2 is irradiated onto a standard white plate having an approximate perfect diffusion surface formed of barium sulfate, ceramics, or the like, and reflected light amount data of the standard white plate is obtained.

  Next, the ratio of the reflected light amount data from the yarn package 7 to the reflected light amount data of the standard white plate is calculated, and then the reflectance of the test sample is obtained, and a reference value for measuring the yarn package 7 is obtained. Use as In the embodiment of the present invention, since the color measuring method is defined in Japanese Industrial Standard JIS Z 8722, the optical system and the reflectance measuring method are based on this spectral colorimetric method.

  The amount of reflected light data measured using the standard white plate can be measured only once in principle, but it can respond to changes in various measurement environments such as changes in light emission efficiency over time or temperature. Therefore, it is preferable to periodically calibrate each reflected light amount data obtained by measurement. In this case, it is preferable that the measuring head 6 is detachably fixed to the fixing member 5, so that it can be removed at the time of reference measurement using a standard white plate at the beginning of the inspection.

  Next, the light source 2 used in the present invention will be described. The color of light obtained by reflection from the yarn package 7 is greatly influenced by the color of the light source to be projected. However, the light source is not particularly limited as long as the light source can be accurately and quickly performed and has a stable performance without change with time. However, as a light source used in the present invention, it is a standard light source to use an A light source, a C light source, and a D light source having a color temperature of 5500K, 6500K, or 7500K, which are defined as standard light sources by the CIE (International Lighting Commission). It is preferable in that it can be easily obtained and always exhibits a certain performance stably.

  The color measurement data obtained by the spectrocolorimeter 3 at each color measurement sampling period is stored in a storage device attached to the computer 11. Further, a graph is displayed over time on the display 1, and further printed on a sheet by a printer as necessary. At this time, as colorimetric data to be displayed in a graph on the display 1, a specific value representing color information of the yarn package 7, for example, a peak wavelength value or a color difference can be exemplified.

  Furthermore, normal management range values are obtained experimentally in advance, and these are superposed on the colorimetric data obtained by the spectrocolorimeter 3 and displayed. As a result, the yarn package 7 being manufactured can be quality-controlled in real time by an operator's eyes online.

  In this way, the color information of the yarn package 7 being wound (rotating) is measured by the spectrocolorimeter 3, and the computer 11 analyzes it based on each reflection spectrum data. Then, the color characteristic information possessed by each yarn package 7 can be quantified, and the quality control of each yarn package 7 can be performed quickly and automatically by keeping it within a predetermined management value range. Is possible.

  As described above in detail, in the present invention, in the direct spinning drawing process, the quality control of the yarn package 7 can be performed on-line during winding by the winder 12. However, as described above, the present invention utilizes the relationship between the “color development wavelength” shown in FIG. 3 and the “discharge amount change value from the base 23 of the polymer forming the alternating laminate”. Control is not limited to online quality control of the yarn package 7, and it is possible to control so that the spinning conditions causing the color development abnormality can be corrected to conditions capable of spinning normal optical interference fibers.

  In this control, first, as described above, when the computer 11 detects a color abnormality, the peak wavelength value of the measured yarn package and the color wavelength value to be controlled (in FIG. 3, the color wavelength value is 470 nm). The deviation (deviation value) of the wavelength value from is obtained. Next, the obtained wavelength value deviation (deviation value) is fed back to the discharge amount control means 14 to control the rotation speed of the drive means 22 for driving the polymer continuous metering means constituted by the gap pump 22 and the like. Then, based on the relational expression described in the graph of FIG. 3, the polymer discharge amount is finely adjusted and changed so that the deviation value becomes zero.

  In this way, the amount of polymer discharged from the base 23 is controlled so that the color developability of the optical interference fiber is restored to the color development wavelength value measured at 470 nm, which is the color development wavelength value to be controlled. The above-described feedback control of the polymer discharge amount is performed by the discharge amount control means 30 for controlling the polymer discharge amount as illustrated in FIG.

  The discharge amount control means 30 is illustrated in FIG. 1 as an embodiment independent of the computer 11 (that is, the color development evaluation apparatus). However, it goes without saying that in the present invention, the computer 11 and the discharge amount control means 30 may be configured by the same device.

  By the way, in the present invention, using the relationship illustrated in FIG. 3, instead of the apparatus and method for changing the polymer discharge amount and returning the optical interference fiber exhibiting abnormal coloring to a fiber having normal coloring property. By adopting a method as described below, it can also be realized by changing the thickness of each thin film layer of the alternate laminate formed in the optical interference fiber, the flatness of the optical interference fiber, or the like.

  In other words, the formation of alternating laminates is controlled by adjusting the spinning conditions such as the polymer temperature inside and outside the spinneret pack, the heating temperature of the heater directly below the spinneret, and the cooling air flow rate and temperature during melt spinning. By doing so, it is possible to suppress variations in the color development wavelength. However, it is needless to say that a technique different from the control method based on the discharge amount of the polymer that constitutes the alternately laminated body is required to suppress the deviation of the color development wavelength of the optical interference fiber by these methods.

  This is because the above-described method may not be represented by a simple linear function like the relationship illustrated in FIG. That is, the fineness of the single fiber diameter of the optical interference fiber, the flatness of the optical interference fiber, the number of layers of the alternate laminate, the ratio of the two types of polymers constituting the alternate laminate, and the protective polymer layer on the outer periphery of the alternate laminate Depending on the thickness of the protective polymer layer provided, the relationship between the amount of change in each parameter and the change in color development wavelength may not be expressed by a simple formula. Therefore, in such a case, it is necessary to separately select a method for adjusting the deviation of the coloring wavelength in accordance with the brand of the optical interference fiber to be spun, and to select a preferable method.

  In the embodiment described above, the direct spinning and drawing process is targeted. However, the apparatus and method of the present invention can be used in the embodiment in which the melt spinning process 20 and the drawing process 30 are separated and each process is performed separately. Applicable. In other words, the undrawn yarn obtained once wound in the melt spinning step 20 is supplied to the drawing step 30 in the form of an undrawn yarn package, and the rotating yarn package 7 that is drawn and wound in the drawing step is wound. Color measurement is performed to detect abnormal coloring of the optical interference fiber.

  Further, as described above, in the present invention, it is preferable to measure the color development wavelength online using a spectrocolorimeter while winding the optical interference fiber. Then, when the color of the yarn package 7 is measured while rotating, and an abnormal color is observed, the result is shown as an abnormal color on the weight base 23 in which the abnormal color is detected in the melt spinning process 20. The polymer discharge amount may be feedback controlled so that the polymer returns to the normal state.

  This is because, in FIG. 4, when the reflection spectrum is measured from the stationary yarn package 7, the reflectance and reflection direction of the reflected light are different in various places due to the influence of the yarn layer wound in different directions at a predetermined traverse angle. Because they are different. For this reason, the reflected lights interfere with each other, and the reflection spectrum curve does not become a smooth curve depending on the location to be measured, but becomes a shaky curve with large and small irregularities. In addition, the region where the peak wavelength exists becomes broad (wide and gentle shape), and the peak wavelength may not be specified.

  If it does so, an error will be included when calculating the peak value of the reflection spectrum of the light reflected from the yarn package 7. Note that the reflection spectrum is not uniquely determined at different measurement points. Therefore, in order to solve this problem, it is conceivable to average the data collected at each measurement point. However, this method cannot shorten the inspection time, which is the original purpose. Therefore, the yarn package 7 is rotated as a simpler inspection method.

  At that time, when inspecting the wound yarn package 7 after winding, the package 7 is fixed and placed on a turntable (not shown) of the package rotation device. At this time, the turntable is connected to a rotation drive device that can change the rotation speed, and the rotation speed of the yarn package 7 can be changed to, for example, 30 to 180 rpm by a rotation speed adjuster. Needless to say, the number of rotations is not limited to 30 to 180 rpm as long as the reflection spectrum curve obtained from the reflected light from the yarn package 7 can be smoothly and smoothly smoothed. However, if the rotation is too fast, it is not preferable because the yarn package 7 is affected by a collapse.

  As described above, the present invention predicts that a color abnormality of the optical interference fiber is detected or an abnormality occurs by rotating the yarn package 7 that rotates during winding or the yarn package after winding. In such a case, the result is immediately fed back to the melt spinning process. Then, by changing the discharge amount of the polymer discharged from the gear pump 22, the spinning conditions of the melt spinning step 20 are returned to a state where a normal optical interference fiber can be obtained.

Hereinafter, the method of the present invention will be described in detail based on examples.
[Example 1]
In the direct spinning drawing process illustrated in FIG. 1, a newly manufactured spinneret pack was attached to a melt spinning apparatus, and the optical interference fiber was compositely spun and used for the drawing process 30 without being wound as it was. At this time, in composite spinning, two types of polyethylene terephthalate polyester having an intrinsic viscosity of 0.57 and nylon 6 having an intrinsic viscosity of 1.20, in which 0.9 mol% of 5-sodium sulfoisophthalic acid was copolymerized, were used. While the molten polymer is continuously and quantitatively metered into a well-known base 23 described in JP-A-11-124773 by a GAPUMP 22 driven by a GAPUMP drive system 21 at a volume ratio (composite ratio) of 9/1. Supplied.

  And the composite fiber which has the coloring property containing the alternately laminated body whose number of lamination | stacking is 61 from which the said 2 types of polymer were laminated | stacked alternately from the said nozzle | cap | die 23 heated to 280 degreeC was spun. The optical interference fiber spun in this way is cooled while being solidified by the cooling air blown from the cooling device 4, taken up by a pair of drawing rollers 25 and 26, and drawn once without being wound up, and drawn at a draw ratio of 3.4 times. The film was drawn at a temperature (surface temperature of the supply roller 5) of 90 ° C. and a set temperature of 180 ° C. (surface temperature of the drawing roller), and wound by the winder 12 as a drawn yarn package 7 of 120 dtex 12 filaments.

  At this time, when measuring the spectral data of the reflection wavelength of the optical interference fiber to be manufactured, a fiber type colorimeter (MCPD-3000 manufactured by Otsuka Electronics Co., Ltd.) is used as the spectrophotometer 3, and the yarn package 7 being wound is used. On-line color measurement was performed while performing position control so that the measurement head 6 was positioned 30 mm away from the peripheral surface of the sheet.

  The reflection peak wavelength of the obtained optical interference fiber is taken into a color development evaluation apparatus 11 constituted by a personal computer equipped with a commercially available Microsoft OS, Windows (registered trademark) XP (CPU clock is 2 GHz). The reflection peak wavelength value was first obtained by calculation after processing. As a result, the peak wavelength was 470 nm.

  Next, with this peak wavelength value of 470 nm as a control target value (target color development wavelength value), in the direct spinning process illustrated in FIG. 1, the spinneret pack is attached to the melt spinning apparatus, and continuous spinning is performed for one week. went. At this time, the color development property of the yarn package 7 being wound by the winder 12 was set to 5 seconds by the color development evaluation device (computer) 11 and the color measurement data was taken into the computer 11.

  Then, the colorimetric data fetched into the computer 11 in this way was continuously processed to detect a wavelength shift from the target color development wavelength value of 470 nm. And in order to correct | amend the shift | offset | difference of the detected wavelength, the discharge amount of the nylon 6 which is one polymer which comprises an alternate laminated body was correct | amended using the relational expression as described in the graph illustrated in FIG. .

  This correction is performed by feedback control of the rotational speed corresponding to the discharge amount for correcting the detected wavelength shift by the discharge amount control means 14 (also used as the computer 11), and by the drive means 21 of the gear pump 22. This was done by finely adjusting the rotational speed of the gear pump 22.

  In this way, the yarn having the reflection wavelength width of “(peak reflectance) −1%” of the optical interference fiber from the wound yarn package 7 is wound, and a multifilament yarn composed of 12 filaments is wound on a black plate. Each of the yarns collected from any 10 locations of the strip package 7 was wound at a pitch of 40 turns / cm, and the color was measured with a spectrocolorimeter manufactured by Macbeth (model: Color-Eye 3100), and the average value was obtained. . And the width | variety of the wavelength which shows a reflectance (%) low only 1% was calculated | required from the value of the peak reflectance (%) of the spectral reflection curve in the wavelength range of 400-700 nm. As a result, it was 35 nm.

  In addition, as a measurement of the color variation, an expert visually determines that a spinning spindle or 100 fibers with different winding dates and winding times are wound around a blackboard at a pitch of 40 turns / cm. As a result of measuring how many color differences can be visually recognized, two were able to visually recognize the color differences.

[Comparative Example 1]
Direct spinning drawing was performed under the same conditions as in Example 1 except that fine adjustment of the discharge amount of the polymer constituting the alternating laminate using the color development evaluation device 11 and the discharge amount control means 14 was not performed. As a result, the reflection wavelength width at “(peak reflectance) −1%” was 40 nm, and the number of color variations was 7.

[Example 2]
In the direct spinning drawing process illustrated in FIG. 1, the conditions for producing an optical interference fiber having a target color development wavelength of 650 nm were set. The optical interference fiber was manufactured under the same conditions as in Example 1 except for this condition. As a result, the reflection wavelength width of the obtained optical interference fiber at “(peak reflectance) −1%” was 30 nm, and the number of color variations was two.

[Comparative Example 2]
Direct spinning drawing was performed under the same conditions as in Example 2 except that fine adjustment of the discharge amount of the polymer constituting the alternating laminate using the color development evaluation device 11 and the discharge amount control means 14 was not performed. As a result, the reflection wavelength width at “(peak reflectance) −1%” was 40 nm, and the number of color variations was 6.

It is the schematic process drawing which illustrated one Embodiment at the time of applying the apparatus and method of this invention to the spinning direct drawing process of an optical interference fiber. It is the figure which showed the reflection spectrum curve calculated | required by averaging the reflection spectrum which measured the stationary yarn package in arbitrary 10 places, and the reflection spectrum curve measured in one specific place by rotating the yarn package is there. It is the graph which showed the relationship between the discharge amount change (vertical axis) and the color development wavelength (horizontal axis) when the polymer which forms an alternating laminated body is discharged from a spinneret. It is the reflection spectrum curve which measured the stationary yarn package in 10 arbitrary places.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Display 2 Light source 3 Spectrophotometer 4 Package rotation apparatus 5 Fixed member 6 Measuring head 7 Package 8 Distance sensor 9 Rotation speed controller 10 Cable 11 Color development evaluation apparatus (computer)
12 Winder (winder)
13 Slide means 14 Polymer discharge amount control means 20 Melt spinning process 21 Gear pump drive means 22 Gear pump (continuous polymer metering means)
23 Spinneret 24 Cooling device 25, 26 Stretching roller

Claims (11)

A composite fiber having optical coherence, which includes an alternating laminate composed of thin films of two types of polymers having different optical refractive indexes in parallel along the fiber axis direction, is drawn after spinning and wound up as a yarn package In an apparatus for producing an optical interference fiber,
Spectral colorimeter that spectrally measures reflected light from the rotating yarn package during or after winding, and a target by evaluating the color wavelength value of the yarn package from the spectrally measured reflected light A color development evaluation device for calculating a wavelength deviation value between the color development wavelength value and a feedback of a polymer discharge amount discharged from the composite spinneret so as to eliminate the deviation value calculated by the color development evaluation device. And a control means for controlling the optical interference fiber manufacturing apparatus.   The color development evaluation device obtains a peak wavelength at which the reflectance is maximized based on the reflection spectrum data of the reflected light obtained by the spectrocolorimeter, and a standard for which the obtained peak wavelength has been obtained in advance by experiments. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus evaluates color development abnormality of the yarn package by evaluating whether the difference is between a management upper limit value and a management lower limit value compared with a peak wavelength (reference color development wavelength). The manufacturing apparatus of the optical interference fiber of description.   A rotation device is provided for rotating the wound yarn package after winding when performing color development evaluation processing using the reflection spectrum obtained from the reflected light from the yarn package rotated by the spectrocolorimeter. The apparatus for producing an optical interference fiber according to claim 1 or 2.   A distance sensor for measuring the distance between the yarn package being wound and the measuring head, and a distance between the yarn package and the measuring head is kept constant from distance information measured by the distance sensor. The apparatus for manufacturing an optical interference fiber according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising slide means for moving the measurement head.   The spectrocolorimeter includes a light projecting / receiving integrated measuring head in which a light projecting unit that projects light from a light source and a light receiving unit that receives reflected light from the yarn package are integrated. The apparatus for producing an optical interference fiber according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising an optical fiber that guides light from a light source to the peripheral portion of the yarn package toward the peripheral portion.   An optical interference fiber in which thin film layers each composed of at least two polymers having different optical refractive indexes are alternately laminated and formed in parallel to the fiber axis direction is spun from a composite spinneret and drawn. Then, in the method of manufacturing an optical interference fiber wound up as a yarn package, the color wavelength value of the yarn package rotating during or after winding is detected, and the detected color wavelength value and the target color wavelength value A method for producing an optical interference fiber, comprising: calculating a deviation value between the optical interference fiber and adjusting the melt spinning condition of the optical interference fiber so as to eliminate the calculated deviation value.   The adjustment of the melt spinning condition is to obtain a peak wavelength at which the reflectivity is maximum based on the reflection spectrum data measured from the reflected light of the yarn package, and the obtained peak wavelength and the reference peak obtained in advance by experiments. This is a fine adjustment that compares the wavelength (reference coloring wavelength) and calculates the deviation of the wavelength value as a deviation value, and feedback controls the discharge amount of the polymer discharged from the composite spinneret in the direction to eliminate the deviation value. The manufacturing method of the optical interference fiber of Claim 6.   The adjustment of the melt spinning conditions is based on the calculated deviation value, the temperature of the polymer spun from the composite spinneret, the temperature of the heater immediately below the spinneret, and / or the amount and temperature of the cooling air that cools the spun yarn. The method for producing an optical interference fiber according to claim 6 or 7, wherein fine adjustment is performed.   The method for producing an optical interference fiber according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the production of the optical interference fiber is performed directly in a spinning and drawing step, and the color development wavelength value of the yarn package being wound is measured online. The color wavelength value of the yarn package is represented by the L * a * b * value, and the color difference (ΔE) obtained from the reference L * a * b * value obtained beforehand by experiment and the measured L * a * b * value ^* the method for manufacturing an optical interference fibers according to any one of claims 6-9 for the ab) and the deviation of the feedback control.   The optical system according to any one of claims 6 to 10, wherein in measuring the reflected light reflected from the yarn package being wound, color measurement is performed while always maintaining the light receiving position at a constant distance and a constant light receiving angle with the package. Method for producing interference fiber.

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