JP7079605B2 - Non-woven wiper and its manufacturing method, manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a spunlace-type non-woven fabric wiper obtained by water-flow entanglement of a water-absorbing natural fiber web made of natural fibers such as pulp and regenerated cellulose fibers and a synthetic fiber web such as polypropylene.

A spunlace-type non-woven fabric containing a natural fiber web and a synthetic fiber web is a non-woven fabric that has both strength and water absorption (also referred to as liquid absorption), and therefore is an industrial wiper such as a waste cloth or an industrial wiper. It is widely used for various purposes as a wiper for interpersonal use such as hand wipes and towels.

As disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example, the spanlace-type non-woven fabric as described above is subjected to a water flow entanglement treatment by spraying a high-pressure water jet (water flow) after stacking a natural fiber web and a synthetic fiber web. It can be obtained by binding the fibers together. The composite non-woven fabric formed by the natural fiber web and the synthetic fiber web has the advantages of the natural fiber web having good absorption to both water-based and oil-based liquids and the synthetic fiber web having excellent strength. It is offered to consumers as an excellent wiper that also has.

Japanese Patent No. 25333260

However, in the conventional spunlace type non-woven fabric wiper, if the dirt adhering to the surface to be wiped (wiping surface) is strong or the dirt is fine, there is a residue left on the wiper. It could occur and there was room for improvement.

Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide a spunlace type non-woven fabric wiper having improved dirt wiping performance.

The above object is a spunlace type non-woven fabric wiper integrally formed by water flow entanglement treatment in a state where a natural fiber web having water absorption is laminated on a synthetic fiber web, and the natural fiber. The web contains irregular cross-sectional fibers, which are formed by at least one fiber selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon, acrylic, acetate and polyester, having a fiber diameter of 5 to 5. The deformed cross-sectional fiber is 100 μm and has a fiber length of 5 to 30 mm. It can be achieved by a non-woven wiper characterized by being formed in either a shape or a star shape .

It is preferable that the natural fiber web is 100% by weight, and the modified cross-section fiber is blended in an amount of 20 to 60% by weight with respect to 80 to 40% by weight of the natural fiber .

The deformed cross-sectional fiber preferably has an outer shape with a standing edge.

The above object is the method for manufacturing a nonwoven fabric wiper according to any one of the above .
A mixing process in which irregular cross-section fibers are uniformly dispersed and blended in water-absorbent natural fibers.
It is characterized by including a water flow entanglement treatment step in which fibers are entangled and integrated by a high-pressure water flow in a state where a natural fiber web containing irregularly cross-sectional fibers obtained in the mixing step is laminated on a synthetic fiber web. It is also achieved by the manufacturing method of the non-woven fabric wiper.
Here, in the mixing step, the natural fiber and the modified cross-section fiber may be mixed in an air-laid hopper.

The above object is a manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing the nonwoven fabric wiper according to any one of the above .
A mixing device that uniformly disperses and blends irregular cross-section fibers with water-absorbent natural fibers.
It includes at least a water flow entanglement treatment device in which fibers are entangled and integrated by a high-pressure water flow in a state where a natural fiber web containing irregularly cross-sectional fibers obtained by the mixing device is laminated on a synthetic fiber web. It is also achieved by the featured non-woven wiper manufacturing equipment.
Here, the mixing device can be an air-laid hopper that mixes the natural fiber and the modified cross-section fiber.

Since the non-woven fabric of the present invention contains irregular cross-section fibers in a natural fiber web, strong stains and fine stains adhering to the wiping surface are scraped off (scraped) and entangled with the irregular cross-section fibers. be able to. And the natural fiber web is excellent in water absorption. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a spunlace type non-woven fabric wiper having improved wiping performance, which can surely wipe off dirt on the wiping surface.

It is a figure which showed schematically the cross-sectional structure of the span lace type non-woven fabric wiper which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the manufacturing process performed using the manufacturing apparatus suitable for manufacturing the nonwoven fabric wiper which concerns on this invention. It is a figure shown for demonstrating two steps which can be adopted for mixing irregular cross-section fibers.

Hereinafter, the span lace type non-woven fabric wiper WP according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an enlarged view of a part of the non-woven fabric wiper WP to schematically show a cross-sectional structure. In FIG. 1, the synthetic fiber web SW is located on the lower side, and the natural fiber web NW is arranged on the synthetic fiber web SW. This natural fiber web NW contains a modified cross-section fiber MCF.

The natural fiber web NW is on the front surface side (upper side in FIG. 1), and this surface is the main wiping surface suitable for wiping the non-woven fabric wiper WP. However, in the spunlace type non-woven wiper WP, as described later, the fibers of the natural fiber web NW located on the upper side by injecting a high-pressure water flow (water flow confounding treatment) are located on the lower side. It is integrated by entering (entwining) the synthetic fiber web SW.
During the above water flow entanglement treatment, some of the fibers of the natural fiber web NW penetrate the synthetic fiber web SW and protrude to the surface on the opposite side (back surface side, lower side in FIG. 1) (that is, that is). It becomes a state where the face is exposed). Therefore, even on the synthetic fiber web SW side, which is the back side, since it has a function of wiping dirt, it can be a wiping surface.
In FIG. 1, this situation is also illustrated, and a part of the protruding fiber (fiber portion in which natural fiber and irregular cross-section fiber are mixed) is indicated by a reference numeral (NW + MCF).

As the synthetic fiber web SW, a spunbond web can be suitably adopted (hereinafter, referred to as a spunbond web SW). The spunbond web SW is a web produced by a known spunbond method of a synthetic resin such as polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Since the spunbond web SW is formed of resin fibers that are relatively long compared to natural fibers, it has predetermined rigidity and strength, and fulfills the function of maintaining the shape of the nonwoven fabric wiper.

As the fiber constituting the natural fiber web NW, a pulp-based fiber having water absorption or a regenerated cellulose fiber can be used.
As the pulp-based fiber, coniferous bleached kraft pulp selected from radiata pine, slush pine, southern pine, lodge pole pine, spruce and Douglas-firs can be preferably used. The regenerated cellulose fiber is preferably selected from rayon, cupra, lyocell and polynosic.
One or more of the pulp-based fibers and the regenerated cellulose fibers can be selected to form the natural fiber web NW.

At least one of polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), nylon, acrylic, acetate, and polyester can be selected and adopted as the modified cross-sectional fiber MCF blended in the natural fiber web NW. Then, it is preferable to use a fiber having a fiber diameter of, for example, 5 to 100 μm and a fiber length of 5 to 30 mm.
The fiber diameter of the above-mentioned natural fiber is 20 to 80 μm, and the fiber length is about 5 to 30 mm.
Further, it is preferable that the natural fiber web NW is 100% by weight, and the modified cross-section fiber MCF is blended in an amount of 20 to 60% by weight with respect to the natural fiber 80 to 40% by weight.

The modified cross-sectional fiber MCF is obtained as a fiber spun by injecting a resin such as polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon, acrylic, and acetate in a molten and melted state from a nozzle.
Conventionally, a general synthetic resin fiber is spun by injecting a molten resin solution or the like through a spinneret (nozzle) having a circular cross section, so that the cross section is circular. On the other hand, the deformed cross-sectional fiber is formed such that the shape of the spinneret is Y-shaped, flat, triangular, oblong, etc., and the cross-sectional shape of the spun fiber is different from the conventional circular shape. It has become.
It is desirable that the irregular cross-section fiber MCF used for the non-woven wiper WP has a shape suitable for scraping off strong stains and fine stains adhering to the wiping surface. From this point of view, the modified cross-section fiber MCF has an outer shape in which edges stand along the longitudinal direction of the fiber, that is, the cross section of the fiber is formed into a shape having protruding edges. Those are preferable. For example, irregular cross-sectional fibers having a cross-sectional shape such as a flat (plate-shaped or oblong quadrangular) triangle, Y-shape, or star-shape can be preferably adopted.
Such irregular cross-section fibers are available from textile companies and can be appropriately selected and blended into natural fiber webs.

In the above-mentioned non-woven fabric wiper WP according to the present invention, the modified cross-sectional fiber MCF is blended with the natural fiber web NW having excellent water absorption (liquid absorption). The irregular cross-section fiber MCF is dispersed almost uniformly in the natural fiber web NW, and is also present on the surface of the non-woven fabric wiper WP.
By mixing the irregular cross-section fiber MCF with an edge on the outer shape, it becomes possible to scrape off the conventional strong dirt that was difficult to scrape off with the natural fiber. In addition, even fine dirt (extra-fine dust, etc.) that was difficult to capture in the past can be scooped out with the irregular cross-section fiber MCF. Since the natural fiber web NW has excellent water absorption, the non-woven wiper WP can surely remove the dirt on the wiping surface together with the moisture.

The fiber length of pulp fiber is relatively shorter than that of regenerated fiber. Therefore, when pulp fibers are included in the natural fiber web, the shortened pulp fibers may become paper powder and pollute the surroundings. On the other hand, since the irregular cross-section fiber MCF spun by injecting a resin has a relatively long fiber length, it can be entangled with the short fibers by water flow entanglement and can be prevented from falling off. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the generation of paper dust.
Furthermore, compared to a web made only of natural fibers, hydrogen bonds between cellulose fibers can be suppressed when the irregularly shaped cross-sectional fibers MCF are included, so that the rigidity of the sheet can be reduced and the texture can be reduced. It can be a good non-woven wiper.

Hereinafter, a method for manufacturing the above-mentioned nonwoven fabric wiper of the present invention will be described using the suitable manufacturing apparatus exemplified in FIG. 2.

The non-woven fabric wiper manufacturing device 1 shown in FIG. 2 is provided with an air-laid device 2, a spunbond web (synthetic fiber web) supply device 3, and a suction device 4 on the upstream side. The suction device 4 is arranged so as to face the lower side of the air raid device 2.
In the transport direction TD, a water flow injection (water jet) device 5 and a drying device 6 for performing water flow entanglement processing are arranged in order from the upstream side downstream of these devices 2, 3 and 4. Downstream of the drying device 6, a winding device 7 for winding a continuously manufactured nonwoven fabric wiper WP is further provided.

The air-laid device 2 is provided with a defibrating machine 21 for defibrating raw pulp RP in which fibers are densely packed into a sheet, and a blower (not shown), and defibrated pulp fiber PF to the air-laid hopper 23. It has a duct 22 for carrying the pulp. Here, a case where the pulp fiber PF is used as the natural fiber to form the natural fiber web NW will be described.
In the middle of the duct 22, an input duct 25 for charging the deformed cross-section fiber MCF in the defibrated state is additionally deployed so as to join the flow of the defibrated pulp fiber PF.
It should be noted that the blending ratio (% by weight) of the pulp fiber PF and the modified cross-section fiber MCF can be arbitrarily adjusted by a sensor, a measuring instrument, or the like (not shown here).

Further, the air-laid hopper 23 is arranged on the downstream side of the duct 22. Inside the air-laid hopper (mixing device) 23, the above two types of fibers in a defibrated state are designed to descend while being dispersed and mixed, and to be gradually stacked at the stacking position 24 set on the lower surface. As a result, a deformed cross-section fiber-blended natural fiber web MW (hereinafter, simply, a deformed cross-section fiber-blended web) in which the deformed cross-section fiber MCF is uniformly mixed with the pulp fiber PF is formed (mixing step).
A suction device 4 is arranged opposite to the lower side of the stacking position 24. More specifically, the suction device 4 has a suction portion 42 on the upper surface of the device main body 41, and the suction portion 42 is located at the stacking position 24 so as to apply a suction force (negative pressure) to the deformed cross-section fiber-blended web MW. It is set for.

Further, a transport wire 43 for web transport is arranged around the suction device 4. The transport wire 43 is capable of mounting a web MW containing irregular cross-section fibers at the stacking position 24, and is arranged so as to transport the web MW to the downstream side. However, the modified cross-section fiber-blended web MW is not directly placed on the transport wire 43. This will become clear in the explanation below.
The transport wire 43 is formed in an opening form (mesh) so that the suction force of the suction portion 42 extends to the opposite side (upper side).

The spunbond web supply device 3 is arranged on the lower side of the air-laid device 2 and on the upstream side of the suction device 4. A spunbond web SW prepared in advance is set in the spunbond web supply device 3 in a roll shape. The spunbond web SW is pulled out from the spunbond web supply device 3 and is transported to the stacking position 24 on the transport wire 43 described above. As the spunbond web SW, it is preferable to use a web of continuous filaments of synthetic resin formed by the spunbond method.

The above-mentioned modified cross-section fiber-blended web MW is placed on the spunbond web SW located at the stacking position 24. At that time, at the laminated position 24, the suction force by the suction portion 42 of the suction device 4 passes through the transport wire 43 and acts on the spunbond web SW and the deformed cross-section fiber-blended web MW on the transfer wire 43. Therefore, the preliminary laminated body PWeb in which the spunbond web SW and the deformed cross-section fiber-blended web MW are laminated is conveyed to the downstream side.

The above-mentioned preliminary laminated body PWeb is maintained in a laminated state by being suction-compressed by the suction force of the suction device 4. At this time, the upper variable cross-section fiber-blended web MW is in a state where two types of fibers are densely packed. However, if the preliminary laminated body PWeb is conveyed and thrown into the water flow injection device 5 on the downstream side as it is, there is a possibility that a part of the pulp fiber PF and the irregular cross-section fiber MCF may be blown up by the water flow (water jet).
Therefore, in the present manufacturing apparatus 1, the holding roller 28 for stabilizing the placement state of the deformed cross-section fiber-blended web MW on the spunbond web SW by sandwiching the preliminary laminated body PWeb from above and below, and the water flow injection device 5 A pre-wet device 30 for imparting water to prevent fiber scattering is provided on the upstream side of the above. The pre-wet device 30 preferably applies a suction force from the spray nozzle 31 that sprays water mist from above the preliminary laminated body PWeb and the lower side of the preliminary laminated body PWeb (that is, the lower surface of the spunbond web SW). It is configured to include a suction device 32.

The water flow injection device 5 promotes entanglement of pulp fibers by spraying a high-pressure water jet on the preliminary laminated body PWeb treated by the pretreatment units 28 and 30. This promotes the integration of the deformed cross-section fiber-blended web MW layer located on the upper side and the spunbond web SW layer located on the lower side (water flow entanglement treatment step).
In the water flow injection device 5 exemplifiedly shown in FIG. 2, water flow injection nozzles 51 are arranged in multiple stages (four stages are exemplified in FIG. 2) along the transport direction TD. By spraying the water flow injection nozzle of the first stage at a low pressure, the pre-wet device 30 described above may be substituted.
In FIG. 2, the state of the nozzles in the direction perpendicular to the transport direction TD (the width direction of the device 1) is not shown, but a plurality of water flow injection nozzles are arranged also in the width direction.

It is desirable to set the water pressure at the time of performing the water flow entanglement treatment in consideration of the basis weight of the deformed cross-section fiber-blended web MW and the spunbond web SW. For example, it is preferable to select in the range of 1 to 30 MPa.

The suction device 52 is arranged so as to face the water flow injection nozzle 51. While spraying the high-pressure water jet emitted from the water flow injection nozzle 51 onto the deformed cross-section fiber-blended web MW located on the upper side, the suction force of the suction device 52 acts on the lower side of the spunbond web SW located on the lower side. Let me. By the cooperative action of the water flow injection nozzle 51 and the suction device 52, the fibers (pulp fiber and the deformed cross-section fiber) on the web MW side containing the deformed cross-section fiber have entered the lower spunbond web SW, or the spunbond web SW. It is presumed that a state (see FIG. 1) that penetrates the fiber and reaches the opposite side is formed. The action promotes the unification of the two layers.

The transfer wire 55 is also arranged in the water flow injection device 5. The transfer wire 55 receives the preliminary laminated body PWeb downstream of the pretreatment units 28 and 30, and transfers the transfer wire 55 into the water flow injection device 5. The transfer wire 55 is arranged so as to pass between the water flow injection nozzle 51 of the water flow injection device 5 and the suction device 52 from the upstream side to the downstream side.
Therefore, the preliminary laminated body PWeb transported on the transport wire 55 is subjected to more water flow entanglement processing as it goes downstream in the transport direction TD, and when it exits the water flow injection device 5, it has an upper irregular cross section. Sufficient entanglement treatment between the fiber-blended web MW layer and the lower spunbond web SW layer is realized.
Immediately after leaving the water flow injection device 5, the web is in a wet state, and before drying, the bonds between the pulp fibers and the like are not sufficiently established.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, a drying device 6 for drying the laminated body to complete the production of the non-woven fabric wiper WP is provided on the downstream side of the water flow injection device 5. As the drying device 6 adopted here, an air-through dryer, which is a non-compression type dryer, can be preferably adopted.
In FIG. 2, the rotatable dryer body 61 of the air-through dryer is a cylindrical body, and a large number of through holes are provided on the peripheral surface thereof, and hot air heated by a heat source (not shown) is from the outer periphery to the center of the dryer body. It is better to use a configuration that sucks toward the side.
When the web of the nonwoven fabric wiper is heated as described above, the resin constituting the irregular cross-section fiber acts to be heat-sealed, which contributes to the improvement of the strength of the nonwoven fabric wiper.
The composite non-woven fabric wiper WP continuously manufactured in this way is wound by the roller 71 of the winding device 7 to complete a series of steps.

In the manufacturing process using the manufacturing apparatus 1 described above, the input duct 25 is added to the air-laid hopper 23 in the step of air-transporting the pulp fiber PF (natural fiber), and the shape is different from that of the natural fiber in the air-laid hopper 23. The non-woven fabric wiper of the present invention can be manufactured by a simple modification of dispersing and mixing the cross-sectional fibers and blending the deformed cross-sectional fibers with the natural fiber web. Therefore, it is possible to manufacture the nonwoven fabric wiper WP at low cost by diverting the existing manufacturing apparatus for the nonwoven fabric wiper.

However, the method of blending the modified cross-section fiber into the natural fiber web is not limited to the above. For example, a card machine is prepared separately, and the deformed cross-section fiber is processed by the card machine to form a sheet-shaped deformed cross-section fiber web. In a state where this modified cross-section fiber web is placed on a natural fiber web, it is laminated on a spunbond web (synthetic fiber web) in the same manner as described above. Then, in the same manner as described above, the water flow entanglement treatment may be performed to obtain the non-woven fabric wiper WP. In this case, the mixing step of blending the deformed cross-section fibers into the natural fiber web will be performed together with the water flow entanglement.

When the natural fiber web NW and the deformed cross-section fiber MCF are mixed and processed in the air raid hopper 23 of the air raid device 2 in FIG. 1 (in the case of the air raid type), the deformed cross-section fiber MCF is made into a sheet by a card machine and then the natural fiber. FIG. 3 shows a comparison with the case of mixing with the fiber web NW (in the case of a card machine).
The upper side of FIG. 3 shows the preliminary laminated body PWeb (see FIG. 1) before the water flow confounding treatment. The left side is the preliminary laminated body PWeb-1 manufactured by the air-laid method, and the right side is the preliminary laminated body PWeb-2 manufactured when a card machine is used. In the case of this preliminary laminate PWeb-2, the natural fiber web NW is placed on the natural fiber web NW.

Shown at the bottom is a non-woven wiper WP manufactured by water flow confounding treatment. In the case of the preliminary laminate PWeb-2 on the right side, the modified cross-section fiber MCF is simply placed on the natural fiber web NW, but the natural fiber web NW and the spunbond web SW are in a state of being placed. When the water flow entanglement treatment is performed, the treatment of dispersing and mixing the irregular cross-section fibers MCF is performed together. Therefore, it is possible to manufacture a non-woven fabric wiper WP in which the irregular cross-section fiber MCF is blended with the natural fiber web NW in either the left or right process.
However, when using a card machine, it is necessary to purchase a new card machine and install it, and to place a sheet-shaped irregular cross-section fiber MCF produced by this card machine on a natural fiber web NW. Become. On the other hand, in the case of the air-laid type, as described above, it is only necessary to make a simple change to the conventional equipment, so that the equipment cost can be suppressed.

Although the description of the embodiment is completed above, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the gist thereof.

1 Non-woven fabric wiper manufacturing equipment 2 Air-laid equipment 3 Spunbond web supply equipment 4 Suction equipment 5 Water flow injection equipment 6 Drying equipment 7 Winding equipment 21 Defibering machine 22 Duct 23 Air-laid hopper 24 Laminating position 28 Holding roller 30 Pre-wet equipment 31 Spray nozzle 32 Suction device 41 Suction device body 42 Suction part 43 Conveying wire 51 Water flow injection nozzle 52 Suction device 55 Conveying wire SW Synthetic fiber web NW Natural fiber web MCF Deformed cross-section fiber PF Pulp fiber (natural fiber)
MW Deformed cross-section fiber-blended web PWeb Preliminary laminate WP Non-woven wiper

Claims (7)

A spunlace-type non-woven fabric wiper that is integrally formed by water-flow entanglement treatment in a state where a natural fiber web having water absorption is laminated on a synthetic fiber web.
The above-mentioned natural fiber web contains irregular cross-section fibers.
The modified cross-sectional fiber is formed of at least one fiber selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon, acrylic, acetate and polyester, having a fiber diameter of 5 to 100 μm and a fiber length of 5 to 30 mm .
The irregular cross-sectional fiber is spun by injecting a resin through a spinning sprue, and has a cross-sectional shape selected from flat (plate-shaped or oblong-square), triangular, Y-shaped, and star-shaped. A non-woven wiper characterized by being formed . The first aspect of claim 1, wherein the natural fiber web is 100% by weight, and 20 to 60% by weight of the modified cross-woven fiber is blended with respect to 80 to 40% by weight of the natural fiber . Non-woven wiper. The modified cross-section fiber has an outer shape with a raised edge. The non-woven fabric wiper according to claim 1 or 2 . The method for manufacturing a nonwoven fabric wiper according to any one of claims 1 to 3 .
A mixing process in which irregular cross-section fibers are uniformly dispersed and blended in water-absorbent natural fibers.
It is characterized by including a water flow entanglement treatment step in which fibers are entangled and integrated by a high-pressure water flow in a state where a natural fiber web containing irregularly cross-sectional fibers obtained in the mixing step is laminated on a synthetic fiber web. Manufacturing method of non-woven fabric wiper. The method for producing a nonwoven fabric wiper according to claim 4 , wherein in the mixing step, the natural fiber and the modified cross-sectional fiber are mixed in an air-laid hopper. A manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing the nonwoven fabric wiper according to any one of claims 1 to 3 .
A mixing device that uniformly disperses and blends irregular cross-section fibers with water-absorbent natural fibers.
It includes at least a water flow entanglement treatment device in which fibers are entangled and integrated by a high-pressure water flow in a state where a natural fiber web containing irregularly cross-sectional fibers obtained by the mixing device is laminated on a synthetic fiber web. A featured non-woven wiper manufacturing equipment. The non-woven fabric wiper manufacturing device according to claim 6 , wherein the mixing device is an air-laid hopper that mixes the natural fiber and the modified cross-section fiber.

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