JPS6348593B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvement in a method for manufacturing a flocked cloth by electrically flocking the piles after applying a binder for adhering the piles to a support fabric.

Conventionally, flocked fabrics produced by the above-mentioned electric flocking method have been widely used. The properties of these flocked fabrics vary greatly depending on the selection of the binder used to bond the piles, and various improvements have been made to the binder. However, a material with excellent texture and sufficient breathability or water vapor permeability has not yet been obtained, and is considered unsuitable for applications such as shoes, mainly in terms of water vapor permeability. .

The present invention has been made with the object of providing a flocked fabric that is excellent in feel and has sufficient air permeability or water vapor permeability.

The present invention provides a binder for making an electric flocked blanket,
A flocked cloth characterized in that thermally expandable particles containing a liquid expansion agent are mixed into a thermoplastic polymer shell having an average particle size of 1 to 180 microns in an amount of 5 to 200% by weight based on the binder resin. It's in the manufacturing method.

That is, by mixing an appropriate amount of the above-mentioned thermally expandable particles into the binder that adheres the pile,
The binder layer can have a dense porous structure with a flat surface, so that electro-flocking can be carried out uniformly, and the resulting flocked fabric exhibits soft elasticity, air permeability, It also provides an excellent effect of not significantly reducing moisture permeability. Furthermore, in the present invention, if the thermally expandable particles to be mixed are thermally expanded in advance, or thermally expanded during drying after flocking, the texture, air permeability, and moisture permeability of the flocked fabric become even more excellent. When the thus obtained flocked fabric is treated with a solvent that dissolves the shell of the thermally expandable particles to destroy the shell of the thermally expandable particles, the air permeability and moisture permeability of the flocked fabric are further improved. It becomes something.

The support fabric used in the present invention includes woven,
These include knitted fabrics, raised woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, non-woven fabrics, and those treated with a polymer similar to a binder resin. Among these, non-woven fabrics or non-woven fabrics treated with a polymer adhered to them have directional properties. It is preferable because it has mechanical strength, flexibility, and elasticity without any porosity, and has a flat surface. The treatment for adhering the polymer to the support fabric is carried out by known means such as impregnation treatment or coating treatment with a solution or dispersion of the polymer.

In the present invention, the thermally expandable particles mixed into the binder include vinylidene chloride-acrylonitrile-divinylbenzene copolymer, methacrylate-
As shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 42-26524, a volatile liquid swelling agent such as propane, butane, isobutane, pentane, hexane, etc. is encapsulated in a thermoplastic polymer shell such as acrylonitrile-divinylbenzene copolymer. The average particle size of the thermally expandable particles is in the range of 1 to 100 microns. If the average particle size is smaller than 1 micron, the binder layer will not have a porous structure, making it impossible to obtain a flocked fabric having the excellent hand feel, air permeability, and moisture permeability that are the objectives of the present invention. In addition, when the average particle size exceeds 100 microns, the proportion of coarse particles with a particle size of 200 microns or more increases, making it difficult to obtain smoothness on the flocked surface, and this becomes especially noticeable when expanding thermally expandable particles. Therefore, it affects not only the appearance but also the feel of the flocked surface. If the average particle size is 100 microns or less, the influence of coarse particles with a particle size of 200 microns or more will hardly appear, and a flocked surface with a smooth and excellent texture can be obtained. The amount of such thermally expandable particles mixed into the binder is 5 to 200% by weight based on the binder resin.
must be within the range of If the amount is less than this range, the effect of mixing the thermally expandable particles will not be achieved, and if the amount is more than this range, not only will the strength of the binder layer decrease, but the original function of the binder, which is to capture and bond the flocked fibers, will not be achieved.

The binder resin used in the binder is
Polyacrylic ester polymers, polyurethane polymers, neoprene, nitrile rubber, butyl rubber, SBR, Hypalon, vinyl acetate, NBR, epoxy resins, etc., or mixtures thereof, or those containing four polyoxyethylene chains in their molecular structures. Examples include those into which an appropriate amount of hydrophilic groups such as grade ammonium salts, carboxylic acid groups or alkali salts thereof have been introduced, and among these, preferred are those mainly based on polyacrylic acid ester polymers and polyurethane polymers. be.

The binder in the present invention is made from the binder resin as described above and a solvent or dispersant for the binder resin that does not dissolve the thermally expandable particles and the shells of the thermally expandable particles, and optionally contains dyes, pigments, etc. Coloring agents, anti-yellowing agents, antibacterial agents, deodorants, anti-deterioration agents, etc. are added.

Almost all known textile fibers can be used for the pile to be flocked, but the advantage of the present invention is that the finer the fiber is used, the more excellent the texture can be obtained. The application of the binder to the support fabric and the electro-flocking of the pile cut to several mm or less onto the binder-coated surface are carried out by conventionally known means.

During solidification and drying of the binder after flocking, heating to sufficiently expand the thermally expandable particles in the binder layer makes the porous structure of the binder layer more porous, thereby achieving even better flexibility. This is preferable because elasticity, air permeability, and moisture permeability can be obtained, and the effect is best achieved when unexpanded thermally expandable particles are mixed in the binder and expanded by the above-mentioned heating. Significant.

When a solvent that dissolves the shells of the thermally expandable particles is added to the flocked cloth obtained in the above manner to destroy the shells of the thermally expandable particles, the porous structure of the binder layer becomes clearly interconnected. Porous structure provides breathability,
Moisture permeability is further improved. For example, when a polyacrylic acid ester polymer or a polyurethane polymer is used as the binder resin, the solvent used in this case is a mixture of methyl ethyl ketone-water, dimethylformamide-water, etc. Solvents or single solvents such as methyl ethyl ketone and dimethyl formamide are suitable for destroying the shells of the thermally expandable particles without dissolving the binder resin. That is, the solvent must be selected depending on the combination of the thermoplastic polymer and binder resin that constitute the shell of the thermally expandable particles.

The flocked fabric obtained by the method of the present invention as described above has excellent texture and features of high air permeability and moisture permeability.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be further explained based on Examples and Comparative Examples. The parts and percentages shown therein are by weight unless otherwise specified.

[Example 1] Vinylidene chloride-acrylonitrile-divinylbenzene (weight ratio 70:30:
0.3) A binder was obtained by the following formulation using thermally expandable particles (containing about 17% water) with an expansion start temperature of about 80°C, which contained about 15% isobutane in a copolymer shell.

Izerax 4040 (manufactured by Hodogaya Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) 100 parts thermally expandable particles 10 parts water 15 parts Adjust the viscosity of this mixture to 5000 c.ps/20°C Apply this binder to one side of the woven fabric with a dry adhesion amount of 150 parts
g/m ² and dried in an atmosphere at 60° C. for 6 minutes, the coated surface was electro-flocked with piles of 0.6 denier Kyupra fibers cut in 0.6 mm. Then set it to 130
Heat treatment was performed for 3 minutes in an atmosphere at .degree. C. to evaporate water and expand the thermally expandable particles contained in the binder. The obtained flocked fabric had a superior feel and superior water vapor permeability compared to the following comparative example.

Furthermore, this flocked fabric was immersed in a mixed solvent of dimethylformamide/water at a ratio of 70/30 for 1 minute, then washed with water and dried. The resulting flocked fabric has an excellent texture similar to that before the mixed solvent treatment, and has an even better water vapor permeability of 7.9
The values are shown in mg/cm ² hr.

[Comparative example]

A flocked cloth was prepared under the same conditions as in Example 1 using a binder having the same formulation and viscosity as in Example 1 except that the thermally expandable particles were removed. The obtained flocked fabric had a noticeable binder hardness, poor texture, and extremely low water vapor permeability of 0.4 mg/cm ² hr.

[Example 2] A binder was obtained using the same thermally expandable particles as in Example 1 and the following formulation.

Boncourt R-230 (manufactured by Dainippon Ink and Chemicals)
100 parts thermally expandable particles 15 parts water 15 parts Adjust the viscosity of this formulation to 5000 c.ps/20°C This binder has a thickness of 0.85 mm and an apparent density of 0.4 g/
One side of a cm ³ nonwoven fabric was coated with a dry coating weight of 150 g/m ² , and after drying in an atmosphere at 60° C. for 6 minutes, the same pile as in Example 1 was electro-flocked on the coated surface. Then set it to 130
It was heated for 5 minutes in an atmosphere of .degree. C. to evaporate water and expand the thermally expandable particles contained in the binder. The obtained flocked fabric was further immersed in a 90/10 mixed solvent of methyl ethyl ketone/water for 2 minutes, washed with water, and dried. The flocked fabric thus obtained had the same excellent texture as in Example 1, and its water vapor permeability was as high as 8.5 mg/cm ² hr.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A method for manufacturing a flocked cloth by electrically flocking the pile after applying a binder for adhering the pile to a support fabric, wherein the binder is coated with a binder for bonding the pile to a thermoplastic polymer shell. 1. A method for producing a flocked cloth, which comprises mixing thermally expandable particles with an average particle size of 1 to 100 microns containing a liquid swelling agent in an amount of 5 to 200% by weight based on the amount of binder resin. 2. The method for producing a flocked fabric according to claim 1, wherein after electro-flocking, the flocked fabric is heated to a temperature higher than the expansion start temperature of the thermally expandable particles to expand the thermally expandable particles in the binder. 3. The method for producing a flocked fabric according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a solvent for dissolving the shells of thermally expandable particles is applied to the flocked fabric after electro-flocking to form continuous pores in the binder layer.