METHOD FOR PRODUCING MULTI-HOLE ULTRA SOFT YARNS

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for successively introducing water soluble fibers into finish fibers (e.g. cotton) to produce a hollow and ultra soft structure, by introducing water soluble slivers into the center of a multi-hole feeder with multiple cotton fiber slivers arranged around the water soluble fiber in a pre-drawing process via a multi-hole sliver feeder. A plurality of these fibers can be drawn together to produces a fiber having multiple water soluble fibers. A cloth, e.g., towel, can be made using the method.

Claims

1. A method of producing soft yarns, comprising the steps of: providing a plurality of finish fibers; providing a water soluble fiber; providing a multi-hole drawing tool; introducing the plurality of finish fibers and the water soluble fiber into respective holes of the multi-hole drawing tool with the finish fibers arranged around the water soluble fiber; drawing the finish fibers and the water soluble fibers through the multi-hole drawing tool to form a combined fiber, the combined fiber having the water soluble fiber surrounded by the finish fiber; providing a plurality of the combined fibers; drawing the plurality of the combined fibers to form a multi-combined fiber, the multi-combined fiber having multiple water soluble fiber surrounded by the finish fiber; and roving the multi-combined fiber.

2. The method of claim 1, further including the step of exposing the multi-combined fiber to water to remove the multiple water soluble fibers.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the finish fiber is cotton.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the water soluble fibers are PVA.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the multi-hole drawing tool includes six holes arranged about a central seventh hole.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein introducing step includes the steps of passing the water soluble fiber into the central seventh hole and the finish fibers into the other six holes.

7. The method of claim 1, further including the steps of: providing a plurality of the multi-combined fibers; drawing the plurality of the multi-combined fibers to form a second order multi-combined fiber, the second multi-combined fiber having multiple water soluble fiber surrounded by the finish fiber.

8. A method of manufacturing a cloth, comprising the steps of: weaving the cloth using at least one yarn produced by the method of claim 1.

9. A cloth including at least one yarn produced by the method of claim 1.

10. A towel including at least one yarn produced by the method of claim 1.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0018] FIG. 1 is a wrapping process of multi-hole ultra soft yarns;

[0019] FIG. 2 and are a schematic view of arrangement of cotton fibers and a water-soluble fiber fed during a breaker-drawing process;

[0020] FIG. 3 is a structure diagram of a combined yarn having a single water soluble fiber;

[0021] FIGS. 4A and 4B show the multi-hole ultra soft yarns during the second drawing; and

[0022] FIGS. 5A and 5B show the multi-hole ultra soft yarns during the third drawing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS

[0023] The present invention comprises a method 100 for forming an ultra-soft yarn according to the steps shown in FIG. 1. The process involves the steps of combining a finish fiber and a water soluble fiber and then dissolving the water soluble fiber. The finish fiber is the fiber that remains after the water soluble fiber is dissolved. The process is described herein according to example in which the finish fiber is cotton and the water soluble fiber is PVA. In other example, the finish fiber can be other natural fibers or synthetic fibers and the water soluble can be suitable alternatives to PVA.

[0024] At steps 110 and 112, the materials that are to be blended to form the yarn are selected. At step 112, cotton fibers are selected. As one example, the physical indexes of the cotton fibers can be 29 mm or more in length, Micronaire A, short fiber content 10% or less. At step 110, a water soluble fiber is selected. As one example, the water soluble fiber can be PVA fibers having the following characteristics: body length: 38 mm; fineness: 1.33 dtex; dissolution temperature: 90° C. or less. It is desirable to select cotton fibers within the index disclosed or relatively close thereto because if the cotton fibers are far out of the indexes, there is a possibility that cohesion between the cotton fibers during the dissolution of PVA cannot be ensured. As a result, monofilaments can fall off from the yarns and molt rate of towels thus becomes high.

[0025] The production process 100 includes two main steps: (1) PVA pre-drawing slivers and cotton card slivers are spun, respectively; and the cotton fiber card slivers and the pre-drawing PVA slivers are fed into an additional 7-hole sliver feeder (see FIG. 3) during a breaker-drawing process, with the PVA fiber slivers into the hole in center and the cotton fiber slivers into the surrounding six holes, and (2) subsequently subjected to stretching, twisting and winding to produce the yarns. The production process 100 and the details surrounding these two main steps are discussed in more detail below.

[0026] One example of the process flow is shown in the table below:

[0027] Water-soluble fibers: FA002 Disk Plucker.fwdarw.A006B Automatic Blending Machine.fwdarw.A092A Double Hopper Feeder.fwdarw.A076E Lapper.fwdarw.A186D Carding Machine.fwdarw.FA304 Pre-drawing Machine

[0028] Cotton Fibers: FA002 Disk Plucker.fwdarw.A006B Automatic Blending Machine.fwdarw.FA104 Step Cleaner.fwdarw.A092A Double Hopper Feeder.fwdarw.A076E Lapper.fwdarw.FA201 Carding Machine.fwdarw.FA304 Pre-drawing Machine

TABLE-US-00001 Pre-drawing of water-soluble fibers FAB304 Drawing Frame (single-hole) .fwdarw. Drawing Frame (multi-hole) .fwdarw. Roving Frame .fwdarw. FA507 {close oversize brace} Spinning Frame .fwdarw. Savio Automatic Winding Machine .fwdarw. Dissolve water soluble Pre-drawing of cotton fibers fiber

[0029] The arrangement of the first passage drawn sliver and PVA is: cotton, cotton, cotton, PVA, cotton, cotton, cotton (see, for example, FIG. 2). (This arrangement is required since the apparatus is so designed. The content of cotton can be increased or decreased as long as it is within the range from 70% to 95%, but it is important to ensure that PVA is in the center of cotton slivers).

[0030] At steps 114 and 116, the water soluble fibers and cotton fibers, respectively, undergo picking operations. Due to different characteristics of the cotton fibers and the PVA water-soluble fibers, the cotton fibers are blended in two hoppers, with two positions for opening and cleaning, and the PVA fibers are blended in two hoppers, with one position for opening and cleaning. The combined beater is a three-blade combined beater. If the PVA fibers are beaten too much, the fibers may be damaged and kinked. Therefore, as one example, the speed of the combined beater is approximately 1000 rpm/min for the cotton fibers and approximately 820 rpm/min for the PVA fibers, and the gauge between grid bars is minimized to reduce the amount of noils. As one example, the weight of a cotton lap is approximately 400 g/m, and the weight of a PVA fiber lap is approximately 380 g/m.

[0031] At steps 118 and 120, the water soluble fibers and cotton fibers, respectively, undergo picking operations. During picking, the PVA fibers can be treated by metal card clothing. To avoid congesting the card clothing, the speed of taker-in is approximately 920 rpm/min during cotton spinning and is approximately 790 rpm/min during PVA fiber spinning. The speed ratio of cylinder to taker-in is approximately 1.7:1 during cotton spinning and is approximately 2.2:1 during PVA fiber spinning. The purpose is to facilitate the transfer of fibers and to reduce damage to the fibers in order to avoid the generation of short fibers. Some gauges are adjusted according to different fibers as shown in the following table:

TABLE-US-00002 Cotton PVA fiber Feed plate-Taker-in  7 12 Taker-in-dust remover 12 15 Cylinder - Cover 8/7/7/7/8 12/11/10/10/11 (five continuous gauges)

[0032] The unit of those mentioned above is mil.

[0033] At steps 122 and 124, the water soluble fibers and cotton fibers, respectively, undergo drawing operations. After these drawing operations, the cotton fibers and water soluble fibers undergo an additional drawing operation at step 128 to blend the fibers, as discussed in more detail below.

[0034] A blend ratio for the cotton slivers and the water soluble slivers is selected. As one example, the water soluble fiber (e.g. PVA) is approximately 5% to 30%, and the cotton is approximately 70%-95%. After many tests, an acceptable yarn blending ratio is defined in this range. If the content of PVA is much greater than 30%, the strength of the yarns is too low, resulting in a high molt rate when in use and affecting the wrapped effect of the PVA fibers by the cotton fibers. If the content of PVA is much less than 5%, the single-hole effect provided by the dissolving of the water soluble fiber is insufficient and it is unable to achieve ultra-soft, highly bulky and high absorption effects.

[0035] At step 128, the cotton fibers and water soluble fibers undergo a drawing process to blend the fibers such that the cotton fibers are arranged around and surrounding the water soluble fiber. As shown in FIG. 2, the cotton fiber 202 and the PVA fibers 204 are fed into an additional 7-hole sliver feeder 200 during a breaker-drawing process, with the water-soluble fiber slivers into the hole in the center and the cotton fiber slivers into the surrounding six holes. The fibers can be subsequently subjected to second and third drawing to wrap the water-soluble fibers. A 7-hole feeder 200 is shown, however, feeders with other numbers of holes can be used so long as cotton fibers are arranged to surround a water soluble fiber. Accordingly, after the first drawing at step 128, a fiber 300 consisting of cotton fibers surrounding 302 a water soluble fiber 304 is provided as shown in FIG. 3.

[0036] In one example, the three-up-three-down press bar drafting process is utilized. When breaker slivers are fed, the cotton and the PVA fibers are fed into an additional 7-hole sliver feeder 200 during a breaker-drawing process, with all the cotton fibers 202 in the outer layer and the water-soluble fibers 204 in the inner layer. For both the cotton fibers and the water-soluble fibers, the roller gauge can be approximately 12 mm×20 mm, and the spacer of the press bars is approximately 2.0 mm, for the purpose of enhancing the control on fibers.

[0037] At step 128′, a second drawing process is performed in which multiple combined yarns, each having a single central water soluble fiber, are drawn together to provide a combined yarn having multiple water soluble fibers. Multiple combined yarns that were produced as a result of step 128 can be combined to provide a multi-water soluble yarn. As shown in FIG. 4A, multiple combined yarns 300 (for example, eight yarns) each having a single central water soluble fiber 304 surrounding by cotton fiber 302a that was combined during step 128. The multiple combined yarns 300 can be drawn to form a multi-water soluble combined yarn 400, as shown in FIG. 4B. The multi-water soluble combined yarn 400 includes multiple water soluble fibers 404 surrounded by cotton fiber 402a.

[0038] At step 128″, a third drawing process can be performed in which multiple combined yarns, each having a multiple water soluble fibers, are drawn together to provide a combined yarn having an even higher number of water soluble fibers. Multiple combined yarns that were produced as a result of step 128′ can be combined to provide a multi-water soluble yarn. As shown in FIG. 5A, multiple combined yarns 400 (for example, eight yarns) each having a multiple water soluble fibers 404 surrounding by cotton fiber 402a that was combined during step 128′. The multiple combined yarns 400 can be drawn to form a multi-water soluble combined yarn 500 having a higher number of water soluble fibers, as shown in FIG. 5B. The multi-water soluble combined yarn 500 includes multiple water soluble fibers 504 surrounded by cotton fiber 502a.

[0039] As can be seen in FIGS. 4B and 5B, after each subsequent drawing step more water soluble fibers are introduced into the yarn. As the combined yarn is drawn, however, the diameter of the water soluble fibers is reduced as compared to the overall yarn diameter. Accordingly, a yarn with many, relatively fine water soluble fibers can be manufactured. For ease of reference, the combined yarn 400 can be considered a multi-combined yarn and the combined yarn 500 can be considered a second order multi-combined yarn. As an example, a multi-hole drawing tool similar to multi-hole drawing tool 200 can be used to arrange the fibers during the drawing processes to help ensure proper alignment.

[0040] At step 130, the combined cotton and water soluble fibers undergo a roving process. During the roving process, a three-roller double-apron drafting can be utilized. The roving amount can be approximately 5-8 g per 10 m, and the roller gauge can be approximately 26.5 mm×33.5 mm. The dissociated fibers are controlled in the drafting zone. Roving twist factor is defined as 70-90 based on the different proportions of the PVA fibers, the spinning back region process, and other conditions.

[0041] At step 132, the combined cotton and water soluble fibers undergo a spinning operation. According to the roving amount and the density of fine yarns, different drawing ratios and twist factors are designed. In one example, the density of fine yarns is 40S-6S. According to the density of fine yarns and the blending ratio, the twist factor is selected from approximately 260 to 400. After drawing the density of fine yarn is approximately 1.20-1.42, and the roller surface gauge is adjusted to approximately 21 mm×28 mm.

[0042] At step 134, the combined cotton and water soluble fibers undergo a winding process. The process principle of winding is “small tension, low speed”. In order to reduce hairiness and decrease the breaking rate, low speed and small tension are set. A capacitive electronic yarn clearer is used to improve the joint efficiency of the air splicer and reduce the yarn defects. In order to ensure the yarn strength and the moisture regain, the workshop temperature is controlled at approximately 28° C.-32° C., the relative humidity is controlled at approximately 65%-75%, and the winding speed is designed at approximately 900 m/min, all of which enable a better compromise between productivity and quality of cheeses.

[0043] Accordingly, a fiber 300 consisting of cotton fibers surrounding 302 a water soluble fiber 304 is provided as shown in FIG. 3. At step 138, the fiber 300 is exposed to warm water to dissolve the water soluble fiber 304. This process results in a cotton fiber with a hollow core, which is soft and absorbent. The water dissolving step can be performed after the combined fiber has been manufactured into an article (e.g., towel, garment, etc.).

[0044] Six cotton fibers and one water-soluble fiber are fed into a breaker-drawing frame, with the cotton fibers being evenly spread around the water-soluble fiber to completely wrap the water-soluble fiber. In such a feeding mode, the cotton fibers are in the outer layer and the water-soluble fiber in the inner layer. Subsequently, by drawing and drafting, the water-soluble fiber is further dispersed in the cotton fibers. When the water soluble fibers are dissolved, multiple fine voids are formed at the locations of the water soluble fibers.

[0045] The following chart illustrates differences and performance improvements between the yarn of the present invention and prior art yarns.

[0046] Performance comparison between yarns obtained by the present invention and yarns obtained by the prior art

TABLE-US-00003 Method and performance Yarns obtained by the Yarns obtained by comparison present invention the prior art Spinning Putting PVA slivers in the Blending PVA fibers and Method center of the yarn slivers cotton in hoppers Ordinarily blending PVA slivers and cotton slivers Structure PVA fibers can tend to be Most of PVA fibers continuously present in the exposed to the yarn body; center of the yarn body, not and after removing the exposed to the surface; and water-soluble fiber, after completely removing micropores are not the PVA, voids in the yarn continuous. body are larger and more uniform. Bulkiness good normal Quick-drying good normal Softness better normal Resultant By using a number of By putting PVA fibers in yarns different cotton slivers the center of yarns, a during the second drawing, hollow structure is formed. a multi-hole ultra soft yarn structure is formed. Formation Pre-drawing Pre-drawing process In the resulting multi-hole Since there is no yarn yarn structure, all PVA guide means, the distribution fibers are evenly distributed of PVA fibers in the cotton in the yarns, so that the yarns is uneven and this may yarns are bulky and low in lead to yarn unevenness; the the molt rate even after thickness of the cotton many times of washing. yarns after dissolved off PVA is uneven; and the molt rate is high.

[0047] The method of the present invention can be used to manufacture cloth that can be manufactured into various article, such as ultra soft towels. Accordingly, card slivers are produced from cotton fibers by picking and carding and pre-drawing silvers are produced from PVA fibers by picking, carding and pre-drawing. The cotton fiber card slivers and the pre-drawing PVA silvers are fed into an additional multi-hole sliver feeder during a breaker-drawing process, with the PVA fiber slivers into the hole in center and the cotton fiber slivers into the surrounding six holes, and subsequently subjected to stretching, twisting and winding to produce the yarns. The yarns are then feed through additional drawing steps which combined the single water soluble fiber yarn into a yarn having multiple water soluble fibers surrounded by cotton fibers. When towels made of such yarns are placed into hot water, PVA fibers are dissolved to form a single-hole ultra soft cotton ring structure.

[0048] Grey cloth is produced from the multi-hole ultra soft yarn via a towel loom, and then fed into a combined desizing-scouring machine where PVA fibers are dissolved in hot water at 40° C.-100° C., and the PVA is completely removed by multiple times of washing. The grey cloth, which is removed off PVA fibers by washing, is subjected to scouring and bleaching, dyeing, soap boiling, softening, drying, stitching and finishing to produce a multi-hole ultra soft towel.

[0049] A finished towel made of such multi-hole ultra soft yarns is lightweight, plump and flexible, and can keep the softness for a long period of time. A towel made of such multi-hole ultra soft yarns is lighter, and higher in absorbance. Such multi-hole ultra soft yarns are preferred raw materials for weaving towels. A high-quality towel made of such multi-hole ultra soft yarns is bounded with fine satin, exhibiting high taste.