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Multicomponent fiber comprising a phase change material

a phase change material and multi-component technology, applied in the direction of yarn, fibre chemical features, lap-winding devices, etc., can solve the problems of difficult to secure the phase change material throughout the garment, the bulky pouch is large, and the phase change material is incorporated

Inactive Publication Date: 2007-04-26
FIBER INNOVATION TECH
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009] The present invention is directed to a multi-component fiber comprising a phase change material, methods of preparation of such fibers, fabrics and other materials prepared from such fibers, and methods of preparing a temperature-regulating component for use in such fibers. In particular embodiments, the invention is directed to a temperature-regulating component useful for incorporation into a multicomponent fiber, thereby providing a fiber with particularly beneficial thermal properties. The multicomponent fiber of the invention is further beneficial in that it allows for incorporation of an increased concentration of the phase change material in the overall fiber, thereby providing a fiber with increased thermal properties, without sacrificing the processability of the fiber by melt spinning.

Problems solved by technology

Such pouches are bulky and only provide a benefit to those areas of the article of clothing in which the pouch is used.
The shape of such pouches also makes it difficult to secure them throughout a garment.
It is more problematic, though, to incorporate phase change materials into meltspun synthetic fibers, since high levels of volatile material typically are not present or desired in the melt spinning process.
Furthermore, as phase change materials often exhibit a phase change at around ambient temperature, fibers directly incorporating such phase change materials have a tendency to ooze (i.e., leach out of the fibers), thereby making the fibers undesirable to the touch.
Such attempts generally led to inadequate dispersion of the microcapsules within the fibers, poor fiber properties, and poor processability unless low concentrations of the microcapsules were used.
However, with low concentrations of the microcapsules, the desired enhanced reversible thermal properties normally associated with the use of phase change materials are difficult to realize.
Furthermore, microcapsules do not have the structural integrity to withstand the force exerted on the microcapsule when the encapsulated phase change material is extruded to form fibers.

Method used

the structure of the environmentally friendly knitted fabric provided by the present invention; figure 2 Flow chart of the yarn wrapping machine for environmentally friendly knitted fabrics and storage devices; image 3 Is the parameter map of the yarn covering machine
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  • Multicomponent fiber comprising a phase change material
  • Multicomponent fiber comprising a phase change material
  • Multicomponent fiber comprising a phase change material

Examples

Experimental program
Comparison scheme
Effect test

example 1

Preparation of Temperature-Regulating

Fiber Component

[0106] A precursor material highly loaded with a phase change material was prepared according to the following steps. First, a phase change material was prepared in a molten state. Polypropylene was added, and the combination was mixed until the polypropylene was molten. The same was then done with EVA and fumed silica. While the components are described above in a sequential addition, the method is not limited to such a sequence. For example, all components could be added at once and heated to a molten state. Further, the above components could be combined according to a different order than described above.

[0107] Once all components of the precursor material were in a molten state, the mixture was cooled and then ground into a powder. The powdered precursor material comprised 67.3% by weight of the phase change material.

[0108] The powdered precursor material was then combined with an additional amount of fumed silica, followe...

example 2

Preparation of Bicomponent Fiber

[0109] A bicomponent fiber, in a sheath / core embodiment, was prepared using a temperature-regulating fiber component as described in Example 1 as the inner fiber component (i.e., the core). The outer fiber component comprised polylactic acid (PLA).

[0110] The bicomponent fiber was prepared using a standard extruding apparatus, such as illustrated in FIG. 8, with a granular PLA loaded into one hopper and the granular temperature-regulating component loaded into a second hopper. The bicomponent fiber was extruded at a temperature of 220° C., with the temperature-regulating inner fiber component comprising 75% of the bicomponent fiber's cross-section and the PLA outer fiber component comprising 25% of the bicomponent fiber's cross-section. The bicomponent fibers were spun at a rate of 1,500 meters / minute and subsequently drawn to a linear density of 6 denier per filament.

[0111] The bicomponent fibers can be used in the form of the plain filament descri...

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Abstract

The present invention is a multicomponent fiber comprising a temperature-regulating inner fiber component encapsulated by an outer fiber component. The invention further provides methods of preparing the inventive multicomponent fiber and methods of preparing a temperature-regulating fiber component incorporating at least one phase change material.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 717,225, filed Sep. 15, 2005, which is incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention is related to multicomponent fibers. In particular, the invention is related to multicomponent fibers comprising at least one temperature-regulating inner fiber component and an outer fiber component encapsulating the temperature-regulating inner fiber component. BACKGROUND [0003] Fibers formed of synthetic polymers have long been recognized as useful in the production of textile articles. Such fibers can be used in diverse applications, such as apparel, disposable personal care products, filtration media, and carpet. Compositions useful in forming fibers with improved thermal capacity have also been sought. [0004] Phase change materials have been used in a variety of applications. They have been included in wall and floor bo...

Claims

the structure of the environmentally friendly knitted fabric provided by the present invention; figure 2 Flow chart of the yarn wrapping machine for environmentally friendly knitted fabrics and storage devices; image 3 Is the parameter map of the yarn covering machine
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Application Information

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Patent Type & Authority Applications(United States)
IPC IPC(8): D01G27/00
CPCD01F1/10D01F8/04D01F8/06D02G3/36D02G3/404H05K1/0203H05K1/0366
Inventor DUGAN, JEFFREY S.KUCKHOFF, ERIC
Owner FIBER INNOVATION TECH
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