Fire retardant nylon fibers and methods for making them

Abstract

Provided are nylon fibers having fire retardant agents dispersed therein and methods for manufacturing such fibers. The fire retardant agents may comprise Tis(tribromophenyl) triazine and / or antimony trioxide. Fabrics made from such fibers are also provided.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION[0001]This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62 / 113,687, filed Feb. 9, 2015, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates generally to fire retardant nylon fibers. In particular, the invention relates to nylon fibers, such as nylon-6,6 and / or nylon 6, that are rendered fire retardant by incorporating into the molten nylon, prior to spinning into fibers, a combination of certain brominated compounds, such as tris(tribromophenyl) triazine, and a synergist, such as antimony trioxide. The invention further relates to fabrics, such as woven fabrics, comprising these fibers.BACKGROUND[0003]Flame retardant or flame resistant fabrics are desirable in the textile industry for a variety of applications, and in particular as industrial and military clothing and equipment, including uniforms, tents and shelters. They are al...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides fire retardant nylon fibers that can be used to make woven and non-woven fabrics that are resistant to ignition or combustion. The fibers contain a brominated organic fire retardant chemical and a synergist chemical dispersed in the nylon polymer. The fibers can be blended with other fibers like cotton, aramides, polysesters, carbon fibers, etc. The resulting fabrics have a reduced propensity to ignition or combustion, even in the absence of fire-retardant coatings or additives applied to one or both surfaces of the fabric or embedded within the interstices of the fabric. The invention also provides a method for making the fire retardant nylon fibers by dispersing the brominated organic fire retardant chemical and the synergist chemical in molten nylon polymer, which can then be formed into pellets and used to make woven and non-woven fabrics that are fire retardant.

Problems solved by technology

This approach suffers from the drawback that the weight of the fabric is increased, which may not be desirable where the fabric is to be worn in skin contact.

Fabrics intended to be worn or carried by workers or soldiers is typically coated with a lighter weight coating to preserve some of the “hand” of the original fabric, but this limits the amount of fire retardancy that can be imparted.

Fire retardants can also be incorporated within the fabric by dipping the fabric in a bath of a fluid containing appropriated agents, however, this approach is generally not capable of making highly fire retardant fabrics given the limited amount of material that can be deposited and retained on the surface of the fibers.

Moreover, the additive typically is not durable to mechanical abrasion or laundering of the article.

Attempts to impart greater durability to fire retardant finishes often yield a fabric which is stiff and lacking the hand required for clothing.

While it is possible to achieve good fire retardancy, this approach may negatively impact other performance characteristics, such as water repellency, moisture vapor transmission (breathability), tear strength, air permeability, flexibility, and hand and feel of the fabric.

In fact, the addition of a coating or finish alone may affect performance attributes, such as breathability, air permeability, and weight.

Generally, utilizing flame resistant coatings or finishes makes it more challenging to meet all performance specifications required for a technical fabric.

One drawback to this approach is the expense associated with manufacturing and processing these specialty fibers relative to standard fibers, such as nylon-6 and nylon-6,6.

Fabrics made from these fibers (e.g., NOMEX®) alone, or as blends, are difficult to process using typical textile materials and equipment.

Moreover, additional performance requirements, such as water repellency, infrared reflectance, breathability, weight of fabric, tensile and tearing strength, abrasion resistance, strength and growth, flexibility and soft hand, are challenging to obtain when using inherently flame resistant fabrics.

It is also difficult to dye and print these fabrics to proper color requirements.

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