Method for producing cloth article impregnated with impregnating agent

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for producing a fabric article impregnated with an impregnating agent, the method comprising reinforcing and / or binding a fibrous and / or non-woven fabric by spunlacing, a concentrate of the impregnating agent being applied to the fibrous and / or non-woven fabric which is connected and / or reinforced and still impregnated with water after spunlacing, the concentrate of the impregnating agent being applied to the fibrous and / or non-woven fabric which is bonded and / or reinforced and still impregnated with water. The concentrate forms, together with water impregnated on fibers and / or non-woven fabrics that are interconnected and / or reinforced after spunlace, an impregnant for impregnating the impregnated fabric article.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a new method for producing a textile article impregnated with an impregnating agent, which method involves reinforcing and / or bonding fibers or nonwovens in the manufacture of textile articles. Background Art

[0002] According to their properties, the cloth products can be used for various applications, in particular in the cosmetic and hygiene fields, and also in many cleaning applications. Depending on the intended application (usually wet or moist), the cloth products can already be impregnated with an impregnating agent and packaged individually or in units of a predetermined number of cloth products, or the cloth products can also be packaged in an unimpregnated state and can be wetted or impregnated again as desired or required after removal from the packaging.

[0003] Depending on its intended application, the cloth article may comprise several layers of nonwoven fabrics, which may have the same or different compositions. In the case of disposable wipes for cleaning surfaces, it is known that these should comprise several layers of nonwoven fabrics, which usually consist of different compositions. On the one hand, this ensures sufficient stability of the wipes and, on the other hand, in the case of using multiple layers of nonwoven fabrics of different compositions, it can be ensured that, for example, the first layer provides good liquid absorption, while the second layer provides good liquid release, if the nonwoven fabrics are selected accordingly.

[0004] Various methods for producing nonwoven fabrics from loose fibers and for producing multilayer fabric products by bonding several layers of nonwoven fabrics together are well known in the prior art. Known methods for obtaining pre-bonded fiber composites using loose fibers include, for example, dry processes, wet processes, meltblowing processes and spunbonding processes. In addition to the above-mentioned methods belonging to the "web forming" technology, methods belonging to the "web bonding" technology are also used, such as calendering, hydroentanglement, water needle, needle punching and air-through bonding.

[0005] In hydroentanglement, loose fibers are entangled with water jets ejected from nozzles at high pressure, so that a reinforcement is obtained in the form of a fiber composite. It is also known from PCT / EP2023 / 072187 that hydroentanglement is also suitable for bonding already pre-reinforced layers, because the high pressure at which the water jets hit the nonwoven layer during the hydroentanglement means that even fibers of different layers that have already been reinforced to form a fiber composite will still bond to each other.

[0006] In addition to hydroentanglement, other methods of bonding pre-reinforcement layers include ultrasonic reinforcement and needle punching.

[0007] DE 10 2021 122 041 B1 describes a multi-layer disposable floor wiping cloth with an abrasive strip, which comprises at least one cleaning layer and a core layer, both of which contain cellulose and consist entirely of natural and / or recycled fibers, wherein a scraping strip having higher friction properties than the existing cleaning layer is arranged on or in the cleaning layer, and wherein the scraping strip contains hemp and also consists entirely of natural and / or recycled fibers. The cleaning layer and the core layer and optionally further layers are preferably bonded together by microentanglement via a motion generated by ultrasound.

[0008] DE 101 64 640 A1 describes a method for fluidized jet reinforcement of textiles, wherein the textile fabric is treated with a treatment agent between the fluidized jet reinforcement and the drying process, for example in order to achieve a desired surface effect or to increase the strength of the textile fabric.

[0009] AT 503 625 A1 describes the combination of a meltblowing process with a hydroentanglement step without prior drying of the product.

[0010] DD 246 129 A1 describes a transfer element for producing nonwovens, which are bonded by means of a fluid jet under high pressure without the use of an adhesive. Summary of the invention

[0011] The object of the present invention is to provide an alternative method for producing impregnated textile articles by reinforcing and / or bonding fibers and / or nonwovens, which method is particularly suitable for producing textile articles impregnated with an impregnating agent containing a surfactant. Compared with the methods known from the prior art, this alternative manufacturing method is characterized in particular by a more energy- and resource-saving process control. Preferably, the method also generates less waste. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012] The invention achieves this object by the features of the claims and in particular by a method for producing a textile product impregnated with an impregnating agent, the method involving reinforcing and / or bonding fibers and / or nonwovens by hydroentanglement, and wherein, after the hydroentanglement, a concentrate of the impregnating agent is applied to the already bonded and / or reinforced fibers and / or nonwovens which are still impregnated with water, wherein the concentrate together with the water impregnated on the fibers and / or nonwovens which are bonded and / or reinforced after the hydroentanglement forms an impregnating agent which is used to impregnate the impregnated textile product.

[0013] The fibers used in the process according to the invention may be any fibers of the same or different types, in particular natural fibers and synthetic fibers.

[0014] The term "nonwoven" is understood to be a reinforced fabric composed of fibers, wherein the fibers have formed a firm bond. The fibers contained in the nonwoven can also be fibers of the same or different types, particularly natural fibers and synthetic fibers. In the embodiment in which two or more nonwovens are bonded together by the method of the present invention, the nonwoven generally has different composition modes to meet the different functions of the resulting cloth products, so that each nonwoven can contain the same type of fiber or different fibers of any type, which can be natural fibers and / or synthetic fibers independent of each other. This has shown the first advantage of the method of the present invention, because bonding is performed by a water jet, the composition of the nonwoven is not limited to synthetic fibers, which is also true for the case of bonding the nonwoven by heating means.

[0015] In the context of the present invention, "bonding" of fibers or nonwovens by hydroentanglement refers primarily to the entanglement or hooking of fiber ends in loose fibers or nonwovens with one another, rather than to bonding of different materials.

[0016] In an embodiment of the method according to the present invention, two or more nonwoven fabrics are bonded together, and the nonwoven fabric used can be produced optionally by a manufacturing technology belonging to a "web-forming" technology or a "web bonding" technology. The preferred method belonging to the "web-forming" technology includes carding, air-laid, wet-laid, melt-blown and spunbond. The preferred method belonging to the "web bonding" technology includes calendering, spunlace, needle punching and air-through bonding.

[0017] In the context of the present invention, the idea of ​​reinforcing or bonding loose fibers or already bonded nonwovens to one another by hydroentanglement was further developed.

[0018] In the prior art, in the known method of bonding nonwoven fabrics by hydroentanglement, a drying step is performed after the hydroentanglement step to remove the water in which the hydroentangled fibers are impregnated. In order to obtain a cloth product impregnated with an impregnating agent, the fibers are impregnated with the desired impregnating agent in the subsequent third step.

[0019] However, according to the present invention, the drying step after hydroentanglement used in the prior art is completely or partially omitted, that is, all or part of the water impregnated with the interconnected and / or reinforced fibers and / or nonwoven fabric due to hydroentanglement remains as part of the impregnating agent and forms an impregnating agent together with the concentrate of the impregnating agent applied to the interconnected and / or reinforced fibers and / or nonwoven fabric still impregnated with water after hydroentanglement, which is used to impregnate the impregnated cloth product.

[0020] In the context of the present invention, complete or partial omission of a drying step means that no drying is carried out at all after the hydroentanglement (complete omission of a drying step) or that only part of the water contained in the fibers and / or nonwoven which are interconnected and / or reinforced as a result of the hydroentanglement is removed by drying, for example to a degree of 10%, to a degree of 20%, to a degree of 30%, to a degree of 40% or to a degree of 50% (partial / partial omission of a drying step).

[0021] By completely or partially omitting the drying step after hydroentanglement known from the prior art and applying the concentrate to the bonded and / or reinforced fibers and / or nonwovens, the concentrate forming the impregnating agent with the water / residual water contained in the bonded and / or reinforced fibers and / or nonwovens, the process according to the invention makes it possible to obtain the same product with significantly less work than the known method of hydroentanglement of individual nonwoven layers and subsequent complete drying and impregnation of the resulting textile product.

[0022] Another advantage of the process according to the invention is that much less waste needs to be treated or disposed of than in the known processes which produce impregnated fabric products using hydroentanglement and subsequent removal of all water from the bonded fibers / nonwovens and which have to completely re-treat the process water used for reinforcement and recovered in the subsequent drying process. In contrast, the process according to the invention generates significantly less or even no process water as waste, since this water remains on the reinforced fibers and nonwovens as part of the impregnating agent.

[0023] Furthermore, it is a further advantage that, compared with the prior art known methods of producing textile products using hydroentanglement, the method according to the invention can save a lot of energy, since the drying step for removing the water used for bonding the nonwoven is completely eliminated or at least shortened.

[0024] Overall, the method according to the invention therefore offers energy advantages, time advantages and economic advantages and saves resources.

[0025] In general, in the method according to the invention, the concentrate of the impregnating agent applied to the fibers and / or nonwovens still impregnated with water and bonded and / or reinforced can have any composition and its composition can be adjusted for the respective application. For example, the concentrate of the impregnating agent can be water-based or oil-based and can also contain one or more other ingredients selected from the group comprising or containing alcohols, surfactants, antioxidants, preservatives, thickeners and ingredients with skin care, disinfecting and / or antibacterial properties. Particularly preferably, the concentrate of the impregnating agent contains at least one surfactant.

[0026] According to one embodiment, the method according to the present invention comprises the following steps:

[0027] a) providing loose fibers or providing two or more nonwoven fabrics;

[0028] b) contacting loose fibers or two or more nonwoven fabrics with a water jet, the loose fibers are bonded to form a fiber assembly, or the two or more nonwoven fabrics are bonded to each other;

[0029] c) contacting the fibers bonded to form a fiber assembly and impregnated with the water from the hydroentanglement of step b) or two or more nonwoven fabrics bonded to each other and impregnated with the water from the hydroentanglement of step b) with a concentrate of an impregnating agent.

[0030] In this context, "impregnation" means that the water from the hydroentanglement process is absorbed onto the reinforcing fibers or the interconnected nonwoven in any desired manner.

[0031] Optionally, the method according to the invention comprises a step of partially drying the fibers bonded to form a fiber assembly and impregnated with the water from the hydroentanglement of step b) or the two or more interconnected nonwovens impregnated with the water from the hydroentanglement of step b), wherein the drying step is performed after the hydroentanglement (step b) and before applying the concentrate of the impregnating agent to the interconnected and / or reinforced fibers and / or nonwovens still impregnated with water (step c).

[0032] Preferably, the step of partially drying the fibers bonded together to form the fiber assembly and impregnated with the water from the hydroentanglement of step b) or the two or more nonwoven fabrics bonded together and impregnated with the water from the hydroentanglement of step b) comprises: measuring the moisture content of the fibers bonded together to form the fiber assembly or the moisture content of the two or more nonwoven fabrics bonded together using a moisture meter.

[0033] Advantageously, the step of partially drying the fibers bonded to form the fiber assembly and impregnated with the water from the hydroentanglement of step b) or the two or more nonwoven fabrics bonded to each other and impregnated with the water from the hydroentanglement of step b) is terminated when the water content detected by the moisture meter reaches or falls below a predetermined limit value of residual water contained in the fibers bonded to form the fiber assembly or the two or more nonwoven fabrics bonded to each other and impregnated with the water from the hydroentanglement of step b).

[0034] According to a preferred embodiment, the step of bonding two or more nonwovens in the method according to the invention is carried out in an apparatus comprising at least two rollers, wherein the nonwovens to be bonded are treated with water jets, the water jets in the first roller preferably impacting the nonwovens to be bonded with a lower pressure than in the second roller.

[0035] Preferably, the water jets are ejected from a plurality of nozzle strips in the first roller, wherein each nozzle strip in the first roller comprises a plurality of nozzles, wherein the water jets are ejected from each nozzle belonging to the same nozzle strip at the same pressure, and wherein the pressures of the water jets ejected from nozzles belonging to different nozzle strips may be the same or different and are both between 10 and 80 bar.

[0036] Preferably, there are three nozzle strips in the first drum, wherein the water jets are preferably ejected at a pressure of between 10 and 30 bar from the nozzles of the first nozzle strip, wherein the water jets are preferably ejected at a pressure of between 30 and 60 bar from the nozzles of the second nozzle strip, and wherein the water jets are preferably ejected at a pressure of between 60 and 80 bar from the nozzles of the third nozzle strip.

[0037] It is further preferred that the water jets are ejected from several nozzle strips in the second drum, wherein each nozzle strip of the second drum comprises several nozzles, wherein the water jets ejected from each nozzle belonging to the same nozzle strip have the same pressure, and wherein the pressures of the water jets ejected from nozzles belonging to different nozzle strips can be the same or different and are both between 30 and 100 bar, preferably between 60 and 100 bar, and more preferably between 90 and 100 bar.

[0038] Optionally, the second roller has a dimple structure, in particular a 2D dimple structure, to achieve embossing of the resulting cloth product.

[0039] In addition, optionally, the second drum also has a moisture meter, which is arranged to measure the water content adsorbed to the reinforced fibers or nonwovens after hydroentanglement. Therefore, the optional drying step in the method according to the invention is preferably performed in the second drum, and the water content in the reinforced fibers or nonwovens is measured during the drying process. If the moisture meter determines that a predetermined proportion of water adsorbed on the reinforced fibers or nonwovens after hydroentanglement has been removed, for example, a proportion of 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% or 50% is reached, the drying step is preferably stopped. After this optional step of partial drying, a concentrate of the impregnating agent is applied to the reinforced fibers or nonwovens and mixed with the water in which the reinforced fibers or nonwovens are still impregnated after hydroentanglement or the water still adsorbed on the reinforced fibers or nonwovens after hydroentanglement to form an impregnating agent, which is used to impregnate the impregnated cloth product produced by the method of the invention.

[0040] Finally, after the impregnated textile product is obtained by reinforcing the fibers or bonding the nonwoven by bringing them into contact with a water jet and then applying a concentrate of the impregnating agent, the method according to the invention optionally also comprises a final step of cutting the obtained textile product and folding the cut textile product, after which the cut and folded textile products are optionally packaged so that the consumer can remove them one by one from the packaging.

[0041] The features of the invention disclosed in the above description and in the claims are essential both individually and in any combination to realize the invention in its various embodiments.

Claims

1. A method for producing a cloth product impregnated with an impregnating agent, comprising: Strengthening and / or bonding of fibers and / or nonwovens by hydroentanglement, characterized in that After the hydroentanglement, a concentrate of the impregnating agent is applied to the fibers and / or nonwoven fabrics which are interconnected and / or reinforced and still impregnated with water, wherein the concentrate together with the water impregnated on the fibers and / or nonwoven fabrics which are interconnected and / or reinforced after the hydroentanglement forms the impregnating agent, which is used to impregnate the impregnated fabric product.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The concentrate of the impregnant is a water-based or oil-based surfactant and further contains one or more other ingredients selected from the group consisting of or containing alcohol, antioxidants, preservatives, thickeners and ingredients with skin care, disinfectant and / or antibacterial properties.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The method comprises the following steps: a) providing loose fibers or providing two or more nonwoven fabrics; b) contacting the loose fibers or the two or more nonwoven fabrics with a water jet, thereby bonding the loose fibers to form a fiber assembly, or thereby bonding the two or more nonwoven fabrics to each other; and c) contacting the fibers of the fiber assembly connected to each other and impregnated with the water from the hydroentanglement of step b) or the two or more nonwoven fabrics bonded to each other and impregnated with the water from the hydroentanglement of step b) with the concentrate of the impregnating agent.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The method further comprises a step of partially drying the fibers bonded to each other to form the fiber assembly and impregnated with the water from the hydroentanglement of step b) or of partially drying the two or more nonwovens connected to each other and impregnated with the water from the hydroentanglement of step b), wherein the partial drying step is performed after the hydroentanglement and before applying the concentrate of the impregnating agent to the fibers and / or nonwovens still impregnated with water and bonded together and / or reinforced.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The step of partially drying the fibers bonded to each other to form the fiber assembly and impregnated with the water from the hydroentanglement in step b) or partially drying the two or more nonwoven fabrics connected to each other and impregnated with the water from the hydroentanglement in step b) comprises: using a moisture meter to measure the moisture content of the fibers bonded to each other in the fiber assembly or measuring the moisture content of the two or more nonwoven fabrics connected to each other.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that When the moisture content detected by the moisture meter reaches a predetermined limit value of the residual moisture contained in the fibers bonded together in the fiber assembly or the two or more nonwoven fabrics bonded together, the step of partially drying the fibers bonded to each other to form the fiber assembly and impregnated with the water from the hydroentanglement in step b) or the step of partially drying the two or more nonwoven fabrics connected to each other and impregnated with the water from the hydroentanglement in step b) is stopped.

7. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The water jet reaches the loose fibers or the two or more nonwoven fabrics after being ejected from one or more nozzles.

8. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The fibers or nonwoven fabrics are bonded in an apparatus having at least two rollers, in which the fibers or nonwoven fabrics to be bonded are treated with the water jets, the water jets in the first roller impinging on the fibers or nonwoven fabrics to be bonded at a lower pressure than in the second roller.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The water jets in the first drum are ejected from a plurality of nozzle strips, wherein each nozzle strip in the first drum has a plurality of nozzles, wherein the water jets ejected from each nozzle belonging to the same nozzle strip have the same pressure, and wherein the pressures of the water jets ejected from nozzles belonging to different nozzle strips can be the same or different and are both between 10 and 80 bar.

10. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The water jets in the second drum are ejected from a plurality of nozzle strips, wherein each nozzle strip in the second drum has a plurality of nozzles, wherein the water jets ejected from each nozzle belonging to the same nozzle strip have the same pressure, and wherein the pressures of the water jets ejected from nozzles belonging to different nozzle strips can be the same or different and are both between 30 and 100 bar.

11. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The second roller has surface enlarging elements on its inner surface so as to emboss the fibers or nonwoven fabrics bonded together.

12. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The moisture content of the fibers or nonwoven bonded together by hydroentanglement is determined in the second drum.

13. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The step of partially drying the fibers bonded to each other to form the fiber assembly and impregnated with the water from the hydroentanglement of step b) or the step of partially drying the two or more nonwoven fabrics connected to each other and impregnated with the water from the hydroentanglement of step b) is performed in the second drum, and the moisture content in the fibers or nonwoven fabrics is measured during the drying process.

14. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The step of partially drying is stopped when the moisture meter determines that a predetermined proportion of the water adsorbed onto the reinforced fibers or nonwoven fabric after hydroentanglement has been removed.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that When it is determined that the ratio of water adsorbed to the reinforced fibers or nonwoven fabric after hydroentanglement is removed reaches 10%, reaches 20%, reaches 30%, reaches 40% or reaches 50%, the partial drying step is stopped.