Fiber Surface Treatment Using Cavitation for Uniform Sliver Coating
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current industrial processes lack an effective method for surface treating individual fibers before they are converted into yarn or textiles, particularly with poorly water-soluble or insoluble compounds, which often result in uneven treatment, fiber bundling, and difficulty in spinning yarns due to chemical friction, leading to products with rough textures and diminished properties over time.
Innovation Solution
A system that exposes individual fibers to a liquid medium while maintaining their parallel orientation, followed by sonochemical or acoustic cavitation processes, allowing for the attachment of predetermined chemical compounds without binders, enabling the incorporation of properties like fire retardance, antimicrobial activity, and UV inhibition into fibers, which are then reassembled into slivers and yarns.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If fibers are surface treated with poorly water-soluble or insoluble compounds in conventional processes, then the desired properties (fire retardance, antimicrobial activity) are imparted to the fibers, but the treatment becomes uneven and fibers bundle together, making yarn spinning difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the treatment process into distinct stages: first treating individual fibers in sliver form before they are bundled into yarns. This segmentation allows uniform treatment of each fiber independently, preventing bundling issues and ensuring consistent property distribution throughout the final textile product.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies surface treatment to fibers at an early stage in the manufacturing process, before the fibers are spun into yarns or woven into textiles. This preliminary action ensures that the chemical compounds are evenly distributed on individual fibers, preventing subsequent processing difficulties and ensuring uniform properties in the final product.
2Reliability
If chemical compounds are applied to fibers using conventional surface treatment methods, then the fibers gain desired properties, but the treatment requires binding agents that cause rough textures and lead to property loss over time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the need for binding agents in the surface treatment process. By using plasma treatment to directly bond chemical compounds to fiber surfaces, the invention removes the harmful intermediary substances that cause rough textures and property leaching, resulting in smoother textiles with durable, retained properties.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces conventional mechanical/chemical binding agent systems with a plasma-based surface modification approach. Plasma treatment creates direct chemical bonds between the fiber surface and applied compounds, substituting the need for mechanical binders and resulting in more durable, texture-friendly treatments that resist leaching during washing and abrasion.
3Ease of manufacture
If fibers are treated in yarn or textile form, then the treatment is easier to apply, but the treatment only affects the surface and properties are lost through abrasion and washing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies surface treatment to individual fibers at the sliver stage, before they are processed into yarns or textiles. This preliminary treatment ensures that chemical compounds are distributed throughout the entire fiber structure, not just on the surface, resulting in durable properties that withstand abrasion and washing throughout the product's lifecycle.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method ensures uniform treatment of fibers, maintaining their ordered orientation, and embedding desired properties within the textile structure, resulting in durable, soft, and effective products that resist abrasion and repeated washing without leaching, while avoiding the use of harsh chemicals or binders.
Implementation Method 1
exposing the individual fibers to an acoustic cavitation process or a sonochemical or chemical reduction process
Implementation Method 2
exposing the separated fibers to a sonochemical irradiation process or an acoustic cavitation process
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a surface treatment and a method for its application for the introduction of a wide variety of differentiating properties to fibersin sliver form through a surface treatment of said fibers. The system can accommodate chemical processes, sonochemical processes, and acoustic cavitation processes whereby the fibers are speckled or plated with at least one predetermined compound in a liquid medium to impart at least one desired property to the fibers and for the orderly inclusion of such treated fibers in sliver form having such properties in yarns, woven, knit, or non-woven textiles.