Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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HYBRID YARNS WHICH INCLUDE OIL SEED FLAX PLANT BAST FIBER AND
OTHER FIBERS AND FABRICS MADE WITH SUCH YARNS
The present application is a non-provisional application
claiming priority under 35 USC 119(e) to U.S. Provisional
Application No. 60,290,856, of Khavkine et al., entitled HYBRID
YARNS WHICH INCLUDE OIL SEED FLAX PLANT BAST FIBER AND OTHER FIBERS
AND FABRICS MADE WITH SUCH YARNS, filed May 14, 2001.
The invention is directed to (1) hybrid yarns which include
natural oilseed flax plant bast fibers and other natural and/or
synthetic fibers, (2) fabrics made from such hybrid yarns, (3)
composite reinforcements which include the fabrics and yarns of the
invention, and a method of making such hybrid yarn. The yarns and
reinforcing fabrics of the invention are low cost, light weight and
environmentally-friendly. The yarns and fabrics are particularly
useful for low to medium strength applications such as composite
reinforcements and as garment fabrics. The significant advantages
of the invention include the use of natural flax plant bast fibers
in combination with other natural and/or synthetic fibers which
provide desired mechanical properties for the hybrid yarn and
fabrics of the invention.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A number of different materials, such as organic and inorganic
fibers, have been used to make composite reinforcements,
particularly reinforcements for low and medium strength
applications. Inorganic fibers include glass and carbon filaments,
filaments of metals or metal alloys such as steel, aluminum or
tungsten; non metals such as boron; or metal or nonmetal oxides,
carbides or nitrides such as aluminum oxide, zirconium oxide, boron
nitride, boron carbide or silicon carbide, ceramic filaments,
filaments of slag, stone or quartz. Organic fibers include aramid,
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nylon, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyester and natural fibers,
such as cotton and wood.
Traditionally, fiberglass has been the most popular material
for almost any composite reinforcement application. Fiberglass has
unique combination of versatility and strength that made this
reinforcement a material of choice for more than 50~ of all
composite articles manufactured in the year 2000. Nylon,
polyester, and polypropylene fibers are another composite
reinforcement alternative. They have been used extensively for low
and medium strength composite reinforcement applications. Despite
their good availability, fiberglass, nylon, polyester, and
polypropylene fibers have significant disadvantages, including high
prices tied to crude oil prices. All of these materials pressure
the environment because they are not necessarily renewable, do not
biodegrade and generate significant Green House Gases emission upon
manufacture and/or destruction. Key disadvantages of fiberglass
also include the worker unfriendly nature of the material
(fiberglass is an irritant) , its fragility which makes it difficult
to process; and finally, its density (natural fibers have specific
density that is 40~ less than density of fiberglass).
With respect to yarns and fabrics for garments, natural
fibers, particularly, oilseed flax straw fibers, unfortunately are
limited in length, resilience or crush resistance properties. In
many garment or technical applications, better toughness, strength,
recovery properties and degree of liveliness heretofore not
attained are very desirable. It is very common in the textile
industry when yarn made up of different fibers, either natural or
synthetic, or the yarns may be made up of the same type fiber but
have slightly different qualities, even when unintended. The
different fibers often have varying dye characteristics, and if
package dyeing of the hybrid yarn or piece dyeing is later
employed, the fibers may attain visibly different color
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shades, giving the resulting product a variegated appearance. A
variegated appearance may also arise from the differing texture or
other properties of the individual fibers. While a variegated
appearance may be desirable in itself, yarn patterning tends to
produce micro-streaks or other patterns which repeat throughout the
textile product in which the hybrid yarn is used.
Hybrid yarns from non-thermoplastic reinforcement filaments
(e. g. aramid, glass or carbon fiber) and thermoplastic filaments
(e. g. polyester fiber) are well known. For instance, the patent
applications EP-A-0, 156, 599; EP-A-0, 156, 600; EP-A-0, 351, 201 and EP-
A-0,378,381 as well as Japanese Publication JP-A-04/353,525 and US
Patent 5,792,555 consider hybrid yarns made of non-thermoplastic
fibers (e.g. glass or aramid filaments or rovings) and
thermoplastic fibers (e. g, polyester or PET filaments or rovings).
Thermoformable textile materials (e.g. plain weave fabrics) are
made from thermoformable hybrid yarns having high melting point
and non-melting filament or fibers. These textile materials can be
converted into fiber reinforced, stiff thermoplastic sheets that
may be used for different structural applications.
Various methods of producing fiber reinforced thermoplastic
sheets are described in Chemiefasern/Textiltechnik, volume 39/91
(1989) pages T185 to T187, T224 to T228 and T236 to T240.
Processes are described which start with a woven mat composed of
hybrid yarns. The advantage of these techniques are a mixing ratio
of reinforcing and matrix fibers that can be very precisely
controlled, as well as the drapability of the textile materials
which makes it easy to process the material by compression moulding
(Chemiefasern/Textiltechnik, volume 39/91 (1989), page T186).
EP-A-0,268,838 describes reinforcing textile material a layer
of longitudinal threads and a layer of transverse threads, which
are not interwoven. One of the plies of threads has a
significantly higher heat shrinkage capacity than the other.
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Auxiliary threads provide cohesion. These auxiliary threads do not
tightly bind the layers of the reinforcing threads together, but
rather loosely fix them to one another so that they can move
relative to one another.
DE-A-4,042,063 describes making easily deformed reinforcing
layers. Longitudinal heat-shrinking and auxiliary threads are
incorporated into a sheet material intended for use as textile
reinforcement. Heating causes the textile material to contract as
some extent, so that the reinforcing threads are held in a wavy
state or in a loose looping.
US-6,51,313 describes yarn that is formed from non-twisted
discontinuous parallel fibers held together by a covering yarn of
sacrificial material wound around the fibers. The fibers comprise
an intimate mixture of fibers of at least two different types: 1)
carbon fibers or pre-oxidized polyacrylonitrile based carbon
precursor fibers, 2) anisotropic or isotropic pitch based carbon
precursor fibers, 3) phenolic or cellulosic based carbon precursor
fibers, and 4) ceramic fibers or ceramic precursor fibers. In a
carbon state, the mixture of fibers comprises at least 15~ by
weight of high strength fibers having a tensile strength of at
least 1500 Mpa and a modulus of at least 150 Mpa, and at least 15~
by weight of fibers with a low Young's modulus of at most 100 GPa.
DE-A-3,408,769 discloses a process for producing shaped fiber
reinforced articles from thermoplastic material by using flexible
textile structures consisting of substantially unidirectional
aligned reinforcing fibers and a matrix constructed from
thermoplastic yarns or fibers. Final shaping of a composite takes
place after passing heated dies where virtually all of the
thermoplastic fibers melt and bind the reinforcement.
It has been found that yarns in the prior art have significant
disadvantage for low to medium strength composite reinforcement
applications. Known reinforcements are designed for high
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performance applications and they are too expensive for broad use
in cost sensitive applications like construction materials and
interior trim automotive parts. Another disadvantage of
reinforcing materials described in the previous art is difficulty
in handling of these materials due to their irritant nature (e. g.
fiberglass and carbon fibers).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to natural fiber based hybrid yarns,
fabrics made from such yarns and composite reinforcements which
include the yarns and/or fabrics made from such yarns and a method
for making such yarns. The yarns, fabrics and reinforcements of
the invention advantageously include oilseed flax straw plant
fibers bast which agri-by-products, straw that otherwise would be
burned on the field and contribute to the Green House Gases
emission. Indeed, each year about 1,000,000 tons of oil-seed flax
straw is burnt in North America only.
The hybrid yarns of the invention comprise flax bast fibers and
a second filament group which is selected from the group consisting
of synthetic fibers, natural plant fibers, other than oil seed flax
bast fibers, and mixtures thereof. In an important aspect, the
second filament group includes cellulose or modified cellulosic
fibers, acrylic fibers, polyester fibers, polyamide fibers, olefin
fibers, thermoplastic fibers and mixtures thereof. The first and
second filaments are in the hybrid yarn in an amount and twisted in
an amount which is effective for making the yarns having a tenacity
of at least about 0.8 grams/Denier and a Young's tensile modulus of
at least about 6 g/Denier. The present invention is particularly
advantageous because it can utilize North American oil seed flax
varieties including CDC Normandy, AC Watson, Somme, and Bethune.
As used herein, "bast fibers" are those fibers from the phloem
region of the flax plant and are not "shines" which form a part of
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the core tissue of the plant stock.
The hybrid yarns of the invention include at least the two
aforedescribed groups which are twisted together to form the yarn.
The first group includes oilseed flax plant bast fibers having a
tensile strength of at least about 1 GPa, a tenacity of at least
about 1.5 grams/Denier, a breaking elongation of from about 1 to
about 20~ and a crimp of from about 5 to about 80~. The oilseed
flax plant bast fibers have an average fiber length of from about
mm to about 75 mm and a Young's tensional modulus of at least
10 about 87 Gpa.
The second group comprises a second filament group, which is
selected from the group described above, has a fiber tenacity of
above about 1.5 gram/Denier and a breaking elongation of from about
5 to about 75~.
15 The oilseed flax plant bast fibers of the present invention are
blended with a hydrophobic lubricant and antistat. Preferably, this
blending is during the blending of the flax plant bast fibers with
the second filament group and prior carding of the blended fibers.
Flax plant bast fibers are treated with an amount of hydrophobic
lubricant and antistat that is effective for increasing the affinity
of the bast fibers to the surface of the second filament group and
permit the ring or open spinning thereof. The hybrid yarn will
include about 0.1$ to about 0.5°s of hydrophobic lubricant, based on
the dry weight of the fibers, and from about 0.1~ to about 1~ of
antistat, based on the dry weight of the fibers. Preferably, the
hybrid yarn will include about 0.2~ to about 0.3o hydrophobic
lubricant, based on the dry weight of the fibers, and a weight ratio
of hydrophobic lubricant to antistat of about 80 to 20. A hybrid
yarn of the invention having a moisture content of about 12~ will
have at least about 0.3~ by weight hydrophobic lubricant and at
least about 0.2~ by weight antistat.
The hydrophobic lubricant of the invention includes
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compositions that contain nonionic hydrocarbon surfactants and
lubricant bases that include alkyl phosphate esters, alkyl esters
of fatty acids, polyoxyethylene lauryl ether and polyoxyethylene
tridecyl ether blended in an inert carrier. Antistats of the
present invention include antistat compositions having at least one
neutralized C3-C12 alkyl or alkenyl phosphate alkali metal or alkali
earth metal and a solubilizer.
The surface characteristics of the oilseed flax bast fibers are
enhanced such that they are effective for spinning when treated as
described above with hydrophobic lubricant and antistat.
The yarn is processed by short staple ring or open spinning the
flax bast fibers and the and the second filament group. The hybrid
yarn is a mixture of at least about 30~ by weight of natural oil
seed flax bast fibers and not more than about 70o by weight of
synthetic and/or natural fibers other than the oil seed flax bast
fibers. In an important aspect, the hybrid yarn of the invention
is produced by ring spinning which provides a high degree of
twisting. As a part of the spun yarn, the first fiber group can
include an additional bast fibers which comes from a plant other
than an oilseed flax plant.
The yarn can be woven into a large variety of textile products,
including into open mat type products, and particularly into open
mat products with openings that have an area in a range of about .2
to about 100 mm2. The significant advantage of the oilseed flax
bast fiber based yarns over fiberglass, carbon and other stiff high
performance fibers is the ease of processing natural fiber based
yarns into a variety of textile products cost effectively on a very
large scale.
In a reinforcement aspect of the invention, the fabric of the
invention is an open thermoformable mat that is capable of being
used for manufacturing reinforced composite articles which are
produced by deforming the thermoformable textile sheet-like mats of
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the invention. The open thermoformable woven mat can be uni- or
multidirectionally placed to provide an article having an adjustable
high strength in two or more directions. The reinforced composites
of the invention include either the yarns or the woven open mats of
the invention.
In yet another reinforcement aspect of the invention, the yarn
is a thermoformable hybrid yarn which has at least two groups which
are twisted together to form the yarn. The first fiber group which
comprises oilseed flax plant bast fibers having have a length of
from about 15mm to about 75mm, a tenacity of at least about 1.5
grams/Denier, a breaking elongation of from about 1 to about 20~ and
a crimp of from about 5 to about 80~, the oilseed flax plant bast
fibers. The second filament group comprises at least one
thermoplastic filament having a melting point of at least about 10°C
and below the thermal decomposition point of the oilseed flax plant
bast fibers, wherein the first and second group are ring spun to a
yarn.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The hybrid yarns of the invention consists of two groups of
fibers or filaments. One group is oilseed flax plant bast fibers
having a tensile strength of at least about 1 GPa, a tenacity of at
least about 1.5 grams/Denier, preferably from about 2 to about 8
grams/Denier, and most preferably from about 2.5 to about 7
grams/Denier, a breaking elongation of from about 1 to about 200,
preferably from about 2 to about 10$ and most preferably about 2.5
to about 6~. These flax bast fibers have an average fiber length
of from about 15mm to about 75mm.
The second filament group is selected from the group consisting
of synthetic fibers, natural plant fibers, other than oil seed flax
bast fibers, and mixtures thereof. The second filament group has
a fiber tenacity of above about 1.5 gram/Denier, preferably from
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about 2 to about 20 grams/Denier, most preferably from about 5 to
about 10 grams/Denier, and a breaking elongation of from about 5 to
about 75~, preferably from about 9 to about 70~ and most preferably
from about 9.5 to about ?0~. The second filament group can include
cellulose or modified cellulosic fibers, acrylic fibers, polyester
fibers, polyamide fibers, olefin fibers, thermoplastic fibers and
mixtures thereof. As used herein, the term thermoplastic fibers
refers to fibers comprising resins including polypropylene (PP),
polyethylene (PE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), styrene resins,
acrylonitrile resins, acrylonitrile-styrene resin (ABS) and the
like, their compounded mixtures, their copolymers, their reactive
modified resins and the like.
It is important that the bast fibers used in the invention are
not weakened by virtue of their separation fram the plant and woody
portions of the plant. Many processes for isolating bast fibers
from the plant include chemical treatment and machines which use a
scutching, beating or failing action as a primary separation
mechanism. Many of these processes weaken the bast fibers. This
weakening ultimately causes breakage and shortening of the fibers.
This is especially a concern for flax straw grown in North America
which tends to have shorter bast fibers than for example European
flax straw. In view of this circumstance, flax bast fibers may be
recovered and separated from other plant materials such as shives
in the plant stock by the processes and equipment described in U.S.
Patent Numbers 5, 720, 083; 5, 906, 030; and 6, 079, 647 are ideal for
recovering bast fibers which may be used in the invention. North
American oil seed flax varieties that can be utilized in the present
invention include CDC Normandy, AC Watson, Somme, and Bethune.
In addition to having strong oilseed bast fibers having an
average length of from about 15 mm to about 75 mm, the surface
characteristics of the oilseed flax bast fibers after blending with
hydrophobic lubricant and antistat as described herein are enhanced
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such that the fibers are effective for use in open end and ring
spinning.
During blending of the bast fibers with the second filament
group and prior to carding, the bast fibers are blended with a
lubricant and antistat to provide a hybrid yarn having at least
about 0.1~ to about 0.5~ of hydrophobic lubricant, based on the dry
weight of the fibers, and from about 0.1~ to about 1$ of antistat,
based on the dry weight of the fibers. Preferably, the hybrid yarn
will include about 0.2~ to about 0.3~ hydrophobic lubricant, based
on the dry weight of the fibers, and a weight ratio of hydrophobic
lubricant to antistat of about 80 to 20.
Lubricants that may be blended with the bast fibers include
lubricants containing nonionic hydrocarbon surfactants such as
polyoxyethylene, polyethylene glycol 400 distearate, polyethylene
glycol 300 distearate, polyethylene glycol 200 distearate,
polyethylene 600 distearamide, and glycerol monosterate. Other
suitable lubricants include self-emulsifiable, textile-fiber,
lubricant bases and lubricant compositions. Effective lubricant
bases include from about 2~ to about 20~ sodium or potassium alkyl
phosphate ester, from about 15$ to about 50g alkyl ester of a fatty
acid, from about 25~ to about 45~ polyoxyethylene lauryl ether, and
from about 5~ to about 25~ polyoxyethylene tridecyl ether. The
lubricant bases are mixed with inert carrier liquids such as mineral
oil or aqueous solutions and then applied to the bast fibers. The
amount of lubricant blended with the bast fibers is effective for
providing a coefficient of friction of less than about 0.35.
Antistatic compositions that can be used in the present
invention includes antistats that include at least one neutralized
C3-C12 alkenyl phosphate alkali metal or alkali earth metal salt and
a solubilizer. Solubilizers include glycols, polyglycols,
diethylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, and potassium or sodium
oleyl (ethylene oxide) phosphate having an ethylene content range
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of from about 2 to about 9 moles. The amount of antistat blended
with the bast fibers is effective for limiting electrostatic charge
to less than about 4000 volts during processing, and in a preferred
aspect, to less than about 500 volts during processing.
Hydrophobic lubricant and antistat may be applied during a
fiber blending stage, for example, in a low speed blender, and
before carding. In this aspect of the invention, hydrophobic
emulsions of lubricant and antistat may be simultaneously sprayed
with jet sprayers onto the fibers.
An advantage of the reinforcing hybrid yarn of the invention
is that the yarn may be produced by ring spinning which provides a
high degree of twisting. The twisted yarns have a significant
advantage in terms of tensile properties over non-spun filament
bundles or other types of spinning that does not put a strong twist
on the yarn. Ring spinning enables relatively weak fibers to form
strong yarns. At the same time, any spun yarns have significant
advantage over yarns made from non-spun filaments (e. g. fiberglass
yarns), due to bundle coherency. The hybrid yarn is easier to
process into sheet materials on conventional machines, for example
weaving or knitting machines. This is very important for a
thermoformable composition where intimate mixing of the reinforcing
and matrix fibers results in very short flow paths for the molten
matrix material. This property provides superior and complete
embedding of the reinforcing fibers in the thermoplastic matrix;
e.g., when a sheet moulding material is shaped into fiber reinforced
thermoplastic composite article.
Hybrid yarn that is a combination of oilseed flax bast fibers
and polypropylene filaments which may be ring spun at a ratio of 75
flax to 25 polypropylene to have about 15.3 twist per inch. Hybrid
yarn having at ratio of 50 flax to 50 polypropylene may be ring spun
to have about 21.4 twist per inch. Hybrid yarn having at ratio of
60 flax to 40 polypropylene and open end spun had about 16.97 twists
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per inch.
In the aspect of the invention which includes thermoplastic
filaments for a reinforcing agent, the thermoplastic filaments have
a melting point which is at least 10°C., preferably 20° to
225°C.,
below the thermal decomposition point of the oilseed flax bast
fibers. These thermoplastic filaments have a crimp of 5~ to 80~,
preferably of 12 to 50~, in particular of 18 to 90o. In this
aspect, the hybrid yarn is easier to process into sheet materials
on conventional machines, for example weaving or knitting machines.
This is very important for a thermoformable composition where
intimate mixing of the reinforcing and matrix fibers results in very
short flow paths for the molten matrix material. This property
provides superior and complete embedding of the reinforcing fibers
in the thermoplastic matrix; e.g., when a sheet moulding material
is shaped into fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite article.
In this aspect, the present invention is effective for providing
permanently deformed composite material that includes a hybrid yarn
that is a combination of themaplastic filaments and oilseed flax
bast fibers. "Permanent deformation" or "permanently deformed"
refers to a property of the composite material where a composite
material that is formed under heat and pressure retains its shape
indefinitely or until the article is destroyed.
EXAMPLES
Raw Materials
1. 200 pounds of flax fibers having 2-inch staple length for
processing into yarn in blend with polyester fibers.
2. Polyester fibers with a 2-inch width and 3 denier.
At the blending stage, fibers are treated with:
1) Anionic antistatic agent Lurol PP-920 (Goulston Technologies) is
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applied at the fiber blending stage as a 10% water solution to
achieve a 0.2% concentration of active ingredients on a dry fiber
weight basis.
Chemical and Physical Properties:
Classification: Anionic
Appearance: Amber Liquid
Viscosity (cSt @ 25°C): Approximately 12.0
Activity 50%
Dilution Procedure:
Stable emulsions of Lurol pp-920 are prepared by adding Lurol
PP-920 to room temperature water slowly while mixing.
Finish Level Measurements:
The amount of Lurol pp-920 on fiber is measured by conventional
extraction methods using iso-propanol, methanol, or any polar based
solvent.
2) Lurol PP-6845 (Goulston Technologies, Inc.) hydrophobic lubricant
is applied at the fiber blending stage as a 5% water emulsion to
achieve a 0.3% concentration of the active ingredient on a dry fiber
weight basis.
Chemical and Physical Properties:
Appearance: milky emulsion
Viscosity (5°C): 7 cPs
Activity 40%
pH 6
Particle size 0.9 ~c
Surface tension, 20% 55 dyne/cm3
AAA~plication
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Lurol PP-6845 is used in conjunction with a suitable antistatic
agent. Lurol PP-6845 is applied at the fiber blending stage. Lurol
PP-6845 may be diluted to the desired concentration by stirring into
demineralized water at 22-30°C. The emulsion is stable for 48 hours
with agitation.
Finish level measurement:
The finish on yarn is measured by supercritical fluid
extraction or by solvent extraction using iso-propanol as solvent.
The following processes maybe used to convert the flax fibers
as supplied into yarn:
1. Cleaning and opening,
2. Carding,
3. Drawing single pass, and
4. Ring spinning.
Opening and Cleaning
The fibers are hand fed into a WRZ pre-cleaner (similar to an
axi-flow cleaner) having two rows in line with porcupine beaters and
then pneumatically transferred into a lint cleaner, which is similar
to a Saco-Lowell card. The lint cleaner's cylinder rpm is 500 and
222 pts./inch2, and the licker-in rpm is 1,100 having 96-
100th/inch2. About 30o waste is generated.
Carding, is carried out with Marzoli C300 card for both 75/25
and 50/50 flax/polypropylene blends.
Blending and Carding
Both the flax and polypropylene are hand blended after weighing
them into the right proportions. Small tufts of the blended fibers
are fed into Fiber Control's opening and blending line. A 310
vertical fine opener further opens and blends the tufts. The blend
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material is fed through the chute to the card. At blending, TS-1
oil and water are sprayed with a Gintex mister. The following
machine settings are used.
Chute Front - ~ closed
Beater Setting - 5.0
Fan Setting - 5.0
Licker-in, rpm - 512
Cylinder, rpm - 301
Doffer, rpm - 40
- 6 inches
Flat Speed - min-1
Licker-in Wire Density - 24 pts. inch-2
- 850 pts.
Cylinder Wire Density - inch-2
- 350 pts.
Doffer Wire Density - inch-2
- 280 pts.
Flat Wire Density - inch-2
Rear Fixed Flat Setting - 0.29 inch
Moving Flat Setting - 0.29 inch
Front Fixed Flat - 0.20 inch
Setting Silver Wt. gram - 72.5
Drawing
Card sliver is drawn single pa ss on a Rieter 851 draw frame
using the following specifications:
Total Draft - 5.05
Break Draft - 1.87
Front Zone Setting - 50 mm
Back Zone Setting - 53 mm
Number of Ends Up - 4
Delivery Tension to
Coiler - 0.99
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Speed, m/m - 400
Draw Sliver Size,
gram/yard - 58.6
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Ring Sninninct
Blended draw sliver are spun on a Marzoli NSF2 ring frame. The
following spinning parameters are used.
75/25 Flax/PP~ 50/50 Flax
PP 1
Twist, inch-1 15.3 21.4
Builder 12.0 6
Ring Diameter, mm 48 48
Middle Roll
Pressure No Clips No Clips
Back Roll Pressure Black Black
Rear Condenser 8 mm 8 mm
Front Condenser 6 mm 6 mm
Yarn Count 7/1 12/1
B. Open-end spinning
The open-end yarn is spun from 60/40 flax/polyester single-pass
draw sliver (53 grain/yard? . The blended
sliver is spun on a Rieter
R-20 rotor open-end spinning frame. An 8/1 single yarn is produced
using the following set up:
Feed, m/min 1.83
Draft 41
Comber roll type X 6014D
Face plate D40
Navel KS
Doffing tube Soft twist
Twist multiplier 6
Turns per inch 16.97
Delivery roll speed, m/min 75.1
Winding angle, deg. 33.6
Room condition 58$ RH and 83/F
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Fabric
The 8/2 flax/PET yarn is warped on a sample warper and then
woven without sizing on a rapier loom. The fabric construction is
13 ends/inch and 13 picks/inch in a plain weave design. No
difficulties in warping and weaving should be found. The 8/1 yarns
axe plied to produce 2/8 (45) as required by the fabric
specifications on a two-for-one twister.
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