US3129272A - Melt-spinning synthetic polymer filaments - Google Patents

Melt-spinning synthetic polymer filaments Download PDF

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Publication number
US3129272A
US3129272A US106340A US10634061A US3129272A US 3129272 A US3129272 A US 3129272A US 106340 A US106340 A US 106340A US 10634061 A US10634061 A US 10634061A US 3129272 A US3129272 A US 3129272A
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United States
Prior art keywords
spinneret
pack
plate
melt
spinning
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
US106340A
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English (en)
Inventor
Ferrier Duncan Cameron
Parr William Geoffrey
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
British Nylon Spinners Ltd
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British Nylon Spinners Ltd
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by British Nylon Spinners Ltd filed Critical British Nylon Spinners Ltd
Priority claimed from GB319763A external-priority patent/GB999072A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US3129272A publication Critical patent/US3129272A/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D01—NATURAL OR MAN-MADE THREADS OR FIBRES; SPINNING
    • D01D—MECHANICAL METHODS OR APPARATUS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FILAMENTS, THREADS, FIBRES, BRISTLES OR RIBBONS
    • D01D4/00—Spinnerette packs; Cleaning thereof
    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D01—NATURAL OR MAN-MADE THREADS OR FIBRES; SPINNING
    • D01D—MECHANICAL METHODS OR APPARATUS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FILAMENTS, THREADS, FIBRES, BRISTLES OR RIBBONS
    • D01D4/00—Spinnerette packs; Cleaning thereof
    • D01D4/02—Spinnerettes
    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D01—NATURAL OR MAN-MADE THREADS OR FIBRES; SPINNING
    • D01D—MECHANICAL METHODS OR APPARATUS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FILAMENTS, THREADS, FIBRES, BRISTLES OR RIBBONS
    • D01D5/00—Formation of filaments, threads, or the like
    • D01D5/08—Melt spinning methods
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10S425/00—Plastic article or earthenware shaping or treating: apparatus
    • Y10S425/815—Chemically inert or reactive atmosphere

Definitions

  • melt-spinning process which is the process used for the extrusion of filaments from such fibre-forming materials as the synthetic linear polyamides, polyesters, polyethylenes and polypropylenes
  • molten fibre-forming material is continuously supplied from a melter or a continuous polymerisation apparatus to a spinneret containing one or more small orifices, and the material is extruded through the orifice or orifices under the pressure exerted on it at the back of the spinneret, such pressure usually being brought about by the action of a rotary metering pump in the supply line of the molten material.
  • a fine grain filter between the metering pump and the spinneret in order that the material to be extruded shall be as free from air bubbles as possible and in order that any foreign bodies in the molten material may be prevented from reaching the spinneret.
  • a filter often comprises sand or other fine-grain, inert, particulate substance; and the filter and spinneret are often combined in apparatus known as a pack which can be handled as a unit for insertion in, or removal from, a port in the meltspinning unit itself.
  • the pack When inserted in a port of the melt-spinning unit, the pack, which in addition to the spinneret and the filter may also contain wire mesh or perforated plate screens above and below the filter, has to be screwed tightly home in order that there shall be a liquid-tight seal between the output pipe of the metering pump and the top of the pack itself.
  • the pack may, for instance, be carried in a holder which is capable of being screwed into the pack-receiving port of the melt-spinning unit; and subsequently the pack itself is forced upwardly, relative to its holder and against a gasket, by tightening-up a number of grub screws in the bottom lip of the holder which screws bear against a metal ring positioned between said lip and the bottom of the pack.
  • the pack is a relatively loose fit within the holder, although, of course, there is no actual looseness between them once the pack has been forced into position by the tightening of the grub screws.
  • Discontinuity in the melt-spinning operation may arise from several causes, of greater or lesser frequency.
  • the whole spinning unit itself will have to be removed for internal cleaning after some weeks of spinning; but, prior to that complete cessation, interruptions in normal spinning can, and often will, occur due to metering pump failures, pack leakage or blockage and spinneret defects.
  • the factors most likely to give rise to a propensity for dripping are the nature of the synthetic polymer itself, including the amount of delustrant which it contains, and the size and shape of the orifices, for instance whether they are circular or are tri-dentate, tri-lobal or other complex shapes, the latter being particularly prone to drips.
  • one line of approach which has previously been described is to blanket the face of the spinneret with an inert gas, such as nitrogen, so as substantially to exclude free oxygen from polyamine filaments as they emerge from the orifices 0f the spinneret. It is at the basis of such a line of approach that the dripping phenomenon is caused initially by oxidative degradation of some of the fibre-forming material as it emerges from an orifice, at the high temperatures involved, e.g., 280 C.
  • the manner of blanketing the spinneret face previously described was to inject the gas radially inwardly towards the centre of the spinneret face from a number of equi-spaced jets at the top of a cylindrical shield surrounding the said spinneret face.
  • the above-described method of blanketing the spinneret face has not been found to be successful.
  • Probably the main trouble is that the desired conditions of extrusion and cooling of the filaments are too greatly interfered with, either by reason of the provision of too stagnant and deep an atmosphere near to the spinneret or because the method of introducing the gas from a number of jets below the spinneret is not adequate to exclude free oxygen and is actually prejudicial to the proper flow of the filaments.
  • the invention therefore, comprises a process for meltspinning a synthetic linear polymer in which molten polymer is extruded through an orifice or orifices in a spin neret plate, and which is characterised by the continuous and uniform provision immediately below the spinneret plate of a substantially homogeneous and laterally unconfined shallow layer of an inert gas in contact with the entire surface area of said spinneret plate.
  • the layer of gas should only be at the most an inch or two in depth, in order that the ordinary effects of the ambient atmosphere on the filaments shall not be substantially excluded in the critical region around the point of extrusion. Also the gas must be introduced in a steady uniform manner such that the layer of gas immediately beneath the spinneret face is substantially complete and uniform, and not turbulent.
  • Super-heated steam is the preferred inert gas, owing to its low density compared with air which permits a shallow layer of the gas automatically to be maintained in close contact with the spinneret plate. This critical feature is not achieved without especial care with other, less buoyant, gases. Steam is also cheap and convenient owing to its availability at the melt-spinning machines.
  • the gas blanket will neither heat up, nor cool, the spinneret from the desired extrusion temperature of the synthetic polymer in question, nor will the gas, if cold, draw heat from the melt-spinning unit if its supply pipe is led therethrough.
  • the gas is introduced into the vicin ity of the spinneret plate via an uninterrupted annular slot, for instance one formed between the lip of the packholder and the spinneret.
  • superheated steam at a pressure of lbs. per square inch (gauge) and temperature of 280 C. is led through a pipe fitted in drillings within the metal block at the lower end-portion of the melt-spinning unit to a position above the pack and outside the top gasket between the pack and the output pipe of the metering pump.
  • the purging must be effected before the pack has been screwed completely home, so that the gas can enter the top of the pack itself, whence it is normally excluded by the tight fit of the pack, gasket and melt block. Gas can then, if desired, be drawn through the pack by applying suction to the spinneret face, although simply diffusing it through the pack from the top thereof will normally be sufficient.
  • FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of melt spinning apparatus for spinning molten filaments according to the embodiment and winding them;
  • FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic sectional view of the lower end-portion of the melt-spinning unit of FIG- URE l;
  • FIGURE 3 is a diagrammatic view looking up at the lower end-portion of the apparatus of FIGURE 2.
  • FIGURE 1 there is shown the lower end-portion of a melt-spinning unit comprising a metal block 1 in which is housed melter 2 in which fibreforrning material, such as polyhexamethylene adipamide, is melted and is then withdrawn from a pool of molten material by rotary metering pump 4 and fed via pipe 5 to filter pack 7.
  • the molten material is forced through the filtering medium of the pack (to be described in greater detail below) and emerges from holes in a spinneret plate in the form of continuous filaments 12.
  • a laterally unconfined atmosphere of super-heated steam 10 is maintained in the immediate vicinity of the spinneret plate, the steam having been brought to that region via super-heater 8 and thence through a pipe 29 in block 1 to the top of the pack 7.
  • the steam then ilows through the pack-securing parts, to emerge as a substantially uninterrupted circular stream just below, and di rected towards the mid-point of, the face of the spinneret plate.
  • Platen heater 35 surrounds the pack 7, serving to maintain the latter at the correct temperature for extrusion of the molten material.
  • Filaments 12 are cooled by a transverse air stream, solidify, and are brought together into a converged bundle to pass downwardly through stream conditioning tube 14. The converged bundle of filaments is drawn down by godets 16, and is then wound up on package 18 driven frictionally by drive roll 20.
  • the pack 7, fitted within port 3 comprises a casing 9 containing within it layers of sand or other inert particulate matter, of graduated grain-size, having the layer of coarsest grain size at the top.
  • the sand, or other particulate material is bounded at top and bottom by fine mesh metal screens; and the spinneret plate, with orifices 6, is located bcneath the lower screen at the bottom 11 of the pack.
  • a so-called metal bottle cap” 13 having a serrated top edge 15 surrounds the lower half of the pack to hold together the spinneret, lower screen and casing, and the serrations serve accurately to locate the pack centrally within its holder 17, which holder is screwed into the block 1 at the lower end of the port 3.
  • the final tightening of the pack against a gasket 19, surrounding the outlet of the pipe 5, is elt'ected by a plurality of grub screws, two of which, 21, are shown, in the lip 23 of the holder 17.
  • the grub screws are tightened against a metal bearing ring 25 fitted between the bottom 11 of the pack and the lip 23, so that the pack is forced hard upwardly against the gasket 19, thus forming a liquid-tight seal between the pipe 5, containing the molten polymer material, and the top of the pack, and creating a substantially continuous annular slot 27 between the ring 25 and the lip 23.
  • the superheated steam at 25 lbs. gauge pressure is supplied through pipe 29 at the top of the port 3.
  • a plug 31, having a small orifice 33 through the middle thereof, is screwed into the pipe 29 near to its emergence through the top wall of the port; and the size of the orifice determines the amount of steam allowed to escape into the empty spaces of the port, in unit time.
  • An orifice of a diameter between 0.025 inch and 0.035 inch may prove to be satisfactory, allowing for a steam supply of, say, 1 /2 pounds of steam per hour. Too great a supply of steam must be avoided, as it may create too deep a layer beneath the spinneret plate.
  • a steam diffusing ring 37 Surrounding the spinneret and the pack holder 17 is platen heater 35; and a steam diffusing ring 37, of wire mesh, is inserted inside the lip 23, having the effect of slightly impeding the steam flow and of thus removing any slight discontinuities, say, in the region of grub screws 21, which there may be in the annular supply of steam emerging from the gap 27, as explained hereafter.
  • this arrangement provides a relatively shallow homogeneous layer of steam in contact with the entire surface area of the face of the spinneret plate, the flow of which can be controlled so as to allow for at least substantially complete blanketing of the spinneret face without any adverse effect on the filament flow from the spinneret, and without having any material effect on the conditions, particularly of temperature, of extrusion and cooling of the filaments, owing to the practically normal impingement of the ambient atmosphere on the spinning unit.
  • Two filament bundles of 13 filaments each were spun from the 26 holes of each of the spinneret plates employed, the holes being of 0.013 inch diameter, such that the polymer throughput was 4 pounds weight per hour.
  • the bundles were wound up separately at a speed of 3930 feet per minute.
  • a melt-spinning process of the type in which molten synthetic linear polymer is delivered from a source thereof to and through a spinneret pack which includes a spinneret plate having extrusion orifices therein
  • the improvement which comprises: supplying an inert gas under pressure to the exterior of said spinneret pack at a location upstream of said spinneret plate; guiding and dispersing the inert gas along said pack to the vicinity of said plate and around the periphery of said plate to form a substantially unbroken stream for flowing across the face thereof; and flowing the unbroken stream across the face of said plate to form and maintain a homogeneous and laterally unconfined shallow layer of the inert gas in contact with the entire surface area of said plate.
  • a process as in claim 1 further comprising subsequently cooling the filaments issuing from the spinneret plate by directing against them a transverse stream of air.
  • a melt-spinning machine of the type which includes a spinneret pack fitted into a recess in the body of the machine, said pack having a spinneret plate for discharging extruded filaments from the machine
  • the improvement which comprises: supplying an inert gas under pressure to the recess upstream of said spinneret pack; guiding and dispersing the inert gas along said pack to the vicinity of said spinneret plate and around the periphery of said plate to form a substantially unbroken stream for flowing across the face thereof; and flowing the unbroken stream across the face of said plate to form and maintain a homogeneous and laterally unconfined shallow layer of the inert gas in Contact with the entire surface area of said plate.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Textile Engineering (AREA)
  • Spinning Methods And Devices For Manufacturing Artificial Fibers (AREA)
US106340A 1960-05-19 1961-04-28 Melt-spinning synthetic polymer filaments Expired - Lifetime US3129272A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB17640/60A GB901398A (en) 1960-05-19 1960-05-19 Improvements in or relating to melt-spinning synthetic polymer filaments
GB319763A GB999072A (en) 1963-01-25 1963-01-25 Improvements in or relating to melt-spinning synthetic polymer filaments

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3129272A true US3129272A (en) 1964-04-14

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US106340A Expired - Lifetime US3129272A (en) 1960-05-19 1961-04-28 Melt-spinning synthetic polymer filaments

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US (1) US3129272A (de)
CH (1) CH404073A (de)
GB (1) GB901398A (de)

Cited By (12)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3215760A (en) * 1962-11-27 1965-11-02 Du Pont Process of a voiding gel particles during extrusion by removal of air from the filter pack prior to spinning
US3242529A (en) * 1963-01-25 1966-03-29 British Nylon Spinners Ltd Melt-spinning apparatus with oppositely directed inert gas streams
US3320343A (en) * 1962-08-23 1967-05-16 Schwarza Chemiefaser Process for melt-spinning of synthetic linear high polymers
US3371263A (en) * 1961-09-21 1968-02-27 Messrs Frako Kondensatoren Und Stabilized mains rectifying circuit arrangement
US3514460A (en) * 1963-12-17 1970-05-26 British Nylon Spinners Ltd Process of drawing nub-free polyamide yarn
US3907957A (en) * 1973-06-18 1975-09-23 Du Pont Quenching process for melt extruded filaments
US4087504A (en) * 1975-02-28 1978-05-02 General Electric Company Thermoplastic cooling method
EP0121315A3 (en) * 1983-02-24 1985-05-29 Toa Nenryo Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha Method and apparatus for melt spinning
US4606872A (en) * 1983-03-09 1986-08-19 Kashima Oil Company Method for spinning carbon fibers
EP0496394A3 (en) * 1991-01-25 1993-09-01 Basf Corporation Spinnerette blanketer
US5433591A (en) * 1991-07-23 1995-07-18 Barmag Ag Apparatus for making a synthetic filament yarn
US6926508B2 (en) * 2000-06-23 2005-08-09 Invista North America Sarl Steam distribution ring for spinning machines

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
BE624409A (de) * 1961-11-30 1900-01-01
US3244786A (en) * 1963-06-24 1966-04-05 Ici Ltd Extrusion process and apparatus therefor
DE2630055B2 (de) * 1976-07-03 1978-04-27 Bayer Ag, 5090 Leverkusen Verfahren zum Begasen der Düsenöffnungen beim Extrudieren von Kunststoff

Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2252689A (en) * 1938-03-10 1941-08-19 Du Pont Production of filaments, ribbons, and the like
US2335922A (en) * 1940-04-17 1943-12-07 Celanese Corp Manufacture of artificial textile materials and the like
US2821744A (en) * 1956-02-13 1958-02-04 Firestone Tire & Rubber Co Prevention of die-facing of thermoplastic filaments
US2841821A (en) * 1952-02-19 1958-07-08 Ici Ltd Melt spinning apparatus with removable spinning assembly
US2918347A (en) * 1956-05-18 1959-12-22 Snia Viscosa Process for melt-spinning polyamides into low humidity atmosphere
US2957747A (en) * 1958-07-22 1960-10-25 Du Pont Process for producing crimpable polyamide filaments

Patent Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2252689A (en) * 1938-03-10 1941-08-19 Du Pont Production of filaments, ribbons, and the like
US2335922A (en) * 1940-04-17 1943-12-07 Celanese Corp Manufacture of artificial textile materials and the like
US2841821A (en) * 1952-02-19 1958-07-08 Ici Ltd Melt spinning apparatus with removable spinning assembly
US2821744A (en) * 1956-02-13 1958-02-04 Firestone Tire & Rubber Co Prevention of die-facing of thermoplastic filaments
US2918347A (en) * 1956-05-18 1959-12-22 Snia Viscosa Process for melt-spinning polyamides into low humidity atmosphere
US2957747A (en) * 1958-07-22 1960-10-25 Du Pont Process for producing crimpable polyamide filaments

Cited By (12)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3371263A (en) * 1961-09-21 1968-02-27 Messrs Frako Kondensatoren Und Stabilized mains rectifying circuit arrangement
US3320343A (en) * 1962-08-23 1967-05-16 Schwarza Chemiefaser Process for melt-spinning of synthetic linear high polymers
US3215760A (en) * 1962-11-27 1965-11-02 Du Pont Process of a voiding gel particles during extrusion by removal of air from the filter pack prior to spinning
US3242529A (en) * 1963-01-25 1966-03-29 British Nylon Spinners Ltd Melt-spinning apparatus with oppositely directed inert gas streams
US3514460A (en) * 1963-12-17 1970-05-26 British Nylon Spinners Ltd Process of drawing nub-free polyamide yarn
US3907957A (en) * 1973-06-18 1975-09-23 Du Pont Quenching process for melt extruded filaments
US4087504A (en) * 1975-02-28 1978-05-02 General Electric Company Thermoplastic cooling method
EP0121315A3 (en) * 1983-02-24 1985-05-29 Toa Nenryo Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha Method and apparatus for melt spinning
US4606872A (en) * 1983-03-09 1986-08-19 Kashima Oil Company Method for spinning carbon fibers
EP0496394A3 (en) * 1991-01-25 1993-09-01 Basf Corporation Spinnerette blanketer
US5433591A (en) * 1991-07-23 1995-07-18 Barmag Ag Apparatus for making a synthetic filament yarn
US6926508B2 (en) * 2000-06-23 2005-08-09 Invista North America Sarl Steam distribution ring for spinning machines

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB901398A (en) 1962-07-18
CH404073A (de) 1965-12-15

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