Claims
- 1. A polypropylene monofilament fiber having a denier of at least 50, wherein said fiber comprises from 500 to 5,000 ppm of at least one nucleating agent and wherein said fiber exhibits a shrinkage rate of at most 5% when exposed to hot air at 150° C. for 5 minutes and a 3% secant modulus of at least 29 gf/denier.
- 2. The fiber of claim 1 wherein said at least one nucleating agent is a non-coloring nucleating agent.
- 3. The fiber of claim 2 wherein said non-coloring nucleating agent is selected from the group consisting of 1,3:2,4-bis(p-methylbenzylidene) sorbitol, 1,3:2,4-bis(3,4-dimethylbenzylidene) sorbitol, disodium [2.2.1]heptane bicyclodicarboxylate, sodium 2,2′-methylene-bis-(4,6-di-tert-butylphenyl)phosphate, and any mixtures or combinations thereof.
- 4. The fiber of claim 3 wherein said nucleating agent is selected from the group consisting of 1,3:2,4-bis(p-methylbenzylidene) sorbitol, 1,3:2,4-bis(3,4-dimethylbenzylidene) sorbitol, and any mixtures thereof.
- 5. A fabric article comprising at least one fiber as defined in claim 1.
- 6. A fabric article comprising at least one fiber as defined in claim 2.
- 7. A fabric article comprising at least one fiber as defined in claim 3.
- 8. A fabric article comprising at least one fiber as defined in claim 4.
- 9. A polypropylene monofilament fiber having a denier of at least 50, wherein said fiber comprises from 500 to 5,000 ppm of at least one nucleating agent, wherein said fiber exhibits a shrinkage rate of at most 5% when exposed to hot air at 150° C. for 5 minutes, a 3% secant modulus of at least 29 gf/denier, and a tenacity measurement of at least 2.75 gf/denier.
- 10. The fiber of claim 9 wherein said at least one nucleating agent is a non-coloring nucleating agent.
- 11. The fiber of claim 10 wherein said non-coloring nucleating agent is selected from the group consisting of 1,3:2,4-bis(p-methylbenzylidene) sorbitol, 1,3:2,4-bis(3,4-dimethylbenzylidene) sorbitol, disodium [2.2.1]heptane bicyclodicarboxylate, sodium 2,2′-methylene-bis-(4,6-di-tert-butylphenyl)phosphate, and any mixtures or combinations thereof.
- 12. The fiber of claim 11 wherein said nucleating agent is selected from the group consisting of 1,3:2,4-bis(p-methylbenzylidene) sorbitol, 1,3:2,4-bis(3,4-dimethylbenzylidene) sorbitol, and any mixtures thereof.
- 13. A fabric article comprising at least one fiber as defined in claim 9.
- 14. A fabric article comprising at least one fiber as defined in claim 10.
- 15. A fabric article comprising at least one fiber as defined in claim 11.
- 16. A fabric article comprising at least one fiber as defined in claim 12.
- 17. A method of producing a polypropylene monofilament fiber having a denier of at least 50, said method comprising the sequential steps of
a) extruding a heated formulation of thermoplastic resin comprising from 500 to 5,000 ppm of at least one nucleating agent into a fiber; b) immediately quenching the fiber of step “a” to a temperature which prevents orientation of thermoplastic crystals therein; and c) mechanically drawing said individual tape fibers at a draw ratio of at least 5:1 while exposing said fibers to a temperature of at between 260 and 450° F.
- 18. The method of claim 17 wherein said method includes a heatsetting step after step “c”.
- 19. The method of claim 17 wherein said at least one nucleating agent is a non-coloring nucleating agent.
- 20. The method of claim 19 wherein said non-coloring nucleating agent is selected from the group consisting of 1,3:2,4-bis(p-methylbenzylidene) sorbitol, 1,3:2,4-bis(3,4-dimethylbenzylidene) sorbitol, disodium [2.2.1]heptane bicyclodicarboxylate, sodium 2,2′-methylene-bis-(4,6-di-tert-butylphenyl)phosphate, and any mixtures or combinations thereof.
- 21. The method of claim 20 wherein said nucleating agent is selected from the group consisting of 1,3:2,4-bis(p-methylbenzylidene) sorbitol, 1,3:2,4-bis(3,4-dimethylbenzylidene) sorbitol, and any mixtures thereof.
- 22. The method of claim 18 wherein said at least one nucleating agent is a non-coloring nucleating agent.
- 23. The method of claim 22 wherein said non-coloring nucleating agent is selected from the group consisting of 1,3:2,4-bis(p-methylbenzylidene) sorbitol, 1,3:2,4-bis(3,4-dimethylbenzylidene) sorbitol, disodium [2.2.1]heptane bicyclodicarboxylate, sodium 2,2′-methylene-bis-(4,6-di-tert-butylphenyl)phosphate, and any mixtures or combinations thereof.
- 24. The method of claim 23 wherein said nucleating agent is selected from the group consisting of 1,3:2,4-bis(p-methylbenzylidene) sorbitol, 1,3:2,4-bis(3,4-dimethylbenzylidene) sorbitol, and any mixtures thereof.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of co-pending application Ser. No. 10/295,463, filed on Nov. 16, 2002.
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10295463 |
Nov 2002 |
US |
Child |
10449423 |
May 2003 |
US |