Fiber treatment agent

Abstract

The present invention discloses a fiber treatment agent containing an ester compound represented by the formula (1): R 1 —O-((EO) 1 —(PO) m )-(EO) n —CO—R 2   (1) wherein, R 1 represents a hydrocarbon group containing 8 to 24 carbon atoms; R 2 represents an alkyl, alkenyl or cycloalkyl group having 7 to 23 carbon atoms; EO represents an ethyleneoxy group; PO represents a propyleneoxy group; 1 and n each represent an average reacted mole number of ethyleneoxy groups, 1 ranging from 0 to 15 and n ranging from 1 to 20; m represents an average reacted mole number of propyleneoxy groups, ranging from 0.5 to 20; and ((EO) 1 —(PO) m ) and (EO) n are arranged in block in this order, while (EO) 1 and (PO) m in ((EO) 1 —(PO) m ) may be arranged at random or in block.

1 .- 18 . (canceled) 
     
     
         19 . A method of treating fiber, comprising coating fiber with a composition comprising an ester compound represented by the formula (1):
   R 1 —O-(EO) 1 —(PO) m )-(EO) n —CO—R 2    (1)
   wherein, R 1  represents a hydrocarbon group comprising 8 to 24 carbon atoms; R 2  represents an alkyl group, an alkenyl group or a cycloalkyl group, having 7 to 23 carbon atoms; EO represents an ethyleneoxy group; PO represents a propyleneoxy group; 1 and n each represent an average reacted mole number of ethyleneoxy groups, 1 ranging from 0 to 15 and n ranging from 1 to 20; m represents an average reacted mole number of propyleneoxy groups, ranging from 0.5 to 20; and ((EO) 1 —(PO) m ) and (EO) n  are arranged in block in this order, while (EO) 1  and (PO) m  in ((EO) 1 —(PO) m ) may be arranged at random or in block.   
     
     
         20 . The method of treating fiber according to  claim 19 , wherein R 1  in the formula (1) represents a linear primary alkyl or alkenyl group having 8 to 24 carbon atoms. 
     
     
         21 . The method of treating fiber according to  claim 19 , wherein R 1  in the formula (1) represents a linear primary alkyl group having 12 to 18 carbon atoms. 
     
     
         22 . The method of treating fiber according to  claim 19 , wherein R 2  in the formula (1) represents a linear alkyl or alkenyl group having 7 to 23 carbon atoms. 
     
     
         23 . The method of treating fiber according to  claim 19 , wherein R 2  in the formula (1) represents a linear primary alkyl or alkenyl group having 11 to 17 carbon atoms. 
     
     
         24 . The method of treating fiber according to  claim 19 , wherein 1 in the formula (1) ranges from 0 to 3. 
     
     
         25 . The method of treating fiber according to  claim 19 , wherein m in the formula (1) ranges from 1 to 10. 
     
     
         26 . The method of treating fiber according to  claim 19 , wherein n in the formula (1) ranges from 3 to 12. 
     
     
         27 . The method of treating fiber according to  claim 19 , wherein the composition further comprises an emulsifying agent component. 
     
     
         28 . The method of treating fiber according to  claim 19 , wherein (EO) 1  and (PO) m  in ((EO) 1 —(PO) m ) in the formula (1) are arranged in block in this order. 
     
     
         29 . The method of treating fiber according to  claim 19 , wherein the content of the ester compound represented by the formula (1) is 3 to 70% by mass and the composition further contains water. 
     
     
         30 . The method of treating fiber according to  claim 19 , wherein the fiber is synthetic fibers. 
     
     
         31 . The method of treating fiber according to  claim 27 , wherein the content of the emulsifying agent component is 0.1 to 5% by mass of a fiber treatment agent. 
     
     
         32 . The method of treating fiber according to  claim 27 , wherein a ratio of the emulsifying agent component to the ester compound represented by the formula (1) in the fiber treatment agent is 0.4 to 10% by mass. 
     
     
         33 . The method of treating fiber according to  claim 19 , wherein the ester compound represented by the formula (1) is produced through steps (I) to (III);
 step (I): reacting an EO/PO mixture to one or two or more alcohols represented by the formula R 1 —OH (2) wherein, R 1  has the same meanings as  claim 19 ;   step (II): reacting EO to the resulting alkoxylate; and   step (III): esterifying the resulting alkoxylate.   
     
     
         34 . The method of treating fiber according to  claim 19 , wherein 1 in the formula (1) represents a number ranging from 0 to 3. 
     
     
         35 . The method of treating fiber according to  claim 19 , wherein m in the formula (1) represent a number ranging from 1.2 to 8. 
     
     
         36 . The method of treating fiber according to  claim 19 , wherein n in the formula (1) represent a number ranging from 4 to 10. 
     
     
         37 . The method of treating fiber according to  claim 19 , wherein R 1  in the formula (1) represents a residual group of an alcohol selected from the group consisting of lauryl alcohol, myristyl alcohol, cetyl alcohol and stearyl alcohol by removing a hydroxy group therefrom. 
     
     
         38 . The method of treating fiber according to  claim 19 , wherein R 2  in the formula (1) represents a residual group of a fatty acid selected from the group consisting of lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid and oleic acid by removing a carboxy group. 
     
     
         39 . The method of treating fiber according to  claim 19 , wherein the composition as a fiber treating agent is coated in an amount of 0.1 to 3 parts by mass of the ester compound represented by the formula (1) to 100 parts by mass of fiber and the fiber is then drawn and then rolled. 
     
     
         40 . The method for treating fibers according to  claim 39 , wherein the fiber is treated in a solution of the fiber treatment agent having a concentration of the ester compound represented by the formula (1) of 1 to 150 g/L.