Anti-Static Fleece, Brushed Fabric and Composite Yarn for Their Manufacture

Abstract

An anti-static fleece or brushed fabric consisting essentially of acrylic fiber, polyester fiber, cotton fiber, wool fiber, nylon fiber or combinations of 2 or more thereof, characterized in that the fleece or brushed fabric has a basis weight of from 65 gsm to 400 gsm, contains from 0.1 wt % to 2 wt % of bicomponent anti-static fiber and is further characterized in that the fleece or brushed fabric exhibits a static decay time of less than 4 seconds The woven or knit fleece or brushed fabric has permanent anti-static properties which do not wash out during laundering. A preferred yarn for making the fleece or brushed fabric is a composite anti-static filamentary yarn comprising anti-static bicomponent filament wrapped with non-conductive filament in a weight ratio of non-conductive filament:anti-static bicomponent filament of from 2:1 to 8:1.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An anti-static fleece or brushed fabric consisting essentially of acrylic fiber, polyester fiber, cotton fiber, wool fiber, nylon fiber or combinations of 2 or more thereof, characterized in that the fleece or brushed fabric has a basis weight of from 65 gsm to 400 gsm, contains from 0.1 wt % to 2 wt % of bicomponent anti-static fiber and is further characterized in that the fleece or brushed fabric exhibits a static decay time of less than 4 seconds. 
     
     
         2 . The anti-static fleece or brushed fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein the fleece or brushed fabric exhibits a static decay time of less than 1 second. 
     
     
         3 . The anti-static fleece or brushed fabric according to  claim 2 , wherein the fleece or brushed fabric exhibits a static decay time of less than 0.25 seconds. 
     
     
         4 . The anti-static fleece or brushed fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein the fleece or brushed fabric contains from 0.25 wt % to less than 1.5 wt % of bicomponent anti-static fiber. 
     
     
         5 . The anti-static fleece or brushed fabric according to  claim 4 , wherein the fleece or brushed fabric contains less than 1 wt % of bicomponent anti-static fiber. 
     
     
         6 . The anti-static fleece or brushed fabric according to  claim 1 , in the form of a fleece consisting essentially of acrylic fiber, cotton, polyester and mixtures thereof 
     
     
         7 . The anti-static fleece according to  claim 6 , wherein the fleece has a basis weight of from 75 gsm to 250 gsm. 
     
     
         8 . The anti-static fleece according to  claim 6 , wherein the fleece consists essentially of cotton, polyester or mixtures thereof 
     
     
         9 . The anti-static fleece or brushed fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein the acrylic fiber, polyester fiber, cotton fiber, wool fiber, or nylon fiber is staple fiber, incorporated into the anti-static fleece or brushed fabric as spun yarn. 
     
     
         10 . The anti-static fleece or brushed fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein the bicomponent anti-static fiber is incorporated into the anti-static fleece or brushed fabric in a composite anti-static filamentary yarn comprising anti-static bicomponent filament wrapped with non-conductive filament in a weight ratio of non-conductive filament:anti-static bicomponent filament of from 2:1 to 8:1. 
     
     
         11 . The anti-static fleece or brushed fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein the bicomponent anti-static fiber comprises an electrically conductive component and an electrically non-conductive fiber-forming component, wherein:
 (a) the electrically conductive component comprises a matrix polymer and carbon black; and   (b) the electrically non-conductive fiber-forming component comprises a fiber-forming polymer, said electrically non-conductive fiber-forming component defining an elongate fiber structure of the anti-static bicomponent fiber.   
     
     
         12 . The anti-static fleece or brushed fabric according to  claim 11 , wherein the matrix polymer of the electrically conductive component of the bicomponent anti-static fiber and the fiber-forming polymer of the electrically non-conductive fiber-forming component of the bicomponent anti-static fiber are polyamide polymers. 
     
     
         13 . The anti-static fleece or brushed fabric according to  claim 11 , wherein the electrically conductive component of the bicomponent anti-static fiber is present in an amount of from 2 wt % to 30 w % based on the weight of the bicomponent anti-static fiber and the non-conductive fiber-forming component is present in an amount of from 70 wt % to 98 wt % based on the weight of the bicomponent anti-static fiber. 
     
     
         14 . The anti-static fleece or brushed fabric according to  claim 13 , wherein the electrically conductive component of the bicomponent anti-static fiber is present in an amount of greater than 5 wt % based on the weight of the bicomponent anti-static fiber. 
     
     
         15 . The anti-static fleece or brushed fabric according to  claim 13 , wherein the anti-static bicomponent fiber exhibits an electrical resistance of from 5×10 6  ohms/cm to 5×10 9  ohms/cm as measured by Test Method A using a Keithly 6517 Electrometer. 
     
     
         16 . A composite anti-static filamentary yarn comprising anti-static bicomponent filament wrapped with non-conductive filament in a weight ratio of non-conductive filament:anti-static bicomponent filament of from 2:1 to 8:1. 
     
     
         17 . The composite anti-static filamentary yarn comprising anti-static bicomponent 
     
     
         16 . wrapped with non-conductive filament according to  claim 16 , wherein the anti-static bicomponent filament is wrapped with non-conductive filament in a weight ratio of non-conductive filament:anti-static bicomponent filament 3:1 to 6:1. 
     
     
         18 . The composite anti-static filamentary yarn comprising anti-static bicomponent filament wrapped with non-conductive filament according to  claim 16 , having a yarn denier of from 30 to 300. 
     
     
         19 . The composite anti-static filamentary yarn according to  claim 16 , wherein the bicomponent anti-static filament comprises an electrically conductive component and an electrically non-conductive fiber-forming component, wherein:
 (a) the electrically conductive component comprises a matrix polymer and carbon black; and   (b) the electrically non-conductive fiber-forming component comprises a fiber-forming polymer, said electrically non-conductive fiber-forming component defining an elongate filament structure of the anti-static bicomponent filament.   
     
     
         20 . The composite anti-static filamentary yarn according to  claim 19 , wherein the electrically conductive component the bicomponent anti-static filament is present in an amount of from 2 wt % to 30 w % based on the weight of the bicomponent anti-static filament and the non-conductive fiber-forming component is present in an amount of from 70 wt % to 98 wt % based on the weight of the bicomponent anti-static filament.