Fiber carding

Texturing. The final step in olefin fiber production is texturing the method depends primarily on the appHcation. For carpet and upholstery, the fiber is usually bulked, a procedure in which fiber is deformed by hot air or steam jet turbulence in a no22le and deposited on a moving screen to cool. The fiber takes on a three-dimensional crimp that aids in developing bulk and coverage in the final fabric. Stuffer box crimping, a process in which heated tow is overfed into a restricted oudet box, imparts a two-dimensional sawtooth crimp commonly found in olefin staple used in carded nonwovens and upholstery yams. 

Olefin fiber is an important material for nonwovens (77). The geotextile market is stiU small, despite expectations that polypropylene is to be the principal fiber in such appHcations. Disposable nonwoven appHcations include hygienic coverstock, sanitary wipes, and medical roU goods. The two competing processes for the coverstock market are thermal-bonded carded staple and spunbond, both of which have displaced latex-bonded polyester because of improved strength, softness, and inertness. 

Textile technology is used to mechanically or aerodynamicaHy arrange textile fibers into preferentially oriented webs. Fabrics produced by these systems are referred to as dry-laid nonwovens. Dry-laid nonwovens are manufactured with machinery associated with staple fiber processing, such as cards and gametts, which are designed to manipulate preformed fibers in the dry state. Also included in this category are nonwovens made from filaments in the form of tow, and fabrics composed of staple fibers and stitching filaments or yams, ie, stitchbonded nonwovens. 

Fig. 2. Compact card for processing worsted (W) and/or synthetic (S) fibers.

Nonwoven Cards. Modem, high speed cards designed to produce nonwoven webs show evidence of either a cotton or wool fiber-processing heritage and have processing rate capabiUties comparable to those of gametts. Contemporary nonwoven cards are available in widths up to 5 m and are configured with one or two main cylinders, roUer or stationary tops, one or two doffers, or various combinations of these principal components. 

RoUer-top cards have five to seven sets of workers and strippers to mix and card the fibers carried on the cylinder. The multiple transferring action and re-introduction of new groupings of fibers to the carding zones provides a doubling effect which enhances web uniformity. Stationary-top cards have strips of metallic clothing mounted on plates positioned concavely around the upper periphery of the cylinder. The additional carding surfaces thus estabhshed provide expanded fiber alignment with minimum fiber extraction. 

Saturation bonding is used in conjunction with processes that require rapid binder addition, such as card-bond systems, and for fabfic appHcations that require strength and maximum fiber encapsulation, such as carrier fabrics. Eiber encapsulation is achieved by totally immersing the web in a binder... 

Nonabsorbable Natural Sutures. Cotton and silk are the only nonabsorbable sutures made from natural fibers that are stiH available ia the United States. Cotton suture is made from fibers harvested from various species of plants belonging to the genus Gossipium. The fiber is composed principally of ceUulose. The seeds are separated from the cotton boUs, which are carded, combed, and spun iato yams that are then braided or twisted to form sutures ia a range of sizes (Table 4). The suture is bleached with hydrogen peroxide and subsequendy coated (finished or glaced) with starch and wax. The suture may be white or dyed blue with D C Blue No. 9. 

The efficiency of the vegetable matter (burr and seeds) removal mechanism depends on the carefiil maintenance of settings and speeds and the level of drying of the scouted wool (86). The butt wastes contain wool fiber. Butt, together with fiber which has dropped beneath the card, may be carbonized and used in the woolen system. 

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