Sept. 28, 1971 PJ SCHOOTS

Sept. 28, 1971 P. J. SCHOOTS 3,608,298 PEARLESCENT YARN Filed March 25, 1969 mmvPm INVENTOR PETER J. SCHOOTS BY M ATTORNEYS 3,608,298 United States Patent1ce Patented Sept. 28, 1971 1 2 3,608,298 factory in terms of luster since the crystalline structure PEARLESCENT YARN of the bismuth salts is not as adaptable for coatings and Peter J. Schoots, Nieuwendam, Netherlands, assignor to blending as are the lead salts. Even the lead salts do Lurex N.V., Amsterdam, Netherlands not give a high luster material when molded with plastics Filed Mar. 25, 1969, Ser. No. 810,173 or blended with adhesives by previously used techniques. Int. Cl. D02g 3/06 The noted disadvantage of prior pearlescent synthetic US. Cl. 57--140R 8 Claims materials, i.e., the fact that the pearlescent compositions are found to exhibit a dull rather than a bright luster, is generally due to the particle size which has been used ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE 10 and to the carriers which have been employed. Addi Colored pearlescent yarns are obtained by laminating tionally, the ability of the coating compositions to ad polyester ?lms using an adhesive containing a pearlescent here is substantially reduced since the two problems of material and a suitable coloring pigment. The resulting high luster and high adhesion have been somewhat in yarns provide non-toxic pearlescent materials which may compatible. High luster requires a low degree of inter be based on toxic lead salts and which materials have a 15 ference with the crystalline alignment, while adhesion high degree of luster. requires substantial interference in terms of interpersing resin particles among the crystals. Accordingly, the luster ‘ and adhesive capacity of previously used pearlescent coat DISCLOSURE ing compositions has presented substantial problems. 20 This particular laminated structure with the pearlescent This invention relates to pearlescent materials, more material included in the adhesive layer covered by the particularly to pearlescent materials, such as yarns highly polished re?ective ?lm layers surprisingly produces adapted for use in the textile industry. Even more par a soft, lustrous appearance with undertones of glitter and ticularly, this invention provides a pearlescent high luster sparkle never before achieved in coated pearlescent com yarn having maximum suppleness and improved color 25 positions. These structures are especially suited for yarns fastness which color and luster are resistant to light and wet processing. to be used in fabrics for high style and fashion. One area wherein the toxic nature of lead materials Pearlescent materials are those having a pearl-like and the low luster achieved with lead and bismuth ma‘ luster. The luster is achieved due to layers of crystals terials presents a signi?cant problem is in the textile in which re?ect part of an incident light beam and transmit 30 part of that beam to lower crystalline layers. The pearles dustry. The use of woven fabrics which are to be com cent materials can be natural, such as guanine crystals mercially attractive requires pearlescent materials adapted obtained from ?sh scales, particularly from European to produce muted colors which have a high luster. Addi minnow or herring, or the materials can be synthetic tionally, pearlescent textiles have generally been found such as those crystals based upon lead and bismuth salts. to lose their initial luster after processing such as dry The degree of luster is very important in pearlescent ma cleaning or laundering. In theory, this happens since the terials since it is that characteristic which makes the ma resin carrier or adhesive used and the pearlescent pig ments are generally susceptible to attack and removal terial pearl-like. The luster which should be provided is by dry cleaning solvents and alkali soaps and detergents. a high-luster material, but the color should be soft, i.e. Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present in relatively faint shades. Pearlescent materials have gen 40 erally been produced in the past by either coating a pearl vention to provide a pearlescent composition which is escent crystalline material onto a substrate or by incor adapted to form high luster, non-toxic textiles. porating the pearlescent material into a plastic composi Another object is to provide a pearlescent yarn which tion and grinding the composition to provide pearlescent is formed of clear ?lms secured by a pearlescent adhesive wherein the adhesive is highly resistant to wet processing. molding powders. Achieving high degree of luster has 45 been a source of difficulty with such materials. Luster is Another object of the invention is to provide a syn dependent upon the type of pigment or salt used, the thetic pearlescent material adapted for use in yarns where type of dispersant or carrier used, the refractive indices in the resulting textiles are non-toxic. of these materials, the crystal size, shape, thickness, and Another object is to provide a yarn of synthetic ma smoothness, as ‘Well as the orientation of the crystals 50 terials having muted colors but also having a high degree and the crystalline layers. When pearlescent materials of luster wherein the yarns have good tensile strength are used with adhesives or plastics, the crystal character and yield forces. ‘ istics are inevitably modi?ed producing more variables. Another object is to provide a pearlescent yarn which The use of natural materials such as the above-noted exhibits a glittering effect due to the re?ectivity of clear ?sh scales is generally considered unsatisfactory since it 55 plastic ?lms and a pearlescent effect due to a pearlescent is uneconomical to produce the material, and the product adhesive between plastic ?lms. is not always of a quality suitable for commercial use. Another object is to provide textiles such as knitted As noted above, the crystals must be fairly uniform in and woven fabrics, handknitted knitting yarns, and dec size, must be smooth, and must be easily aligned in the orative twist yarns which are the pearlescent character. coating operation. The natural products do not yield 60 These objects and others will become apparent by ref smooth crystals or regular crystals, and accordingly, their erence to the herein described ?gures and illustrative ex use is not satisfactory in terms of the degree of luster amples showing the structure, materials, and process which produced. form preferred embodiments of this invention, In the The best synthetic pearlescent compositions arre based ?gures, on lead salts such as lead carbonates which form hex 65 FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a process for producing agonal crystalline structures. These materials, however, the yarn of this invention; have limited use due to the toxic nature of the lead salts. FIG. 2 is a view of the yarn produced by the process Bismuth salts are not as satisfactory in terms of the luster of FIG. 1; and of the product; however, they have the advantage of FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the yarn of FIG. 2. being non-toxic. Accordingly, in pearlescent materials 70 Referring to FIG. 1, the process of the present inven likely to be used near the body, the bismuth materials tion is seen to comprise providing a ?rst web 2 of clear have generally been used. The results are often unsatis plastic, passing that web through coating rollers 8 adapt 3,608,298 4 ed to apply adhesive 4 thereto, passing the coated web a solvent carrier so it is necessary to remove the solvent. through a drying oven 12, and then through heated pres This is preferably conducted in an air-oven wherein hot sure rolls 14 wherein a second clear plastic layer 2 is air is applied to the surface of the coated ?lm. The pas laminated thereto, and passing the laminate through a ssage through the air oven is part of a continuous process, slitting device 18 to a wind-up roller 20. and the material resides in the oven on the order of 20 Referring to FIG. 2, the yarn is seen to comprise two seconds. This dwell time varies with the ?lm speed outer layers 2 and an inner coating 4 which corresponds through the process. A suitable rate of travel of ?lm to the pigmented adhesive material according to the pres during the processing steps shown in FIG. 1 is from 100 ent invention. The outer layers 2 are clear and have a to 175 feet per minute. refractive index adapted to render the pearlescent or pig 10 After initial drying, lamination can occur with rolls mented adhesive composition clearly visible. As seen in heated at about 160-180“ C., but the exact temperature FIG. 3, the coating 4 may be exposed over a small area depending on adhesive used, and maintained at about 0.1 of the ?ber surface. This exposure is at most on the order lb. pressure per inch of ?lm width. As shown in FIG. 1, of 0.2. mil where the total peripheral surface of the yarn a slitter is provided after the point of lamination. Any cross section may be from slightly over 14 mils to as much number of knives can be used on the slitter, but it is as 500 mils. The particular adhesive used herein resists preferred to cut the ?lm in widths of 70 mils to as much attack by solvents, so the exposure is not detrimental in as 1A". terms of the permanence of the ?ber. Also, the small The adhesive utilized in the present invention forms an area of exposure reduces the danger of toxicity of lead integral part of the inventive process and concept since salts to a minimal level. 20 the particular adhesive utilized enables one to compati In accordance with the present invention, a process has bly blend lead carbonate or other pearlescent salts while been developed for producing synthetic yarns by laminat producing a ?ber which is resistant to wet cleaning proc ing clear plastic ?lms using a laminating adhesive com esses.

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