New water-dispersible synthetic fiber

Claim 2

Water-dispersible synthetic polymer fiber, characterized in that the fibers are of cruciform cross-section.

Claim 3

Fiber as claimed in Claim 1, of cut length from about 5 to about 90mm,and wherein the length/diameter ratio is from about 100:1 to about 2000:1.

Claim 4

Polymer filaments essentially as claimed in Claim 1, except that they are in the form of a continuous filamentary uncrimped tow.

Claim 5

Water-dispersible polyester fiber, characterized in that the fibers are of cruciform cross-section.

Claim 6

Water-dispersible polyester fiber, characterized in that the fibers are of cruciform cross-section.

Claim 7

Fiber as claimed in Claim 4, wherein the denier is from about 0.5 to about 20.

Claim 8

Fiber as claimed in Claim 4, of cut length from about 5 to about 90mm.

Claim 9

Fiber as claimed in Claim 6, wherein the length/diameter ratio is from about 100:1 to about 2000:1.

Claim 10

Water-dispersible fiber as claimed in Claim 7, in the form of a package of cut fiber.

Claim 11

Water-dispersible fiber as claimed in Claim 1, in the form of a package of cut fiber.

Claim 12

Polyester fiber according to Claim 4, consisting essentially of poly(ethylene terephthalate).

Claim 13

Water-dispersible poly(ethylene terephthalate) fiber as claimed in Claim 4, wherein the fiber is essentially uncrimped, of cut length about 5 to about 90mm, of length/diameter ratio about 100:1 to about 2000:1, and of denier about 0.5 to about 20, and an ethoxylated water-dispersible coating is present in amount about 0.04 to about 1.0% of the total weight of the fiber.

Claim 14

Water dispersible fiber as claimed in Claim 11, in the form of a package of cut fiber.

Claim 15

Polyester filaments essentially as claimed in Claim 11, except that they are in the form of a continuous filamentary uncrimped tow.

Claim 16

Polyester fiber according to Claim 4, coated with a water-dispersible coating consisting essentially of a segmented copolyester of poly(ethylene terephthalate) repeat units and poly(oxyalkylene) groups derived from a poly(oxyalkylene) glycol having an average molecular weight in the range of 300 to 6000.

Claim 17

Polyester filaments essentially as claimed in Claim 14, except that they are in the form of a continuous filamentary tow.

Claim 18

Water-dispersible fiber according to Claim 1, wherein the cruciform cross-section is of proportions essentially as shown in Figure 1.

Claim 19

A process for preparing waterdispersible polyester fiber, comprising the steps of melt-spinning the polyester into filaments of cruciform cross-section, forming a tow of such filaments, drawing the tow, coating the filaments in the tow with a segmented synthetic copolyester of poly(ethylene terephthalate) repeat units and poly(oxy- alkylene) groups derived from a poly(oxyalkylene) glycol having an average molecular weight in the range of 300 to 6,000, and converting the coated filaments to fiber of cut length from about 5 to about 90mm.

Claim 20

A process for preparing waterdispersible polyester fiber, comprising the steps of melt-spinning the polyester into filaments of cruciform cross-section, forming a tow of such filaments, drawing the tow, coating the filaments in the tow with a segmented synthetic copolyester of poly(ethylene terephthalate) repeat units and poly(oxy- alkylene) groups derived from a poly(oxyalkylene) glycol having an average molecular weight in the range of 300 to 6,000, and converting the coated filaments to fiber of cut length from about 5 to about 90mm.

Claim 21

A process as claimed in Claim 17, wherein the filaments are coated with the copolyester in amount about 0.04 to about 1.0% of their weight.

Claim 22

A process as claimed in Claim 17, wherein the coating is cured on the filaments by heating the coated filaments to a temperature of about 100°C to about 190°C.

Claim 23

A process as claimed in Claim 19, wherein the filaments are coated with the copolyester in amount about 0.04 to about 1.0% of their weight.