Process for producing artificial filaments

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF CRIMPED REGENERATED CELLULOSE-PROTEIN FILAMENTS AND FIBERS WHICH COMPRISES THE STEPS OF SPINNING FILAMENTS FROM A VISCOSE SOLUTION CONTAINING FROM 5% TO 100% PROTEIN, BASED ON THE WEIGHT OF THE CELLULOSE IN THE VISCOSE, INTO A COAGULATING AND REGENERATING BATH AND THEN, AFTER REGENERATION IS SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLETE, RELAXING THE SAME COMPLETELY FREE FROM ALL TENSION IN A LIQUID WHICH WILL SWELL THE SAME, SAID STEPS BEING CARRIED OUT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FOLLOWING RELATIONSHIP FACTORS: (1) THE VISCOSE-PROTEIN COMPOSITION HAS AN ALKALI CONTENT OF BETWEEN 2% AND 7%; (2) THE VISCOSE-PROTEIN COMPOSITION HAS A SALT INDEX OF BETWEEN 1.5 AND 6; (3) THE COAGULATING AND REGENERATING BATH HAS A SULFURIC ACID CONTENT BETWEEN ABOUT 5.35% AND 9.00% AND BETWEEN 60% AND 90% OF THE MINIMUM GEL SWELLING FACTOR ACIDITY; (4) THE COAGULATING AND REGENERATING BATH CONTAINS BETWEEN 15% AND 30% SODIUM SULFATE; (5) THE COAGULATING AND REGENERATING BATH CONTAINS BETWEEN 0.5% AND 3% ZINC SULFATE; (6) THE TEMPERATURE OF THE COAGULATING AND REGENERATING BATH IS BETWEEN 40*C. AND 75*C.; (7) THE TEMPERATURE OF THE RELAXING BATH IS SUFFICIENTLY HIGH TO INPART A SHRINKING ACTION TO THE FILAMENTS AT LEAST EQUAL TO THAT OF WATER AT 20*C.; (8) IMPOSING ON THE FILAMENTS DURING THE SPINNING THEREOF A TENSION OF AT LEAST 0.5 GRAM PER DENIER AND A STRETCH OF AT LEAST 40%; (9) THE FILAMENTS TRAVEL A TOTAL LENGTH OF AT LEAST 25 INCHES IN THE REGENERATING AND COAGULATING BATH.