阅读说明：本技术 具有非水解性的纤维片材及其制造方法 (Non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet and method for producing same ) 是由 山田菊夫 于 2019-03-29 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明为具有非水解性的纤维片材及其制造方法。技术问题：提供一种关心环境并且兼具强度和柔软度的具有非水解性的纤维片材及其制造方法。技术方案：所述纤维片材含有天然来源的纤维原材料且具有非水解性,其具备：原纸片材,其通过气流成网制法形成；天然分解性的粘合剂,其浸含于所述原纸片材,用于粘结所述天然来源的纤维原材料；以及天然分解性的交联剂,其浸含于所述原纸片材,用于使所述粘合剂彼此交联,所述纤维片材至少在浸含有所述交联剂的状态下对所述原纸片材进行加热处理而形成。(The present invention relates to a non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet and a method for producing the same. The technical problem is as follows: provided are a fiber sheet having non-hydrolytic property, which is environmentally friendly and has both strength and softness, and a method for producing the same. The technical scheme is as follows: the fiber sheet contains a fiber raw material of natural origin and has non-hydrolyzability, and is provided with: a base paper sheet formed by an air-laid method; a naturally degradable binder impregnated into the base paper sheet for binding the naturally derived fiber raw material; and a naturally degradable crosslinking agent impregnated in the base paper sheet for crosslinking the binders to each other, wherein the fiber sheet is formed by heat-treating the base paper sheet in a state in which at least the crosslinking agent is impregnated.)

1. A non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet containing a fiber raw material of natural origin, the fiber sheet having:

a base paper sheet formed by an air-laid method;

a naturally degradable adhesive impregnated in the base paper sheet for bonding the raw material of natural origin; and

a naturally degradable crosslinking agent impregnated in the base paper sheet for crosslinking the binders to each other,

the fiber sheet is formed by heating the base paper sheet in a state that at least the cross-linking agent is impregnated.

2. A non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet characterized by using a raw material of natural origin, the fiber sheet having:

a base paper sheet formed by an air-laid method;

a naturally degradable adhesive impregnated in the base paper sheet for bonding the raw material of natural origin; and

a crosslinking agent impregnated in the base paper sheet for crosslinking the binders with each other,

the impregnation content of the crosslinking agent is less than or equal to that of the adhesive,

the fiber sheet is formed by heating the base paper sheet in a state that at least the cross-linking agent is impregnated.

3. The non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet according to claim 1 or 2,

the fiber sheet has a front surface portion, a back surface portion, and an intermediate portion formed between the front surface portion and the back surface portion,

the fiber sheet is formed such that the impregnation concentration of the binder and/or the crosslinking agent in the surface portion and the back surface portion is higher than the impregnation concentration of the binder in the intermediate portion.

4. The fiber sheet having non-hydrolyzing property according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

the fiber sheet is formed in a state where the binder and the crosslinking agent are added to the base paper sheet from a predetermined first direction and a second direction different from the first direction.

5. The fiber sheet having non-hydrolyzing property according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

the heat treatment is performed by aeration heating.

6. The fiber sheet having non-hydrolyzing property according to any one of claims 1 to 5,

the base paper sheet subjected to the heat treatment is impregnated with a softening agent.

7. The fiber sheet having non-hydrolyzing property according to any one of claims 1 to 5,

the base paper sheet subjected to the heat treatment is subjected to a cleaning treatment.

8. A method for producing a fiber sheet containing a fiber material derived from natural sources, the method comprising:

forming a base paper sheet by an air-laid method;

pressing the base paper sheet in the thickness direction;

adding a binder to the pressed base paper sheet;

adding a crosslinking agent to the base paper sheet to which the binder is added; and

and a step of heating and drying the base paper sheet to which the crosslinking agent is added.

9. The method for producing a fiber sheet according to claim 8,

and heating and compressing the base paper sheet after heating and drying.

10. The method for producing a fiber sheet according to claim 8 or 9,

the fiber sheet has a front surface portion, a back surface portion, and an intermediate portion formed between the front surface portion and the back surface portion,

the fiber sheet is formed such that the impregnation concentration of the binder and/or the crosslinking agent in the surface portion and the back surface portion is higher than the impregnation concentration of the binder in the intermediate portion.

11. The method for producing a fiber sheet according to any one of claims 8 to 10,

the adhesive and the crosslinking agent are added to the base paper sheet from a predetermined first direction and a second direction different from the first direction.

12. The method for producing a fiber sheet according to any one of claims 8 to 11,

the step of heating is performed by aeration heating.

13. The method for producing a fiber sheet according to any one of claims 8 to 12,

the heating step is followed by a step of adding a softening agent.

14. The method for producing a fiber sheet according to any one of claims 8 to 13,

the heated base paper sheet is further moistened.

15. The method for producing a fiber sheet according to claim 14,

further comprises: and a step of performing dehydration treatment for removing water contained in the wet base paper sheet.

16. The method for producing a fiber sheet according to claim 15,

the step of performing the dehydration treatment is performed by pressing the wet base paper sheet using a flat roll.

17. A non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet that uses a fiber material of natural origin, the fiber sheet comprising:

a base paper sheet formed by an air-laid method;

a naturally degradable binder impregnated into the base paper sheet for binding the naturally derived fiber raw material; and

a crosslinking agent impregnated in the base paper sheet for crosslinking the binder,

a wetting treatment is performed to wet the base paper sheet impregnated with the crosslinking agent with a liquid.

18. The non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet according to claim 17,

as for the fibers constituting the base paper sheet, gaps between fibers stacked by an air-laying method are locally compressed, and the binder is impregnated between the fibers where the gaps between the fibers are locally compressed.

19. The non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet according to claim 17 or 18,

the adhesive and/or the crosslinking agent are impregnated in the surface and the back of the base paper sheet.

20. The non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet according to any one of claims 17 to 19,

the fiber sheet has a front surface portion, a back surface portion, and an intermediate portion formed between the front surface portion and the back surface portion,

the fiber sheet is formed such that the impregnation concentration of the binder and/or the crosslinking agent in the surface portion and the back surface portion is higher than the impregnation concentration of the binder in the intermediate portion.

21. The fiber sheet having non-hydrolyzing property according to any one of claims 17 to 20,

the fiber sheet is formed in a state where the binder and the crosslinking agent are added to the base paper sheet from a predetermined first direction and a second direction different from the first direction.

22. The non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet according to any one of claims 17 to 21,

and heating the base paper sheet impregnated with the binder and/or the crosslinking agent.

23. The non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet according to claim 22,

the heat treatment is performed by aeration heating.

24. The non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet according to claim 22 or 23,

the base paper sheet subjected to the heat treatment is impregnated with a softening agent.

25. The non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet according to any one of claims 17 to 24,

the ratio of the impregnation amount of the crosslinking agent to the impregnation amount of the binder, i.e., the impregnation amount of the crosslinking agent/the impregnation amount of the binder, is in the range of 0.25 to 0.90.

26. The non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet according to any one of claims 17 to 25,

the impregnation thickness of the crosslinking agent in the base paper sheet is 0.01mm or more.

27. The non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet according to any one of claims 17 to 26,

a treatment for improving the fluidity of the adhesive is performed.

28. The non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet according to any one of claims 17 to 27,

the crosslinking agent is subjected to a treatment for preventing crystallization of the crosslinking agent.

29. The non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet according to any one of claims 17 to 28,

the wet treatment is a treatment of washing the base paper sheet and a treatment of dehydrating the base paper sheet in a state of being subjected to the washing treatment.

30. A method for producing a non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet containing a fiber material derived from natural sources, the method comprising:

forming a base paper sheet by an air-laid method;

pressing the base paper sheet in a thickness direction;

adding either a naturally degradable binder or a naturally degradable crosslinking agent to the front and back surfaces of the pressed base paper sheet;

a step of adding one of the naturally degradable binder and the naturally degradable crosslinking agent to the front surface and the back surface of the base paper sheet to which the other of the naturally degradable binder and the naturally degradable crosslinking agent is added; and

and a step of heating the base paper sheet to which at least either one of the binder and the crosslinking agent is added.

31. A method for producing a non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet containing a fiber material derived from natural sources, the method comprising:

forming a base paper sheet by an air-laid method;

pressing the base paper sheet in a thickness direction;

adding either a crosslinking agent or a naturally degradable binder to the front and back surfaces of the pressed base paper sheet;

a step of adding either one of the naturally degradable binder and the naturally degradable crosslinking agent to the front surface or the back surface of the base paper sheet to which either one of the crosslinking agent and the naturally degradable binder is added; and

a step of heating the base paper sheet to which at least either one of the binder and the crosslinking agent is added,

the impregnation content of the crosslinking agent with respect to the base paper sheet is not more than the impregnation content of the binder.

32. A method for producing a non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet containing a fiber material derived from natural sources, the method comprising:

forming a base paper sheet by an air-laid method;

pressing the base paper sheet in a thickness direction;

adding either a crosslinking agent or a naturally degradable binder to the front and back surfaces of the pressed base paper sheet;

a step of adding either one of the naturally degradable binder and the naturally degradable crosslinking agent to the front surface or the back surface of the base paper sheet to which either one of the crosslinking agent and the naturally degradable binder is added; and

and a step of wetting the base paper sheet to which the crosslinking agent is added with a liquid.

33. The method for producing a fiber sheet having non-hydrolyzing property according to any one of claims 30 to 32,

as for the fibers constituting the base paper sheet, gaps between fibers stacked by an air-laying method are locally compressed, and the binder is impregnated between the fibers where the gaps between the fibers are locally compressed.

34. The method for producing a fiber sheet having non-hydrolyzing property according to any one of claims 30 to 33,

the adhesive and/or the crosslinking agent are impregnated in the surface and the back of the base paper sheet.

35. The method for producing a fiber sheet having non-hydrolyzing property according to any one of claims 30 to 34,

the fiber sheet has a front surface portion, a back surface portion, and an intermediate portion formed between the front surface portion and the back surface portion,

the fiber sheet is formed such that the impregnation concentration of the binder and/or the crosslinking agent in the surface portion and the back surface portion is higher than the impregnation concentration of the binder in the intermediate portion.

36. The method for producing a fiber sheet having non-hydrolyzing property according to any one of claims 30 to 35,

the ratio of the impregnation amount of the crosslinking agent to the impregnation amount of the binder, i.e., the impregnation amount of the crosslinking agent/the impregnation amount of the binder, is in the range of 0.25 to 0.90.

37. The method for producing a fiber sheet having non-hydrolyzing property according to any one of claims 30 to 36,

the impregnation thickness of the crosslinking agent in the base paper sheet is 0.01mm or more.

38. The method for producing a fiber sheet having non-hydrolyzing property according to any one of claims 30 to 37,

a treatment for improving the fluidity of the adhesive is performed.

39. The method for producing a fiber sheet having non-hydrolyzing property according to any one of claims 30 to 38,

the crosslinking agent is subjected to a treatment for preventing crystallization of the crosslinking agent.

40. The method for producing a fiber sheet having non-hydrolyzing property according to any one of claims 30 to 39,

in the step of adding the binder, the binder heated from 35 ℃ to 70 ℃ is added to the base paper sheet.

41. The method for producing a fiber sheet having non-hydrolyzing property according to any of claims 30 to 40,

in the step of adding the crosslinking agent, the crosslinking agent heated from 35 ℃ to 70 ℃ is added to the base paper sheet.

42. The method for producing a fiber sheet having non-hydrolyzing property according to claim 30 or 31,

the step of heat treatment is performed by heating with ventilation.

43. The method for producing a fiber sheet having non-hydrolyzing property according to claim 30 or 31,

the base paper sheet subjected to the heat treatment is impregnated with a softening agent.

44. The method for producing a fiber sheet having non-hydrolyzing property according to claim 32,

the step of wetting the base paper sheet to which the crosslinking agent is added with a liquid is a dehydration treatment of wetting the base paper sheet and dehydrating the wet base paper sheet.

45. The method for producing a fiber sheet having non-hydrolyzing property according to claim 30 or 31,

the heated base paper sheet is further moistened.

46. The method for producing a fiber sheet having non-hydrolyzing property according to claim 44 or 45, wherein,

further comprising: and a step of performing dehydration treatment for removing water contained in the wet base paper sheet.

47. The method for producing a fiber sheet having non-hydrolyzing property according to any one of claims 44 to 46,

the step of performing the dehydration treatment is performed by pressing the wet base paper sheet using a flat roll.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet and a method for producing the same.

Background

Conventionally, a fiber sheet using biodegradable fibers has been proposed, and it has been proposed to combine hydrolyzability and hard-to-break property by adding a water-soluble inorganic salt to carboxylic acid-modified polyvinyl alcohol as a binder in the production of a sheet having hydrolyzability (patent document 1).

Drawings

Fig. 1 is an explanatory view schematically showing a plane and a cross section of a non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an explanatory view showing a process for producing a non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is an explanatory view showing a second production process of the non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is an external perspective view of the first pressing roller.

Fig. 5 is an external perspective view of the second pressing roller.

Detailed Description

An embodiment of the non-hydrolyzable fiber sheet of the present invention (hereinafter, simply referred to as "fiber sheet") will be described in detail. The non-hydrolyzable property means the property shown in JISP 4501. Further, in the present specification, "nature-degradable" means that the natural-degradable substance is decomposed by microorganisms, ultraviolet rays, climate change, and the like in the air, in the soil, or in the water, and thus the environmental load is reduced.

The fiber sheet of the present embodiment is a fiber sheet having non-hydrolyzability containing a fiber material of natural origin, and includes:

a base paper sheet formed by an air-laid method;

a naturally degradable adhesive impregnated in the base paper sheet for bonding a fiber raw material of natural origin; and

a naturally degradable crosslinking agent impregnated in the base paper sheet for crosslinking the adhesives with each other,

the fiber sheet is formed by heating a base paper sheet in a state of being impregnated with at least a crosslinking agent. The fibrous sheet may be produced by a dry process different from the air-laid process.

(base paper sheet)

The base paper sheet is a member to be a base fabric of a fiber sheet, and is formed by an air-laid method. The air-laid method is a method of producing a base paper sheet by subjecting a stacked body in which ground pulp or a large number of fibers mainly made of ground pulp are stacked along a downward flowing air stream to various processes such as embossing.

As a material for the base paper sheet, a fiber material of natural origin is preferable. Specifically, the base paper sheet is preferably made of pulp paper or a material mainly made of pulp, that is, a material containing a cellulose-based component. Further, the mixing of pulp is preferably 30% or more, and the mixing of pulp is more preferably 50% or more. Further, the blending of the pulp is more preferably 80% or more. By setting the blending of the pulp in this manner, the overall flexibility of the fiber sheet can be improved, or the manufacturing cost and the production efficiency can be further improved.

The pulverized pulp is pulp obtained by finely pulverizing raw material pulp, which is a raw material of paper materials and the like, into cotton by a pulverizer or the like. As a material for crushing pulp, various raw material pulps can be used. Here, the pulverized pulp refers to pulp obtained by pulverizing a pulp material into a cotton-like form. Thus, when cotton-like ground pulp is stacked in order, a space is easily formed between the fibers. Many such spaces are formed from fiber to fiber. By forming this space, the volume of the base paper sheet can be increased, and the permeability of the binder and the crosslinking agent, which will be described later, can be improved. Further, by forming the base paper sheet from cotton-like pulverized pulp by the air-laid method in this way, a space is formed between the stacked fibers, and the degree of freedom of movement of each fiber can be increased. This can improve the flexibility of the base paper sheet and also improve the production efficiency.

When pulp is used as a material for the base paper sheet, various raw material pulps can be used as the pulp used. Examples of the raw material pulp include: wood pulp, synthetic pulp, waste pulp, toilet paper material, and the like. Further, as the wood pulp, for example, pulp obtained by blending bleached kraft softwood pulp obtained from a conifer such as red pine, spruce, sakhalin fir, douglas fir, hemlock, and spruce with bleached kraft hardwood pulp obtained from a broadleaf tree such as beech, oaks, birch, eucalyptus, oak, and alder at a predetermined ratio can be used. Among them, from the viewpoint of production, it is preferable to use raw material pulp formed of bleached kraft softwood pulp. In addition, when natural fibers are used as a material for the base paper sheet, for example, kenaf, bamboo fiber, straw, cotton, cocoon fiber, sugar cane, and the like are preferably used. The above are examples, and the present invention is not limited to these examples. In the fiber sheet of the present embodiment, ground pulp or a material mainly composed of ground pulp is preferably used.

(Binder)

The binder is used to bind the raw fiber material of natural origin constituting the base paper sheet. The adhesive may be any adhesive that is naturally degradable, has a predetermined adhesive strength, and can bond the above materials with a predetermined strength. Examples of such binders include: polysaccharide derivatives, natural polysaccharides, synthetic polymers, etc., or proteins, alginic acid, chitosan, etc. Examples of polysaccharide derivatives include: carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), carboxyethyl cellulose, carboxymethylated starch or a salt thereof, starch, methyl cellulose, ethyl cellulose, and the like. Examples of the natural polysaccharides include: guar gum, tragacanth gum, xanthan gum, sodium alginate, carrageenan, gum arabic, gelatin, casein, and the like. Further, examples of the synthetic polymer include: polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer resin (EVA), polyvinyl alcohol derivatives, and polymers or copolymers of unsaturated carboxylic acids, salts thereof, and the like, and examples of the unsaturated carboxylic acids include: acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, maleic anhydride, maleic acid, fumaric acid, and the like. Among them, carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) are particularly preferable. These binders may be used alone, or two or more thereof may be mixed and used in combination. As the binder used for the fiber sheet of the present embodiment, preferred are: biodegradable resins such as polycaprolactone, polyhydroxyalkanoate, polyhydroxybutyrate, polylactic acid, and esterified starch, biodegradable resins such as cellulose acetate, polyethylene succinate, polyvinyl alcohol, polyglycolic acid, chitosan/cellulose/starch, poly (hydroxybutyrate/hydroxyhexanoate), poly (caprolactone/butylene succinate), polybutylene succinate, poly (butylene succinate/adipate), poly (butylene succinate/carbonate), poly (ethylene terephthalate/succinate), poly (butylene adipate/terephthalate), and poly (tetramethylene adipate/terephthalate), and biodegradable resin mixtures; a naturally degradable binder such as a biodegradable biomass resin.

The CMC may be an ammonium salt, a sodium salt, a potassium salt, or the like. Among these CMCs, CMC ammonium has a property of being heated, that is, crosslinked, so-called self-crosslinking. Thus, when CMC ammonium is used as the binder, the impregnation amount of the crosslinking agent can be reduced or the crosslinking agent is not impregnated as compared with the case where other kinds of CMC are used as the binder. Further, among the PVAs, there are a PVA that requires a crosslinking agent and a PVA that does not require a crosslinking agent, and therefore, when the PVA that does not require a crosslinking agent is used as a binder, the PVA may not be impregnated with the crosslinking agent.

(crosslinking agent)

The crosslinking agent is an agent that causes a crosslinking reaction with the binder to form a crosslinked structure in the binder. The crosslinking agent of the present embodiment is preferably a crosslinking agent having natural degradability. For example, when a binder having a carboxyl group such as carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is used, it is preferable to use a polyvalent metal ion having a valence of 2 or more. Examples of the polyvalent metal ion include: metal ions such as magnesium, calcium, titanium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, aluminum, silver, tin and the like. Further, as the compound for supplying the polyvalent metal ion, one kind of or any combination of two or more kinds of aluminum hydroxide, aluminum chloride, aluminum sulfate, dihydroxyaluminum aminoacetate, kaolin, aluminum stearate, aluminum magnesium hydroxide, aluminum potassium sulfate (also known as alum), aluminum magnesium metasilicate, aluminum glycinate, aluminum magnesium metasilicate, aluminum nitrate, aluminum sulfate, aluminum acetate, aluminum hydroxide ferrous sulfate, ferrous chloride, zinc sulfate, copper chloride, tin chloride, silver nitrate, and the like can be used alone. In the fiber sheet of the present embodiment, alum and copper sulfate are particularly preferably used. Examples of alum include sodium aluminum alum, potassium alum, ammonium alum, sodium chromium alum, potassium chromium alum, ammonium chromium alum, sodium iron alum, potassium iron alum, and ammonium iron alum. As alum in the present embodiment, colorless alum is preferable, and therefore, sodium alum, potassium alum, and ammonium alum are preferably used. For example, when ammonium alum is used as alum, the concentration of the ammonium alum solution is preferably about 1% to 20%, and the temperature of the ammonium alum solution is preferably maintained at 10 ℃ to 60 ℃ so as not to crystallize.

(concentration distribution of Binder and crosslinking agent in base paper sheet)

Next, the concentration distribution of the binder and the crosslinking agent in the base paper sheet will be described with reference to fig. 1. Fig. 1(a) is an explanatory view for explaining concentration distributions of the binder and the crosslinking agent in the base paper sheet when viewed in plan view. Fig. 1(b) is an explanatory view for explaining the concentration distribution of the binder and the crosslinking agent at the cross section of the section a-a in fig. 1 (a). In fig. 1(a), the front side of the base paper sheet is referred to as the front side, and the back side of the base paper sheet is referred to as the back side.

As shown in fig. 1(a), the base paper sheet 1 is a long body having a long direction x and a short direction y in a plan view. The binder and the crosslinking agent impregnated in the base paper sheet 1 of the present embodiment are added to the base paper sheet 1 by spraying the base paper sheet 1 with a jet sprayer, for example. In fig. 1(a), reference numeral 2 denotes the position of a nozzle for ejecting the adhesive and the crosslinking agent to the front surface of the base paper sheet 1, and reference numeral 3 denotes the position of a nozzle for ejecting the adhesive and the crosslinking agent to the back surface of the base paper sheet 1. The nozzles for ejecting the adhesive and the crosslinking agent are generally disposed independently of each other, but here, for convenience of explanation, the position of the nozzle for ejecting the adhesive and the position of the nozzle for ejecting the crosslinking agent are described as the same position.

As shown in fig. 1a, two rows of ejection nozzles are arranged in the longitudinal direction x on the front surface side (see reference numeral 2 in fig. 1 a) and two rows of ejection nozzles are arranged in the longitudinal direction x on the back surface side (see reference numeral 3 in fig. 1 a) of the base paper sheet 1. The positions of the two rows of the ejection nozzles are alternately arranged on the near side and the far side so as to be near side, far side, and near side with respect to the x direction as they move forward in the y direction. That is, the positions of the ejection nozzles are arranged in a staggered pattern. Thereby, the adhesive and the crosslinking agent ejected from the ejection nozzle have a uniform concentration with respect to the base paper sheet 1.

As shown in fig. 1(b), the concentration distributions of the binder and the crosslinking agent are different in the z direction of the base paper sheet 1. That is, when the front surface portion 5 positioned above the intermediate portion 4 in the z direction and the back surface portion 6 positioned below the intermediate portion 4 of the base paper sheet 1 are separated, the impregnation concentration of the binder and the crosslinking agent in the front surface portion 5 and the back surface portion 6 is higher than the impregnation concentration of the binder and the crosslinking agent in the intermediate portion 4. In the front surface portion 5 and the back surface portion 6, the above-mentioned impregnation concentration decreases in order from the end portion near the front surface or the back surface toward the end portion near the center portion 4. When the impregnation concentration of the binder and the impregnation concentration of the crosslinking agent are compared, the impregnation amount of the crosslinking agent is preferably equal to or less than the impregnation amount of the binder. In this way, the crosslinking agent which does not contribute to crosslinking due to excessive addition of the crosslinking agent can be reduced.

When the impregnation concentration of the binder and the impregnation concentration of the crosslinking agent are compared, the impregnation concentration of the crosslinking agent is preferably lower than the impregnation concentration of the binder.

As will be described later, the base paper sheet 1 thus formed is subjected to a heat treatment in a state of being impregnated with a binder and a crosslinking agent. By performing the heat treatment in this manner, the crosslinking reaction of the binder for bonding the raw materials constituting the base paper sheet and the crosslinking agent for crosslinking the binder with each other can be promoted, the bonding of the fibers with each other can be further increased, and the bonding strength can be greatly improved. The heating is preferably a ventilation heating in which hot air is circulated in a chamber having a predetermined size. Further, the base paper sheet 1 is preferably a base paper sheet in a state in which a softening agent is impregnated in a heat-treated state.

Further, the base paper sheet 1 is preferable in that softness can be further obtained by washing the base paper sheet in a heat-treated state or a state in which the base paper sheet is impregnated with a softening agent. When cleaning the base paper sheet 1, it is preferable to perform cleaning using a liquid such as water.

The fiber sheet of the present embodiment is impregnated with the crosslinking agent in a state of being impregnated with the binder, and is further subjected to a heat treatment, so that a fiber sheet having both softness and strength can be obtained.

Next, a modified example of the fiber sheet of the present embodiment will be described. In the fiber sheet of the present modification, the base paper sheet 1 in a heat-treated state is subjected to softening treatment. The softening treatment is performed by applying a softening agent. Examples of the softening agent used herein include: propylene glycol, butylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, liquid paraffin, and the like. By performing softening treatment using such a softening agent, the hardness of the fiber sheet 1 can be softened, and a fiber sheet having both strength and softness can be obtained.

(embodiment of the production Direction of the fiber sheet of the present invention)

Next, an embodiment of the method for producing a fiber sheet of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 2. In the present embodiment, the raw material (material), basis weight, applicable binder and crosslinking agent, drying method, and the like of the fiber sheet are not described.

Fig. 2 schematically shows a production line 100 for a fiber sheet 101 in the method for producing a fiber sheet according to the present embodiment. The manufacturing process of the manufacturing line 100 shown in fig. 2 is roughly divided into: a pulverization step, a stacking step, a pressing step, a binder application step, a crosslinking agent application step, and a drying step.

In the production line 100, the pulp raw material roll, which is a natural-origin fibrous material, is pulverized by the pulverizing device 106 in the pulverizing step. The crushing device 106 has a primary crushing unit and a secondary crushing unit, and crushes the pulp raw material roll 103 into a flake form by the primary crushing unit and crushes the pulp raw material roll 103 crushed into a flake form into a cotton form by the secondary crushing unit. In the crushing apparatus 106, the primary crushing unit and the secondary crushing unit may be housed together in a casing or the like in order to avoid scattering of the crushed pulp blank roll 103. In the present embodiment, the pulverizing device 106 is described using an example having a primary pulverizing unit and a secondary pulverizing unit, but the secondary pulverizing unit may be omitted as long as it can pulverize into a cotton shape by the primary pulverizing unit.

In the production line 100, the pulp fibers in a string form are stacked in a stacking step by the stacking device 107 in the crushing step. The pulp material (hereinafter referred to as "pulverized pulp") pulverized in the pulverizing step is accumulated in the three stacking devices 107 by passing high-pressure air through pipes. In the stacking step, a scattering prevention cover may be provided to prevent scattering (diffusion) of the raw material fibers. This reduces the likelihood of the operator of the production line 100 sucking in the shredded pulp.

The pulverized pulp accumulated in the stacking device 107 is stacked on the conveying net 109 and formed into a sheet shape (hereinafter, the pulverized pulp stacked to form a sheet shape is referred to as a stacked sheet), the conveying net 109 has a mesh shape, the conveying net 109 is formed using a polymer compound, and for example, a synthetic resin (thermoplastic resin) such as polytetrafluoroethylene, a synthetic fiber such as nylon, PET, or the like can be used, and as the conveying net 109, a 30-mesh to 50-mesh net having 30 to 50 meshes in a square of 1 inch × 1 inch can be used, and in the present embodiment, a 40-mesh (for example, 0.5mm × 0.5.5 mm) net is used, but not limited thereto, and the weight per unit area of the stacked sheet formed in the stacking device 107 is preferably 40g/m²To 80g/m²More preferably 50g/m²To 70g/m²。

The conveying net 109 conveys the base paper sheet in a conveying direction (a direction a in fig. 2) by a driving force transmitted from a driving source (not shown). A vacuum device 111 is disposed below the conveying net 109. The vacuum device is used for sucking the linear pulverized pulp through the mesh-shaped conveying net 109. The vacuum apparatus used in the present embodiment may be any vacuum apparatus as long as it can adsorb the linear pulverized pulp, and any vacuum apparatus known in the art may be used.

Next, in the production line 100, the stacked sheets are pressed by a plurality of pressing devices in a pressing process following the stacking process. In the present embodiment, the pressing step is performed using a pair of flat rollers, not shown, and the bulk of the stacked sheet is adjusted by pressing the stacked sheet. In the pressing step, since the conveying net 109 is pressed together with the stacked sheet, the mesh pattern of the conveying net 109 is printed on the surface of the stacked sheet in contact with the conveying net 109 during pressing.

In the adhesive coating step following the pressing step, an adhesive is added to the stacked sheets. In the present embodiment, the adhesive coating step includes a first adhesive coating step and a second adhesive coating step, and a first drying step described later is interposed between the first adhesive coating step and the second adhesive coating step. Here, first, the first adhesive application step will be described.

In the first adhesive agent application step, a first application device 121 for spraying an adhesive agent onto the upper surface (surface) of the stacked sheet is disposed above the stacked sheet. The first coating device 121 has a plurality of nozzles. The nozzles of the first coating device 121 are arranged in two rows with respect to the conveyance direction (direction a in fig. 2), and the nozzles located on the upstream side in the conveyance direction and the nozzles located on the downstream side in the conveyance direction are arranged so as not to interfere with each other in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction.

The first coating device 121 preferably heats the adhesive in the range of 30 to 70 c, more preferably 45 to 55 c. In particular, when the viscosity of the adhesive is high, the fluidity can be improved by increasing the temperature of the adhesive, and the adhesive can be easily ejected from the nozzle. In addition, since the fluidity is increased by heating the adhesive, the adhesive added to the stacked sheet can easily penetrate into the stacked sheet. The strength of the stacked sheets can be increased. Note that the coating amount of each side of the adhesive is preferably in the range of 3 to 15 mass% with respect to the amount of the stacked sheets (base fabric).

In the production line 100, a first drying step, which is one of the drying steps, is performed next to the first adhesive coating step. In the first drying step, hot air drying using hot air is performed in the first drying device 124. In the first drying device 124, hot air is blown to the stacked sheet from the upper surface (surface) side of the stacked sheet, i.e., above the stacked sheet, and the hot air is blown to the surface of the stacked sheet to dry the stacked sheet. In the first drying step, the hot air supplied from the first drying device is dried by hot air at a temperature in the range of 100 ℃ to 180 ℃, more preferably 120 ℃ to 170 ℃. Note that, as the first drying device 124 of the present embodiment, an example of a device that employs a drying method by hot air drying is shown, but the drying method is not limited to hot air drying. For example, infrared drying or electromagnetic drying may be used, or other methods may be used. In addition, both the first drying step and the second drying step described later are non-contact drying without directly contacting the stacked sheet.

In the production line 100, a second adhesive coating step is performed following the first drying step. In the second adhesive agent application step, a second application device 130 for spraying an adhesive agent onto the lower surface (back surface) of the stacked sheet is disposed below the stacked sheet. The second coating device 130 has a plurality of nozzles. The nozzles of the second coating device 130 are arranged in two rows with respect to the conveyance direction (direction a in fig. 2), and the nozzles located on the upstream side in the conveyance direction and the nozzles located on the downstream side in the conveyance direction are arranged so as not to interfere with each other in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction.

The second coating device 130 preferably heats the adhesive in the range of 30 ℃ to 70 ℃, more preferably 45 ℃ to 55 ℃. In particular, when the viscosity of the adhesive is high, the fluidity can be improved by increasing the temperature of the adhesive, and the adhesive can be easily ejected from the nozzle. Further, since the fluidity is increased by heating the adhesive, the adhesive added to the stacked sheet can easily penetrate into the stacked sheet, and the strength of the stacked sheet can be increased. The amount and temperature of the adhesive applied by the second application device 130 may be the same as or different from those of the adhesive applied by the first application device 121. The type of the adhesive may be the same as or different from that applied by the first application device 121 and that applied by the second application device 130.

As described above, in the method for producing a fiber sheet according to the present embodiment, since the first adhesive agent application step and the second adhesive agent application step are provided, the adhesive agent can be applied to the upper surface and the lower surface of the stacked sheet without turning the stacked sheet upside down. This makes it possible to speed up the conveyance of the stacked sheets without complicating the production line 100.

In the first adhesive agent application step and the second adhesive agent application step, when the diffusion preventing cover for the adhesive agent is attached to form the closed space, and the adhesive agent not applied to the stacked sheet is recovered by a pump or the like and supplied again to the first application device 121 and the second application device 130, the amount of the adhesive agent used can be reduced, and the manufacturing cost of the stacked sheet can be reduced.

In the production line 100, a second drying step, which is one of the drying steps, is performed next to the second adhesive application step. In the second drying step, hot air drying using hot air is performed in the second drying device 133. In the second drying device 133, hot air is blown to the stacked sheet from the lower surface (back surface) side of the stacked sheet, i.e., below the stacked sheet, and the hot air is blown to the back surface of the stacked sheet to dry the stacked sheet. In the second drying step, the hot air is dried by the hot air supplied from the second drying device so that the temperature of the hot air is in the range of 50 ℃ to 200 ℃. The second drying device 133 of the present embodiment is an example of a device that employs a drying method by hot air drying, but the drying method is not limited to hot air drying. For example, infrared drying or electromagnetic drying may be used, or other methods may be used. In addition, as described above, the second drying step is non-contact drying in which the stacked sheet is not in direct contact.

In the production line 100, a crosslinking agent coating step is performed following the second drying step. In the crosslinking agent application step, the crosslinking agent application devices 140 for spraying alum as a crosslinking agent onto both the upper surface (front surface) and the lower surface (back surface) of the stacked sheet are disposed above and below the stacked sheet. The cross-linking agent application device 140 has a plurality of nozzles. The nozzles of the crosslinking agent application device 140 may be arranged in one row with respect to the conveyance direction (direction a in fig. 2), or may be arranged in two or more rows.

The crosslinking agent coating device 140 preferably heats the crosslinking agent to a predetermined temperature, and more preferably, to a temperature range (e.g., room temperature) lower than the heating temperature of the adhesive agent. This is because, when the viscosity of the adhesive is compared with that of the crosslinking agent, the viscosity of the crosslinking agent is lower than that of the adhesive. In particular, by raising the temperature of the crosslinking agent to a predetermined temperature, the fluidity of the crosslinking agent can be increased and the crosslinking agent can be easily ejected from the nozzle, and therefore, the crosslinking reaction with the adhesive added to the stacked sheet can be more easily caused.

In the production line 100, a third drying step, which is one of the drying steps, is performed following the crosslinking agent application step. In the third drying step, hot air drying using hot air is performed in the third drying device 150. In the third drying device 150, hot air may be blown to the stacked sheet from the upper surface (front surface) side thereof, i.e., from above the stacked sheet, and may also be blown to the stacked sheet from the lower surface (back surface) side thereof, i.e., from below the stacked sheet. The hot air may be blown in one direction in sequence, or the direction of the hot air may be changed every predetermined time. In the third drying step, the temperature of the hot air supplied from the third drying device is in the range of 50 ℃ to 200 ℃. Note that, as the third drying device 150 of the present embodiment, an example of a device using a drying method by hot air drying is shown, but the drying method is not limited to hot air drying. For example, infrared drying or electromagnetic drying may be used, or other methods may be used. In addition, the third drying step is also non-contact drying without directly contacting the stacked sheet.

By producing a fiber sheet by such a production method, the fiber sheet of the present embodiment can be efficiently produced.

Next, a modified example of the method for producing a fiber sheet according to the present embodiment will be described. In this modification, a softening step may be added in addition to the steps of the method for producing a fiber sheet of the above embodiment. In the softening step, for example, a softener (e.g., glycerin) may be applied by a sprayer, or the softener may be added to the stacked sheet by printing or the like. Further, the dried stacked sheet may be rewetted with water or the like, the water may be dehydrated (removed), and further, the sheet may be reheated while being pressed with a heated flat roll or the like. Alternatively, the crosslinking agent may be applied after the adhesive is applied, and then dried.

As described above, the fiber sheet 101 of the present embodiment does not contain petroleum-derived materials, and therefore, an environmentally friendly fiber sheet 101 can be realized. The fiber sheet 101 can be used as a sanitary material, a cleaning material, a filter, or a packaging material, and can be used in both a dry state and a wet state. Further, it may be used in combination with other materials. The fiber sheet 101 using alum as a crosslinking agent is preferable because it has antibacterial, deodorant, antiseptic, antifungal effects, is astringent to the skin, and has weak acidity.

Next, a production line 200 according to a second embodiment of the method for producing a fiber sheet of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 3. In the present embodiment, the description of the raw material (material), basis weight, applicable binder and crosslinking agent, drying method, and the like of the fiber sheet is omitted, and the same reference numerals are used.

The manufacturing line 200 shown in fig. 3 includes a pulverizing step, a stacking step, a pressing step, an adhesive coating step, a crosslinking agent coating step, and a drying step in the same manner as the manufacturing line 100, and is different from the manufacturing line 100 in that it further includes a wetting step and a softening step by an emboss roller after the drying step. Similarly to the production line 100, the crushed pulp obtained by crushing the pulp blank roll 103 by the three crushing apparatuses 106 is stacked on the conveying wire 109 from the stacking apparatus 107 to form a stacked sheet 110. Each of the crushing apparatuses in the production line 200 in the present embodiment may crush the raw material roll pulp 103 into fibers having different fiber lengths as in the case of the production line 100, or each of the crushing apparatuses may crush long fibers, short fibers, and fibers having different fiber lengths from the long fibers, and the crushed pulp of the long fibers may be stacked on the conveying wire 109, followed by stacking the crushed pulp of the short fibers, and then stacking the crushed pulp of the long fibers to form the stacked sheet 110. In addition, when the ground pulp is stacked, in addition to natural fibers, artificial fibers such as rayon and synthetic fibers may be mixed in the ground pulp, but natural fibers and artificial fibers are preferable as other fibers to be mixed in the ground pulp. The fiber sheet 101 is formed by supplying the binder to the front and back surfaces of the stacked sheet 110 from the coating devices 121 and 130, drying the sheet by the first and second drying devices 124 and 133, supplying the crosslinking agent to the front and back surfaces of the sheet, and further passing the sheet through the third drying device 150, to which the binder for pulp pulverization and the crosslinking agent are adhered. The temperature of the adhesive supplied from the adhesive application devices 121 and 130 is preferably 30 to 70 ℃, and more preferably 45 to 55 ℃ as in the case of the production line 100. In addition, the temperature of the crosslinking agent supplied from the crosslinking agent coating apparatus 140 is preferably 30 ℃ to 70 ℃, more preferably 45 ℃ to 55 ℃ in both the case of the production line 200 and the case of the production line 100. In the production line 200 and the production line 100, the supply of the adhesive and the crosslinking agent to the back surface side of the stacked sheet 110 is configured to: the adhesive and the crosslinking agent are supplied from a coating device provided on the lower side of the sheet, but may be: after the adhesive and the crosslinking agent are supplied to the front surface side of the stacked sheet 110, the sheet is turned upside down and the adhesive and the crosslinking agent are supplied to the back surface side of the sheet from above the sheet.

In the present embodiment, in the pressing step, the emboss roller 115 is used instead of the pair of flat rollers in the production line 100, and the stacked sheet 110 formed through the crushing step and the stacking step is pressed. The emboss roller 115 is preferably an emboss roller having fine asperities with a shallow depth, and for example, an emboss roller having fine asperities of the same degree as that of the transport web 109 may be used, or the transport web 109 may be used as the emboss roller 115. Before the application of the adhesive, the stacked sheet 110 is pressed by the emboss roller 115 to partially compress the fiber gaps formed by stacking, and after fine irregularities are formed on the surface of the stacked sheet 110, the adhesive is supplied to the stacked sheet 110, whereby the flexibility and strength, particularly the wet strength, of the fiber sheet can be further improved. The amount of the binder to be supplied is about 6 to 45 mass% based on the weight of the stacked fiber components, but is preferably 10 to 45 mass%, more preferably 20 to 45 mass%.

In the present embodiment, the third drying step by the third drying device 150 may be performed by a method of drying in contact with a heat roll, instead of hot air drying, or may be performed by the same method as that in the production line 100 described as the first embodiment. In the production line 100 shown as the first embodiment, the third drying step may be performed by a method of drying in contact with a heat roll, similar to the production line 200. The drying step after the supply of the binder is more preferable to the hot-roll drying because the binder having high viscosity such as CMC is prevented from adhering to the hot roll, but the drying time and the distance of the drying step can be shortened by the hot-roll drying instead of the hot-roll drying because the binder does not adhere to the roll after the supply of the crosslinking agent. Further, by pressing the sheet supplied with the crosslinking agent with a hot roll, the penetration of the crosslinking agent into the adhesive layer can be improved.

In the production line 100 and the production line 200 of the present embodiment, the drying process is performed in three steps of drying by the first drying device 124, drying by the second drying device 133, and drying by the third drying device 150, but the drying process is not limited to the case of performing three drying devices, and may be increased or decreased depending on the number of steps of applying the binder or the crosslinking agent. Further, although the adhesive and the crosslinking agent are supplied once on the front and back sides, respectively, the adhesive and the crosslinking agent may be supplied once on one side, or may be supplied twice or more on one side or both sides. When the binder and the crosslinking agent are supplied in a plurality of times, the same binder and the same crosslinking agent may be used for the binder and the crosslinking agent, or different binders and different crosslinking agents may be used. The drying step after the supply of the crosslinking agent may or may not be performed, and the pressing may be performed only by an unheated roller after the supply of the crosslinking agent, or the pressing by a roller may be omitted.

Further, as a method of supplying the binder and the crosslinking agent, there can be mentioned: spraying with a sprayer, coating with a roll coater or brush, or dipping in a binder or a crosslinking agent. As the sprayer, there are a one-fluid sprayer and a two-fluid sprayer, and the one-fluid sprayer and the two-fluid sprayer can be used for spraying the crosslinking agent, but in the case of spraying a binder such as CMC having a high viscosity, a one-fluid type is preferable. When a fluid type sprayer is used, since the pressure can be directly applied to the binder and the crosslinking agent and the spraying can be performed, the loss due to scattering of the binder and the crosslinking agent is small, and the impregnation rate can be improved.

The fiber sheet 101 obtained in the line 200 through the third drying step and having the crushed pulp adhered thereto with the binder and the crosslinking agent is subjected to a wet treatment. In the production line 200 of the present embodiment, the fiber sheet 101 is cleaned as a wet treatment. At a place where cleaning is performed, a cleaning apparatus 400 is provided in the production line 200, and the cleaning apparatus 400 includes: a storage container 401 in which a cleaning liquid is stored in advance; and a circulation unit 402 for circulating the cleaning liquid in the storage container 401. As the cleaning liquid in the storage container 401, water is generally used. The circulation unit 402 is provided with a circulation passage 403 for receiving the cleaning liquid in the storage container 401, filtering the received cleaning liquid, and supplying the filtered cleaning liquid to the storage container 401 again, and a filter device 404 is disposed in the circulation passage 403. The cleaning apparatus 400 includes a circulation pump (not shown) for circulating the cleaning liquid in the storage container 401.

The structure is as follows: the operation of immersing the fiber sheet 101 sent out from the third drying step in the cleaning liquid in the storage container 401 twice, and then drawing after the immersion can be repeated. As shown in fig. 3, four rollers 412, 413, 416, 417 are provided in the storage container 401. Two rollers 414 and 415 are provided above the outside of the storage container 401, and the fourth roller 414 is constituted by a pair of pinch rollers.

In the cleaning apparatus 400 thus formed, the fiber sheet 101 sequentially fed through the third drying step is transferred from the first roller 411 to the second roller 412 in the storage container 401, transferred through the second roller 412 and the third roller 413 in the storage container 401 to the fourth roller 414, and impregnated with the cleaning liquid in the storage container 401 while passing through the storage container 401. The fiber sheet 101 wetted with the cleaning liquid is transferred again into the storage container 401 by the fifth roller 415, and is sent out to the eighth roller 418 outside the storage container 401 by the sixth roller 416 and the seventh roller 417 inside the storage container 401. During this time, the fiber sheet 101 is wetted again.

The eighth roller 418 is composed of a pair of pinch rollers having two rollers, and the rewetted cleaning liquid is drained when the rewetted fiber sheet 101 passes between the eighth rollers 418. One or both of the eighth rollers 418 may be heating rollers. In this way, the fiber sheet 101 can be cleaned for the second time. In the present embodiment, the fourth roller 414 and the eighth roller 418 are formed by a pair of pinch rollers, and the liquid is drained through between the eighth rollers 418, but the fourth roller 414 and the eighth rollers 418 may be formed by only one (for example, only the lower roller). In this case, the fourth roller 414 and the eighth roller 418 may be at room temperature, may be heated or heated to remove liquid, or the wet fiber sheet 101 may be dried and removed by blowing hot air, air or the like to the fiber sheet 101 before and after passing through the fourth roller 414 and the eighth roller 418, or the fourth roller 414 and the eighth roller 418 may be configured to have a structure (for example, a mesh shape) having a plurality of air pores on the surface, and air may be supplied to the fiber sheet 101 from the air pores or sucked from the air pores to dry the fiber sheet. In the present embodiment, the case where the fiber sheet 101 is washed twice is shown, but the washing may be performed only once or three or more times. Further, a chemical such as a coloring agent, a cleaning agent, a bactericide, a disinfectant, or an antibacterial agent is added to the cleaning liquid in advance, whereby the finally obtained fiber sheet can be colored or a sheet containing a chemical can be prepared.

In the present embodiment, a method of wetting the fiber sheet 101 by immersing the fiber sheet 101 in the cleaning liquid in the reservoir 401 has been described, but the method is not limited to this, and for example, a method of applying the cleaning liquid to the fiber sheet 101 by a sprayer or a shower to wet the fiber sheet 101, a method of sequentially applying the cleaning liquid using brush bristles, or the like may be used as long as the fiber sheet 101 can be wetted. After the supply of the crosslinking agent, the crosslinking agent may be subjected to a wet treatment without going through a drying step.

The material of the various rollers such as the fourth roller 414 and the eighth roller 418 is not limited to metal, and may be made of rubber or plastic, for example. The term "rubber" as used herein is a concept including not only natural rubber but also various synthetic rubbers such as silicone rubber. In the case of a pair of rollers, the rollers may be made of the same material or different materials.

After the washing step, salts, acids, dirt, paper powder (unfixed ground pulp, etc.) and the like contained in the fiber sheet 101 can be removed, and foreign substances such as salts, bitter components, astringent components and the like which have exuded from the fiber sheet can be greatly reduced, whereby a sheet excellent in hygiene, whiteness, texture, flexibility and elasticity can be obtained. In addition, such a fiber sheet does not contaminate a manufacturing line in which a chemical such as a disinfectant or a cleaning agent is impregnated into the fiber sheet and used as a wet tissue, a floor sheet, or the like, and can suppress rusting of machinery in the production line. The temperature of the cleaning liquid used in the cleaning step is more preferably 35 to 80 ℃, and still more preferably 35 to 60 ℃. By washing the sheet by wetting with a liquid at a temperature within this range, foreign substances can be effectively removed, and a sheet excellent in flexibility, elasticity, texture, and the like can be efficiently obtained.

The wet treatment of the fiber sheet 101 to which the binder and the crosslinking agent for the ground pulp are bonded is performed by wetting with the cleaning solution, and then the fiber sheet 101 can be transferred to the next step without wringing. In the production line 200 of the present embodiment, the case where the fiber sheet 101 is passed through only the cleaning liquid in the storage container 401 and then cleaned by removing the cleaning liquid or the like is shown, and the sheet may be moved in a direction different from the transfer direction in the cleaning liquid. For example, when the cleaning liquid is passed through the sheet by moving the rollers 412 and 413 up and down or by moving the rollers 416 and 417 up and down, the cleaning efficiency is improved and the foreign matter can be removed efficiently. Further, by circulating the cleaning liquid in the reservoir 401, particularly circulating the cleaning liquid so that the cleaning liquid can pass through the sheet from the front surface side to the back surface side, the cleaning efficiency can be improved.

When the surface treatment is performed before the wet-treated fiber sheet is transferred to the softening treatment step by the embosser roller, the fiber sheet can be further dried and the smoothness of the sheet surface can be improved. In the production line 200, this surface treatment is performed with a roller 501 and a roller 502, and the surface side of the sheet is in contact with the roller 501. The roller 501 may or may not be heated, but if it is overheated, moisture remaining in the fiber sheet 101 is more effectively removed.

Next, the back side of the sheet is contacted with a roller 502. The roller 502 is preferably a heating roller, and the back side of the sheet may be inferior in smoothness to the front side of the sheet due to a trace of the remaining conveying wire 109 or the like, and therefore the back side of the sheet may be brought into contact with the heated roller 502, thereby improving the smoothness of the back side of the sheet. In the case where the rollers 501, 502 are constituted by heating rollers, the surface temperature of the rollers is preferably 70 ℃ to 200 ℃.

In the production line 200, the softening treatment by the emboss roller is performed next to the surface treatment process. The softening process is performed by sequentially pressing the fiber sheet 101 by the first emboss roller 511 and the second emboss roller 512. Here, as shown in fig. 4, the first pressing roller 511 is composed of a pair of upper and lower embossing rollers having concave stripes 511a and convex stripes 511b facing the conveying direction a. As shown in fig. 5, the second emboss roller 512 is formed of a pair of upper and lower emboss rollers having concave ribs 512a and convex ribs 512b oriented in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction a. By pressing the fiber sheet 101 with the first emboss roller 511 and the second emboss roller 512 having such an emboss pattern, loads are applied to the fiber sheet in the longitudinal direction (conveying direction) and the transverse direction (width direction), so that the loads applied to the fiber sheet 101 can be minimized, and the flexibility of the fiber sheet can be improved without causing a crack or the like in the fiber sheet, and the wet strength can be improved. The uneven patterns of the emboss rollers 501 and 502 are not limited to the combination of the conveyance direction of the fiber sheet and the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction, and may be a direction inclined with respect to the conveyance direction, and a combination of an uneven stripe oriented in the conveyance direction and an uneven stripe oriented in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction as shown in the drawing is preferable.

The first emboss roller 511 and the second emboss roller 512 are not limited to the case where the first pressing roller 511 and the second pressing roller 512 are provided in this order from the upstream side in the conveying direction a, and may be in the opposite order, that is, the case where the second pressing roller 512 and the first pressing roller 511 are provided in this order from the upstream side in the conveying direction a, and it is preferable that after the emboss roller 511 having the concave ridges 511a and the convex ridges 511b oriented in the conveying direction a is processed, the emboss roller 512 having the concave ridges 512a and the convex ridges 512b oriented in the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction a is processed. The first emboss roller 511 and the second emboss roller 512 are not limited to those constituted by a pair of upper and lower emboss rollers, and may be constituted by only one of the upper and lower rollers having an emboss pattern, and the other roller may be a flat roller. In addition, the first emboss roller 511 and the second emboss roller 512 shown in the figure are not limited to being provided separately, and only either one of the emboss rollers may be provided. Further, as the pressing rollers, three or more sets of pressing rollers may be provided to apply a load to the fibers.

As described above, the elasticity of the fiber sheet 101 is increased by the embossing step, and the fiber sheet 101 which is soft as a whole can be manufactured.

In the production line 200, the softener is supplied to the embossed fiber sheet 101 by the softener supply device 171. By supplying the softening agent, the flexibility of the fiber sheet can be further improved. As the softening agent, glycerin is generally used, and polysaccharides such as mannitol and sorbitol, polyhydric alcohols, and the like can be used. In addition, the temperature of the cleaning liquid is preferably lower than the temperatures of the binder and the crosslinking agent in the present embodiment.

The fiber sheet 101 supplied with the softening agent is sequentially wound by the winding machine 172, but if further pressing is performed by a pressing roller not shown before winding or hot pressing is performed, fuzzing of the surface of the fiber sheet 101 can be reduced and the surface can be smoothed. In addition, the flexibility of the fiber sheet 101 can be improved, and the strength, particularly the wet strength, of the fiber sheet 101 can be improved.

With the method for producing a fiber sheet according to the present embodiment, a soft fiber sheet having a good texture and being less likely to break can be easily produced.

Description of the symbols

1 base paper sheet

100 production line

101 fiber sheet

103 pulp blank roll

106 crushing device

107 stacking device

109 net for transportation

121 first coating device

124 first drying device

130 second coating device

133 second drying device

140 cross-linking agent coating device

150 third drying device