Keraplast Technologies, Ltd.

Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand Incorporated

Wool Research Organisation

Alan John McKinnon

Douglas Alexander Rankin

John Robert McLaughlin

Robert James Kelly

Alisa Dawn Roddick-Lanzilotta

Paul Middlewood

Mohammad Azam Ali

Paul Johannes Roy Mesman

Murray Edwin Taylor

Gillian Worth

Stephen Barry Manson

Phillipa Le Pine

Mohammad Mahbubul Hassan

Allan J Vivian

The application describes materials derived from keratin proteins in combination with polymers, either as intimate mixtures with water soluble polymers, or as chemically bound copolymers. The keratin protein is a specific keratin protein fraction, and is preferably intact, s-sulfonated and from the intermediate filament protein family. The application also describes the process for production of these materials.

Composite materials containing keratin

A wool or the like fiber scour including at least one of the following, (a) scouring process wherein the fiber is subjected to an acid extraction process to remove absorbed iron, and by to greatly improve the brightness (Y tristimulus value) of the wool; (b) a scouring process wherein a bleaching process is carried out part way through the wet process following by dying, rewriting and chemical reduction, therefore stabilising the bleached color to prevent subsequent reversion in the dyebath; or (c) a scouring process wherein scoured clean fiber is dried and dusted, and then reimmersed in liquors containing detergents and dispersants, thereby effectively removing extra amounts of residual dirt. The scour produces an improved quality of fibres.

Method for significantly enhancing the quality of scoured wool and machinery for achieving those enhancements

A textile treatment composition comprises a water insoluble quaternary ammonium salt and a non-ionic surfactant containing at least one long-chain alkyl or fatty acid substituent and a hydrophilic group. The quaternary ammonium compound preferably has three large alkyl substituents of at least carbon atoms each and the surfactant may be selected from phosphine oxides, sulphoxides, or tertiary amine oxides, especially the latter. The compositions may be diluted with water and applied to textile materials especially wool, to give antistatic properties thereto. Compositions of the invention have lower soiling propensity than hitherto available compositions and they may therefore be applied to finished carpets, either in the piece or in situ applications.

Antistatic composition

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Christchurch, New Zealand

Alan John McKinnon