Daiwabo Holdings Co., Ltd.

Kao Corporation

Daiwabo Polytec Co., Ltd.

Yoshiji Usui

Shigeki Kawakami

Manabu Matsui

A heat extensible fiber comprises a conjugate fiber including a first resin component having an orientation index of 30% to 70% and a second resin component having a lower melting point or softening point than the melting point of the first resin component and an orientation index of 40% or more, the second resin component being present on at least part of the surface of the conjugate fiber in a lengthwise continuous configuration. The conjugate fiber is a heat-treated or crimped fiber and being configured to thermally extend when heated at a temperature lower than the melting point of the first resin component. The heat extensible fiber has higher heat self-extensibility than conventional extensible fibers.

Heat extensible fiber

A latently crimpable conjugate fiber is constructed using a first component containing an ethylene-&#x3b1;-olefin copolymer polymerized with a metallocene catalyst and a second component formed from a thermal plastic polymer having a melting point Thigher than a melting point Tof the first component, such that the first component is exposed with an exposed length of at least 20% relative to a peripheral length of the fiber, and which fiber has a single fiber dry heat shrinkage percentage of at least 50%, which is determined according to JIS-L-1015 (dry heat shrinkage percentage) at 100&#xb0; C. under an initial tension of 0.018mn/dtex (2mg/d) for 15 minutes and a single fiber dry heat shrinkage percentage of at least 15%, which is determined under the same condition under an initial tension of 0.450mN/dtex (50mg/dtex) for 15 minutes. The latently crimpable conjugate fiber develops crimps and has thermal adhesiveness at a low temperature.

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Hyogo, Japan

Yoshiji Usui