Patent ID: 8227362

Claim:
A multicomponent fiber having a shaped cross section, comprising: A) at least one water dispersible sulfopolyester having a glass transition temperature (Tg) of at least 57° C., said sulfopolyester comprising: (i) residues of one or more dicarboxylic acids; (ii) about 4 to about 40 mole %, based on the total repeating units, of residues of at least one sulfomonomer having 2 functional groups and one or more sulfonate groups attached to an aromatic or cycloaliphatic ring wherein said functional groups are hydroxyl, carboxyl, or a combination thereof; (iii) one or more diol residues wherein at least 25 mole %, based on the total diol residues, is a poly(ethylene glycol) having a structure H—(OCH 2 —CH 2 ) n —OH wherein n is an integer in the range of 2 to about 500; and (iv) 0 to about 25 mole %, based on the total repeating units, of residues of a branching monomer having 3 or more functional groups wherein said functional groups are hydroxyl, carboxyl, or a combination thereof; and B) a plurality of segments comprising at least one water non-dispersible polymer immiscible with said sulfopolyester, wherein said segments are substantially isolated from each other by said sulfopolyester intervening between said segments.