Patent ID: 7902094

Claim:
A multicomponent fiber having a shaped cross section, comprising: A) a water dispersible sulfopolyester having a glass transistion temperature (Tg) of at least 57° C., said sulfpolyester 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 one or more water-nondispersable polymers immiscible with said sulfopolyester, wherein said segments are substantially isolated from each other by said sulfopolyester intervening between said segments; wherein said fiber contains less than 8 weight percent of a pigment or filler, based on the total weight of said fiber.