Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Structurally defined web or sheet – Discontinuous or differential coating – impregnation or bond
Patent
1996-08-27
1998-09-08
Cannon, James C.
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Structurally defined web or sheet
Discontinuous or differential coating, impregnation or bond
428200, 428373, 442 36, 442328, 442329, 442346, 442347, 442350, 442361, 442365, 442389, 442394, 442398, 442399, 604370, 604372, 6043852, B32B 526, B32B 710, B32B 714
Patent
active
058042865
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to composite nonwoven fabrics, and more particularly to extensible nonwoven composite fabrics which are capable of elongating during mechanical stretching and which have excellent surface abrasion resistance.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Composite nonwoven fabrics are used in a variety of applications such as garments, disposable medical products, diapers and personal hygiene products. New products being developed for these applications have demanding performance requirements, including comfort, conformability to the body, freedom of body movement, good softness and drape, adequate tensile strength and durability, and resistance to surface abrasion, pilling or fuzzing. Accordingly, the composite nonwoven fabrics which are used in these types of products must be engineered to meet these performance requirements.
In Sabee, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,153,664 and 4,223,063, it is disclosed that the softness and drapeability of composite nonwoven fabrics, formed for example from a meltblown or a spunbonded nonwoven fabric, can be improved by drawing or stretching the fabric. More particularly, according to Sabee, the composite nonwoven fabrics are processed by differentially drawing or stretching the web to form a quilted pattern of drawn and undrawn areas, providing a product with enhanced softness, texture and drapeability. However, while the stretching may improve some fabric physical properties, it can adversely affect other important properties, such as abrasion resistance, for example, leaving the fabric with an unsightly fuzzed surface. In addition, Sabee teaches the use of undrawn or underdrawn filaments in the use of this application. Undrawn or underdrawn filaments are typically higher in denier and therefore the fabrics tend to be stiff.
Often, the performance requirements of the product demand a composite nonwoven fabric having elasticity. In certain disposable diaper designs, for example, it is desired to impart elastic properties to the waist and/or to the leg cuff areas. One approach which has been taken to providing such elastic properties in a composite nonwoven fabric involves forming and stretching an elastic web, then bonding a gatherable web to the elastic web, and relaxing the composite. An obvious limitation of this approach is having to form the composite in the tensioned state. This requires additional equipment and control systems. Examples of this process are Mormon, U.S. Pat. No. 4,657,802, where it is disclosed that a composite nonwoven elastic is made by first stretching an elastic web, forming a fibrous nonwoven gatherable web onto the stretched elastic nonwoven, joining the two together to form a composite structure, then allowing the composite to relax. In Collier, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,169,706, it is disclosed that a composite elastic material having a low stress relaxation is formed between an elastic sheet and a gatherable layer. In Daponte, U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,779, a composite is disclosed which involves first tensioning the elastic elastic web to elongate it, bonding at least one gatherable web to the elastic web, and relaxing the composite immediately after bonding, so that the gatherable web is gathered between the bond points.
Another approach to imparting elastic properties to a composite nonwoven fabric is with a so-called "zero-strain" stretchable laminate. A "zero-strain" stretchable laminate refers to a fabric in which at least two layers of material, one elastic, the other substantially inelastic, are secured to one another along their coextensive surfaces while in a substantially untensioned state. The fabric is subsequently subjected to mechanical stretching. The inelastic layer typically fractures or extends, thus permanently elongating the inelastic layer and producing a composite fabric with elastic properties. This lamination and stretching process is advantageous in that utilizing elastic in an unstretched condition is easier and less expensive than stretched elastic used in traditional processing operations. However,
REFERENCES:
patent: 4874666 (1989-10-01), Kubo et al.
patent: 5108827 (1992-04-01), Gessner
patent: 5593768 (1997-01-01), Gessner
patent: 5645057 (1997-07-01), Watt
Austin Jared A.
Fowells William
Gessner Scott L.
Gillespie J. Darrell
Meece Barry D.
Cannon James C.
Fiberweb North America, Inc.
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