Fabric (woven – knitted – or nonwoven textile or cloth – etc.) – Nonwoven fabric – Spun-bonded nonwoven fabric
Reexamination Certificate
2002-09-09
2004-08-31
Morris, Terrel (Department: 1771)
Fabric (woven, knitted, or nonwoven textile or cloth, etc.)
Nonwoven fabric
Spun-bonded nonwoven fabric
C442S408000, C442S413000, C428S325000, C428S326000, C428S913000, C162S103000, C162S115000, C162S123000, C162S129000, C162S136000, C162S146000, C162S201000, C162S204000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06784126
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a hydraulically entangled nonwoven composite fabric containing pulp fibers and a method for making a nonwoven composite fabric.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Although nonwoven webs of pulp fibers are known to be absorbent, nonwoven webs made entirely of pulp fibers may be undesirable for certain applications such as, for example, heavy duty wipers because they lack strength and abrasion resistance. In the past, pulp fiber webs have been externally reinforced by application of binders. For example, binders may be printed onto one or more sides of a wet laid web of pulp fibers to provide an absorbent wiper having strength and abrasion resistance. Typically, such externally reinforced wipers have contained up to about 25 percent, by weight, binder. Such high levels of binders can add expense and leave streaks during use which may render a surface unsuitable for certain applications such as, for example, automobile painting. Binders may also be leached out when such externally reinforced wipers are used with certain volatile or semi-volatile solvents.
Pulp fibers and/or pulp fiber webs have also been combined with materials such as, for example, nonwoven spunbonded webs, meltblown webs, scrim materials, and textile materials. One known technique for combining these materials is by hydraulic entangling. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,808,467 to Suskind discloses a high-strength nonwoven fabric made of a mixture of wood pulp and textile fibers entangled with a continuous filament base web.
Laminates of pulp fibers with textiles and/or nonwoven webs are disclosed in Canadian Patent No. 841,398 to Shambelan. According to that patent, high pressure jet streams of water may be used to entangle an untreated paper layer with base webs such as, for example, a continuous filament web.
European patent application 128,667 discloses an entangled composite fabric having an upper and lower surface. The upper surface is disclosed as having been formed of a printed re-pulpable paper sheet. The other surface is disclosed as having been formed from a base textile layer which may be, for example, a continuous filament nonwoven web. According to that patent application, the layers are joined by entangling the fibers of the pulp layer with those of the base layer utilizing columnar jets of water.
While these references are of interest to those practicing water-jet entanglement of fibrous materials, they do not address the need for a high pulp content nonwoven composite fabric which has strength and abrasion resistance and which may be used as a high strength wiper. There is still a need for an inexpensive high strength wiper which is able to quickly absorb several times its weight in water, aqueous liquid or oil. There is also a need for a high pulp content reinforced wiper which contains a substantial proportion of low-average fiber length pulp and which is able to quickly absorb several times its weight in water, aqueous liquid or oil. A need exists for a high pulp content composite fabric that can be used as a wiper or as a fluid distribution layer and/or absorbent component of an absorbent personal care product. There is also a need for a practical method of making a high pulp content nonwoven composite fabric. This need also extends to a method of making such a composite fabric which contains a substantial proportion of low-average fiber length pulp. Meeting this need is important since it is both economically and environmentally desirable to substitute low-average fiber length secondary (i.e., recycled) fiber pulp for high-quality virgin wood fiber pulp and still provide a high pulp content composite fabric that can be used as a wiper or as a fluid distribution layer and/or absorbent component of an absorbent personal care product.
DEFINITIONS
The term “machine direction” as used herein refers to the direction of travel of the forming surface onto which fibers are deposited during formation of a nonwoven web.
The term “cross-machine direction” as used herein refers to the direction which is perpendicular to the machine direction defined above.
The term “pulp” as used herein refers to fibers from natural sources such as woody and non-woody plants. Woody plants include, for example, deciduous and coniferous trees. Non-woody plants include, for example, cotton, flax, esparto grass, milkweed, straw, jute hemp, and bagasse.
The term “average fiber length” as used herein refers to a weighted average length of pulp fibers determined utilizing a Kajaani fiber analyzer model No. FS-100 available from Kajaani Oy Electronics, Kajaani, Finland. According to the test procedure, a pulp sample is treated with a macerating liquid to ensure that no fiber bundles or shives are present. Each pulp sample is disintegrated into hot water and diluted to an approximately 0.001% solution. Individual test samples are drawn in approximately 50 to 100 ml portions from the dilute solution when tested using the standard Kajaani fiber analysis test procedure. The weighted average fiber length may be expressed by the following equation:
∑
x
i
=
0
k
(
x
i
*
n
i
)
/
n
where k=maximum fiber length
x
i
=fiber length
n
i
=number of fibers having length x
i
n=total number of fibers measured.
The term “low-average fiber length pulp” as used herein refers to pulp that contains a significant amount of short fibers and non-fiber particles. Many secondary wood fiber pulps may be considered low average fiber length pulps; however, the quality of the secondary wood fiber pulp will depend on the quality of the recycled fibers and the type and amount of previous processing. Low-average fiber length pulps may have an average fiber length of less than about 1.2 mm as determined by an optical fiber analyzer such as, for example, a Kajaani fiber analyzer model No. FS-100 (Kajaani Oy Electronics, Kajaani, Finland). For example, low average fiber length pulps may have an average fiber length ranging from about 0.7 to 1.2 mm. Exemplary low average fiber length pulps include virgin hardwood pulp, and secondary fiber pulp from sources such as, for example, office waste, newsprint, and paperboard scrap.
The term “high-average fiber length pulp” as used herein refers to pulp that contains a relatively small amount of short fibers and non-fiber particles. High-average fiber length pulp is typically formed from certain non-secondary (i.e., virgin) fibers. Secondary fiber pulp which has been screened may also have a high-average fiber length. High-average fiber length pulps typically have an average fiber length of greater than about 1.5 mm as determined by an optical fiber analyzer such as, for example, a Kajaani fiber analyzer model No. FS-100 (Kajaani Oy Electronics, Kajaani, Finland). For example, a high-average fiber length pulp may have an average fiber length from about 1.5 mm to about 6 mm. Exemplary high-average fiber length pulps which are wood fiber pulps include, for example, bleached and unbleached virgin softwood fiber pulps.
As used herein, the term “spunbonded filaments” refers to small diameter continuous filaments which are formed by extruding a molten thermoplastic material as filaments from a plurality of fine, usually circular, capillaries of a spinnerette with the diameter of the extruded filaments then being rapidly reduced as by, for example, eductive drawing and/or other well-known spun-bonding mechanisms. The production of spun-bonded nonwoven webs is illustrated in patents such as, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,563 to Appel et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 3,692,618 to Dorschner et al. The disclosures of these patents are hereby incorporated by reference.
As used herein, the term “conjugate spun filaments” refers to spun filaments and/or fibers composed of multiple filamentary or fibril elements. Exemplary conjugate filaments may have a sheath/core configuration (i.e., a core portion substantially or completely enveloped by one or more sheaths) and/or side-by-side strands (i.e., filaments) configuration (i.e., multiple filaments/fibers atta
Everhart Cherie Hartman
Fischer Danial Owen
Guarriello John J.
Kimberly--Clark Worldwide, Inc.
Morris Terrel
Shane Richard M.
Sidor Karl V.
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