US20040132374A1 - Nonwoven fabric and process for making the same - Google Patents
Nonwoven fabric and process for making the same Download PDFInfo
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- US20040132374A1 US20040132374A1 US10/666,732 US66673203A US2004132374A1 US 20040132374 A1 US20040132374 A1 US 20040132374A1 US 66673203 A US66673203 A US 66673203A US 2004132374 A1 US2004132374 A1 US 2004132374A1
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- fibrous component
- nonwoven fabric
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- D—TEXTILES; PAPER
- D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
- D04H—MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; FABRICS MADE BY SUCH PROCESSES OR APPARATUS, e.g. FELTS, NON-WOVEN FABRICS; COTTON-WOOL; WADDING ; NON-WOVEN FABRICS FROM STAPLE FIBRES, FILAMENTS OR YARNS, BONDED WITH AT LEAST ONE WEB-LIKE MATERIAL DURING THEIR CONSOLIDATION
- D04H1/00—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres
- D04H1/40—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties
- D04H1/42—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties characterised by the use of certain kinds of fibres insofar as this use has no preponderant influence on the consolidation of the fleece
- D04H1/4326—Condensation or reaction polymers
- D04H1/4358—Polyurethanes
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- D—TEXTILES; PAPER
- D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
- D04H—MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; FABRICS MADE BY SUCH PROCESSES OR APPARATUS, e.g. FELTS, NON-WOVEN FABRICS; COTTON-WOOL; WADDING ; NON-WOVEN FABRICS FROM STAPLE FIBRES, FILAMENTS OR YARNS, BONDED WITH AT LEAST ONE WEB-LIKE MATERIAL DURING THEIR CONSOLIDATION
- D04H3/00—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of yarns or like filamentary material of substantial length
- D04H3/02—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of yarns or like filamentary material of substantial length characterised by the method of forming fleeces or layers, e.g. reorientation of yarns or filaments
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- D—TEXTILES; PAPER
- D02—YARNS; MECHANICAL FINISHING OF YARNS OR ROPES; WARPING OR BEAMING
- D02G—CRIMPING OR CURLING FIBRES, FILAMENTS, THREADS, OR YARNS; YARNS OR THREADS
- D02G1/00—Producing crimped or curled fibres, filaments, yarns, or threads, giving them latent characteristics
- D02G1/18—Producing crimped or curled fibres, filaments, yarns, or threads, giving them latent characteristics by combining fibres, filaments, or yarns, having different shrinkage characteristics
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- D—TEXTILES; PAPER
- D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
- D04H—MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; FABRICS MADE BY SUCH PROCESSES OR APPARATUS, e.g. FELTS, NON-WOVEN FABRICS; COTTON-WOOL; WADDING ; NON-WOVEN FABRICS FROM STAPLE FIBRES, FILAMENTS OR YARNS, BONDED WITH AT LEAST ONE WEB-LIKE MATERIAL DURING THEIR CONSOLIDATION
- D04H1/00—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres
- D04H1/40—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties
- D04H1/42—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties characterised by the use of certain kinds of fibres insofar as this use has no preponderant influence on the consolidation of the fleece
- D04H1/4282—Addition polymers
- D04H1/4291—Olefin series
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- D—TEXTILES; PAPER
- D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
- D04H—MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; FABRICS MADE BY SUCH PROCESSES OR APPARATUS, e.g. FELTS, NON-WOVEN FABRICS; COTTON-WOOL; WADDING ; NON-WOVEN FABRICS FROM STAPLE FIBRES, FILAMENTS OR YARNS, BONDED WITH AT LEAST ONE WEB-LIKE MATERIAL DURING THEIR CONSOLIDATION
- D04H1/00—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres
- D04H1/40—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties
- D04H1/42—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties characterised by the use of certain kinds of fibres insofar as this use has no preponderant influence on the consolidation of the fleece
- D04H1/4326—Condensation or reaction polymers
- D04H1/4334—Polyamides
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- D—TEXTILES; PAPER
- D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
- D04H—MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; FABRICS MADE BY SUCH PROCESSES OR APPARATUS, e.g. FELTS, NON-WOVEN FABRICS; COTTON-WOOL; WADDING ; NON-WOVEN FABRICS FROM STAPLE FIBRES, FILAMENTS OR YARNS, BONDED WITH AT LEAST ONE WEB-LIKE MATERIAL DURING THEIR CONSOLIDATION
- D04H1/00—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres
- D04H1/40—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties
- D04H1/42—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties characterised by the use of certain kinds of fibres insofar as this use has no preponderant influence on the consolidation of the fleece
- D04H1/4382—Stretched reticular film fibres; Composite fibres; Mixed fibres; Ultrafine fibres; Fibres for artificial leather
- D04H1/43835—Mixed fibres, e.g. at least two chemically different fibres or fibre blends
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- D—TEXTILES; PAPER
- D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
- D04H—MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; FABRICS MADE BY SUCH PROCESSES OR APPARATUS, e.g. FELTS, NON-WOVEN FABRICS; COTTON-WOOL; WADDING ; NON-WOVEN FABRICS FROM STAPLE FIBRES, FILAMENTS OR YARNS, BONDED WITH AT LEAST ONE WEB-LIKE MATERIAL DURING THEIR CONSOLIDATION
- D04H1/00—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres
- D04H1/40—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties
- D04H1/44—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties the fleeces or layers being consolidated by mechanical means, e.g. by rolling
- D04H1/46—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties the fleeces or layers being consolidated by mechanical means, e.g. by rolling by needling or like operations to cause entanglement of fibres
- D04H1/48—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties the fleeces or layers being consolidated by mechanical means, e.g. by rolling by needling or like operations to cause entanglement of fibres in combination with at least one other method of consolidation
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- D—TEXTILES; PAPER
- D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
- D04H—MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; FABRICS MADE BY SUCH PROCESSES OR APPARATUS, e.g. FELTS, NON-WOVEN FABRICS; COTTON-WOOL; WADDING ; NON-WOVEN FABRICS FROM STAPLE FIBRES, FILAMENTS OR YARNS, BONDED WITH AT LEAST ONE WEB-LIKE MATERIAL DURING THEIR CONSOLIDATION
- D04H1/00—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres
- D04H1/40—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties
- D04H1/44—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties the fleeces or layers being consolidated by mechanical means, e.g. by rolling
- D04H1/50—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties the fleeces or layers being consolidated by mechanical means, e.g. by rolling by treatment to produce shrinking, swelling, crimping or curling of fibres
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- D—TEXTILES; PAPER
- D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
- D04H—MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; FABRICS MADE BY SUCH PROCESSES OR APPARATUS, e.g. FELTS, NON-WOVEN FABRICS; COTTON-WOOL; WADDING ; NON-WOVEN FABRICS FROM STAPLE FIBRES, FILAMENTS OR YARNS, BONDED WITH AT LEAST ONE WEB-LIKE MATERIAL DURING THEIR CONSOLIDATION
- D04H1/00—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres
- D04H1/70—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres characterised by the method of forming fleeces or layers, e.g. reorientation of fibres
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- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
- Y10T442/00—Fabric [woven, knitted, or nonwoven textile or cloth, etc.]
- Y10T442/60—Nonwoven fabric [i.e., nonwoven strand or fiber material]
- Y10T442/601—Nonwoven fabric has an elastic quality
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- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
- Y10T442/00—Fabric [woven, knitted, or nonwoven textile or cloth, etc.]
- Y10T442/60—Nonwoven fabric [i.e., nonwoven strand or fiber material]
- Y10T442/601—Nonwoven fabric has an elastic quality
- Y10T442/602—Nonwoven fabric comprises an elastic strand or fiber material
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- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
- Y10T442/00—Fabric [woven, knitted, or nonwoven textile or cloth, etc.]
- Y10T442/60—Nonwoven fabric [i.e., nonwoven strand or fiber material]
- Y10T442/608—Including strand or fiber material which is of specific structural definition
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
- Y10T442/00—Fabric [woven, knitted, or nonwoven textile or cloth, etc.]
- Y10T442/60—Nonwoven fabric [i.e., nonwoven strand or fiber material]
- Y10T442/608—Including strand or fiber material which is of specific structural definition
- Y10T442/609—Cross-sectional configuration of strand or fiber material is specified
- Y10T442/61—Cross-sectional configuration varies longitudinally along strand or fiber material
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- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
- Y10T442/00—Fabric [woven, knitted, or nonwoven textile or cloth, etc.]
- Y10T442/60—Nonwoven fabric [i.e., nonwoven strand or fiber material]
- Y10T442/637—Including strand or fiber material which is a monofilament composed of two or more polymeric materials in physically distinct relationship [e.g., sheath-core, side-by-side, islands-in-sea, fibrils-in-matrix, etc.] or composed of physical blend of chemically different polymeric materials or a physical blend of a polymeric material and a filler material
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Textile Engineering (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
- Nonwoven Fabrics (AREA)
- Multicomponent Fibers (AREA)
Abstract
An elastically stretchable nonwoven fabric comprises elastically stretchable first fibers made of a first polymer and inelastically stretchable second fibers made of a second polymer. The second fibers are separably attached to the first fiber at attaching areas intermittently formed on the first fiber. Between the attaching areas neighboring to each other the second fibers are spaced apart from the first fiber and have lengths longer than that of the first fiber. One to sixteen of the second fibers are provided per each first fiber.
Description
- The present invention relates to an elastically stretchable nonwoven fabric having a smooth touch to skin and also to a process for making the same.
- Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1994-184897 A (Ref. 1) discloses an elastically stretchable web formed by laminating a fibrous layer of elastically stretchable polymer with a fibrous layer of inelastic stretchable polymer.
- Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1997-512313 A (Ref. 2) also discloses an elastically stretchable web formed by laminating the fibrous layer of elastically stretchable polymer with the fibrous layer of inelastic stretchable polymer.
- In the web and the nonwoven fabric disclosed in the above-cited Publications, respectively, the fibrous layer made of elastically stretchable polymer is exposed on the surface of the fabric. The fibers made of such polymer exhibit a relatively high friction coefficient and correspondingly rough touch. The elastically stretchable web or non-woven fabric formed by laminating the fibrous layers tend to be a thick one.
- Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1992-11021 A (Ref. 3) discloses an elastically stretchable conjugated thread comprising a core-sheath-type conjugated fiber of which the core fiber is made of elastically stretchable urethane and the sheath fiber is made of inelastic stretchable polyamide.
- Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1997-316748 A (Ref. 4) discloses an elastically stretchable fabric including a core-sheath-type conjugated filament as a weft. In this fabric, the elastomeric core and the non-elastomeric sheath of the filament are separated from each other and the sheath slackens to form bellows-like wrinkles as the filament is drawn.
- The conjugated thread and the fabric disclosed in the above-cited Publications use the core-sheath type conjugated fiber of which the core is formed by elastomeric fiber and the sheath is formed by non-elastomeric fiber. The sheath functions to cover the elastically stretchable polymer, i.e., the elastomeric fiber and thereby to prevent the elastomeric fiber from coming in direct contact with the user's body. In this way, the conjugated thread as well as the fabric disclosed in the above-cited Publications are able to offer a smooth touch to the skin and a comfortable touch for the user's body. However, the sheath fiber presenting bellows-like wrinkles obstructs the core fiber from elastically contracting and, in consequence, limits an extension coefficient as well as a contraction coefficient of the conjugated thread and the fabric. The conjugated fiber has its sheath formed with the bellows-like wrinkles and therefore it is difficult for these conjugated thread and fabric to offer the soft and flexible touch peculiar to the fiber having a small fineness.
- Japanese Patent Publication No. 3262803 B (Ref. 5) discloses an invention relating to multi-component thermoplastic continuous filaments obtained by melt spinning, a product formed of such filaments and a process for forming such a product. According to the disclosure of Ref. 5, multi-component thermoplastic filaments extruded from the extruder is introduced through a quenching chamber into a Lurgi-duct within which the filaments are drawn and split under the effect of compressed air supplied thereinto. The filaments split in this manner are accumulated on a collecting surface formed by perforated screen or the like. According to the disclosure of Ref. 5, the multi-component thermoplastic filaments are split to a plurality of more fine filaments within the Lurgi duct and then formed into a nonwoven fabric. Respective components constituting the multi-component thermoplastic filament appear on the surface of this nonwoven fabric in a form of more fine filaments in accordance with the mixing proportion of these components. If one of the components is a thermoplastic elastomer, the filament of such a thermoplastic elastomer will be exposed on the surface of the nonwoven fabric and a wearer of a wearable article made of the nonwoven fabric may experience a rough touch with poor slip properties of the nonwoven fabric depending on a proportion of the thermoplastic elastomer filament.
- Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1997-291454 A (Ref. 6) discloses an invention relating to an elastically stretchable nonwoven fabric. According to the disclosure of Ref. 6, the elastically stretchable nonwoven fabric is formed using elastically stretchable conjugated fibers consisting of a hard elastic member comprising crystalline polypropylene as a first component and a thermoplastic elastomer as a second component. The conjugated fibers may be selected from a group including those of various types such as side-by-side and sheath-and-core. Such conjugated fibers can be finished into nonwoven fabric by various processes such as spun bonding and thermal bonding processes. According to Ref. 6 the elastically stretchable conjugated fiber consisting of the hard elastic member comprising polypropylene as the first component and the thermoplastic elastomer as the second component are intermittently welded into an elastically stretchable nonwoven fabric. The circumferential surface of the conjugated fiber is defined by zones occupied by polypropylene and zones occupied by the elastomer. In this case the thermoplastic elastomer is inevitably exposed on the surface of the nonwoven fabric. Consequently, this nonwoven fabric may have a rough touch and poor slip properties. Ref. 6 describes as one of embodiments a sheath-and-core type conjugated fiber of which the sheath is formed by polypropylene as the first component and the core is formed by the elastomer comprising ethylene-α-olefin copolymer as the second component. The elastic stretchability of such a conjugated fiber is governed by the stretchability of the hard elastic member comprising polypropylene and the stretchability of the elastomer might be thereby suppressed.
- [Ref. 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1994-184897 A
- [Ref. 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1997-512313 A
- [Ref. 3] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1992-11021 A
- [Ref. 4] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1997-316748 A
- [Ref. 5] Japanese Patent Publication No. 3262803 B
- [Ref. 6] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1997-291454 A
- It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel elastic nonwoven fabric adapted to have a broad elastic extension range as well as a broad elastic contraction range and to offer a smooth touch to the skin.
- The present invention has a first aspect relating to a nonwoven fabric and a second aspect relating to a process for making the nonwoven fabric.
- According to the first aspect of the invention, there is provided an elastically stretchable nonwoven fabric comprising elastically stretchable first fibers made of a first polymer and inelastically stretchable second fibers made of a second polymer.
- The improvement according to the first aspect of the invention is characterized in that the nonwoven fabric has first and second surfaces as viewed in its thickness direction, the first and second surfaces extending in parallel to each other, the second fiber is attached to the first fiber at attaching areas formed intermittently along the first fiber and spaced apart from the first fiber between each pair of the neighboring attaching areas, each segment of the second fiber spaced apart from the first fiber between each pair of the neighboring attaching areas being longer than an associated segment of the first fiber, and the number of the second fiber is in a range of 1 to 16 per each first fiber.
- The first aspect of the invention can be implemented in preferable manners as follows:
- (1) the first and second fibers intersect with each other in such a manners that the first fiber lies inside and the second fiber lies outside in any one of the first and second surfaces;
- (2) the first fiber has on its circumferential surface first curved surfaces each bulging radially outward from an axis of the first fiber and second curved surfaces each depressed radially toward the axis of the first fiber, the first and second curved surfaces alternately appearing in a circumferential direction of the first fiber, and each pair of the first curved surfaces neighboring to each other in the circumferential direction cooperate with the second curved surface lying between the pair of the first curved surfaces neighboring to each other to form a groove extending in a longitudinal direction of the first fiber so that the second curved surface defines a bottom of the groove. In the case that the nonwoven fabric having such a first fiber is used for a wearable article, these are little chances where the first fiber contacts the skin of a wearer of the article, because the curved surfaces of the first fiber cannot contact the skin.
- (3) one of the first and second surfaces has a slip angle of 25° to 40°. The nonwoven fabric having the slip angle of such a range is suitable for a wearable article and other products.
- (4) the first polymer is selected from the group consisting of thermoplastic polyurethane and thermoplastic polyurethane containing a lubricant and the second polymer is selected from the group consisting of polyolefin-based polymer and polyamide-based polymer.
- The object set forth above is achieved, according to the second aspect of the invention, by an improvement in a process for making an elastically stretchable nonwoven fabric formed by elastically stretchable first fibers made of a first polymer and inelastically stretchable second fibers made of a second polymer.
- The improvement according to the second aspect of the invention is characterized by that feeding, in a machine direction, a plurality of conjugated fibers each consisting of a first fibrous component made of the first polymer and a second fibrous component extending in parallel to and releasably attached to a surface of the first fibrous component and thereby forming a web from the conjugated fibers having a basis weight in a range of 10 to 500 g/m2, forming the web with a plurality of attaching areas intermittently formed in at least one direction of the machine direction and a cross direction intersecting orthogonally the machine direction so that the conjugated fibers can not be separated one from another at the attaching areas, stretching the web at least in the one direction within an elastic range of the first fibrous component and under a failure point of the second fibrous component and thereby separating the first and second fibrous components one from another between each pair of the attaching areas neighboring to each other and permanently deforming the second fibrous component; and allowing the web to contract under an elastic recovery force of the first fibrous component so that the first fiber may be obtained from the first fibrous component, the second fiber may be obtained from the second fibrous component and the nonwoven fabric may be obtained from the web.
- The second aspect of the invention can be implemented in preferable manners as follow:
- (1) the first fibrous component of the conjugated fiber has on its circumferential surface first curved surfaces each bulging radially outward from an axis of the first fibrous component and second curved surfaces each depressed radially toward an axis of the first fibrous component, the first and second curved surfaces alternately appearing in the circumferential direction of the first fibrous component, and each pair of the first curved surfaces neighboring to each other in the circumferential direction cooperate with the second curved surface lying between the pair of the first curved surfaces neighboring to each other to form a groove extending in the longitudinal direction of the first fibrous component so that the second fibrous component extends in parallel to the first fibrous component in the groove.
- (2) the circumferential length of the conjugated fiber occupied by the second fibrous component is in a range of 40 to 90% of the whole circumferential length of the conjugated fiber.
- (3) the number of the second fibrous component constituting the conjugated fiber is in a range of 1 to 16 per one of the first fibrous component.
- (4) the first polymer is selected from the group consisting of thermoplastic polyurethane and thermoplastic polyurethane containing a lubricant and the second polymer is selected from the group consisting of polyolefin-based polymer and polyamide-based polymer.
- In the present invention the slip angle is measured in an apparatus depicted by an accompanying drawing, i.e. FIG. 11. The measuring method of the slip angle is included in the explanation of FIG. 11.
- FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a typical embodiment of a nonwoven fabric;
- FIG. 2 is a photograph showing cross-sections of conjugated fibers;
- FIG. 3 is a diagram tracing the conjugated fibers in photograph of FIG. 2;
- FIG. 4 is a scale-enlarged plan view showing a part of FIG. 1;
- FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along a line V-V in FIG. 4;
- FIG. 6 is a scale-enlarged portion of FIG. 5;
- FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 5 illustrating a relative position of the respective fibers when the nonwoven fabric is stretched;
- FIG. 8 is a photograph similar to FIG. 2 showing a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
- FIG. 9 is a diagram similar to FIG. 3 showing the preferred embodiment;
- FIGS. 10A, 10B and10C are sectional views of the conjugated fibers; and
- FIG. 11 is a side view of a tester.
- Details of the nonwoven fabric and the process for making the same according to the present invention will be more fully understood from the description given hereunder with reference to the accompanying drawings.
- A substantially hexahedral fragment of
nonwoven fabric 1 shown in FIG. 1 in a perspective view has upper andlower surfaces nonwoven fabric 1 and side surfaces defined bycut surfaces 4 a, 4 b, 4 c, 4 d each intersecting the upper andlower surfaces nonwoven fabric 1 comprises elasticallystretchable fibers 11 made of a first thermoplastic polymer, inelasticallystretchable fibers 12 made of a second thermoplastic polymer andconjugated fiber regions 13 formed by theelastic fibers 11 and theinelastic fibers 12 which are joined together side by side. In thenonwoven fabric 1, thesefibers conjugated fiber regions 13 are welded, adhesively bonded or mechanically intertwined together at a plurality of attachingarea 16 so that thesefibers conjugated fiber regions 13 may be substantially fixed in thearea 16. Theelastic fibers 11 and theinelastic fibers 12 are obtained by splitting eachconjugated fiber 13 a corresponding to each of theconjugated fiber regions 13 into afiber component 21 and a fiber component 22 (see FIG. 2) during a production process as will be described later. As will be seen in FIG. 1, theconjugated fiber regions 13 principally lie in the vicinity of the respective attachingarea 16. - In the
nonwoven fabric 1, theelastic fibers 11 have a fineness in a range of 0.1 dtx to 10 dtx and theinelastic fibers 12 have a fineness in a range of 0.05 dtx to 2 dtx. The fineness of theinelastic fiber 12 is preferably smaller than the fineness of theelastic fiber 11. Except for thearea 16, in the surrounding area of each of theelastic fibers 11, one to sixteen of theinelastic fibers 12 extends or extend between the neighboringareas 16, for example, thearea 16 a and thearea 16 b depicted in FIG. 1. In a preferred embodiment of thenonwoven fabric 1, at least threeinelastic fibers elastic fiber 11 a (see FIG. 5) and wrap around thiselastic fiber 11 a. In the vicinity of theareas inelastic fibers elastic fiber 11 a. Thus theelastic fiber 11 and theinelastic fibers 12 are repeatedly joined together (at the areas 16) and spaced apart from each other in a longitudinal direction of theelastic fiber 11. Between the neighboringareas inelastic fibers elastic fiber 11 a, and theelastic fiber 11 a is substantially rectilinear and theinelastic fibers upper surface 2 the ratio of the number of theelastic fiber 11 a to the number of theinelastic fibers elastic fiber 11 a and theinelastic fibers cut surface 4 a and the number of these ends approximately corresponds to the number of theelastic fibers 11 a and theinelastic fibers elastic fibers 11 a to the ends of theinelastic fibers cut surface 4 a is approximately 1:3. - Uses of the
nonwoven fabric 1 are not specified. Thenonwoven fabric 1 can be used for a wearable article, for example, a disposable diaper, disposable pants or a disposable medical gown, and household goods, for example, disposable wipes. In thenonwoven fabric 1 used in these fields it is preferable that a straight distance between the neighboring attachingareas elastic fiber 11 a is 0.5-10 m, and that the lengths of theinelastic fibers areas elastic fiber 11 a. - The
elastic fibers 11 are elastically stretched when thenonwoven fabric 1 of the arrangement as has been described above is held with the hands and pulled in a direction A or in a direction B intersecting orthogonally the direction A, whereupon theinelastic fibers 12 are oriented to extend in the direction A or in the direction B. Upon releasing from the pulled condition, an elastic recovery force of theelastic fibers 11 causes thenonwoven fabric 1 to shrink to the state of FIG. 1. It is well known that such an elastic material as theelastic fiber 11 has a rubbery rough touch, but the presence of the pluralinelastic fibers 12 wrapping around the respectiveelastic fibers 11 is effective to provide the upper andlower surfaces nonwoven fabric 1 with a smooth and slipping touch similar to that of theinelastic fiber 12. In addition, the smooth and slipping touch of thenonwoven fabric 1 of the present invention can be controlled by a fineness, a shape of the cross section and a number of theinelastic fiber 12. The fineness of theinelastic fibers 12 may be minimized, for example, in the order of 0.5 dtx to 1.5 dtx to make the touch of the upper andlower surfaces - FIG. 2 is a photograph showing cross-sections of
conjugated fibers 13 a used to make thenonwoven fabric 1 and FIG. 3 is a diagram tracing theconjugated fibers 13 a in the photograph of FIG. 2. A plurality of theconjugated fibers 13a appearing in FIG. 2 are substantially identical one to another. Each of thesefibers 13 a has a diameter of 25 μm to 30 μm and comprises a singleelastic fiber component 21 and threeinelastic fiber components 22 separably attaching to the surface of theelastic fiber component 21 substantially at regular intervals in a circumferential direction. Theconjugated fiber 13 a is substantially identical to theconjugated fiber component 13 depicted in FIG. 1 in construction as well as in composition. Theconjugated fiber 13 a can be obtained by extruding simultaneously an elastic thermoplastic polymer to form theelastic fiber component 21 and an inelastic thermoplastic polymer to form theinelastic fiber component 22 through nozzles of an extruder for melt spinning well known in the art. - The
elastic fibrous component 21 has on its circumferential surface first curvedsurface portions 51 each bulging radially outward from an axis of theelastic fibrous component 21 andsecond surface portions 52 each depressed radially toward the axis of the elastic firstfibrous component 21 so that these first andsecond surface portions elastic fibrous component 21. Each pair offirst surface portions second surface portion 52 lying between the pair of neighboringfirst surface portions 51 to form agroove 53 wherein thesecond surface portion 51 defines a bottom of thegroove 53 and a total of threegrooves elastic fibrous component 21. Theinelastic fibrous component 22 comprises three inelasticfibrous components elastic fibrous component 21 in thegrooves - The first polymer to be used to obtain the
elastic fiber component 21 includes a thermoplastic polyurethane, a thermoplastic polyurethane containing lubricant and any other thermoplastic elastomers. The second polymer to be used to obtain theinelastic fiber component 22 includes thermoplastic polymer which is incompatible with the first polymer and stretches inelastically. The term “incompatible” used herein means that a conjugation strength of theinelastic fiber component 22 to theelastic fiber component 21 is relatively low and theinelastic fiber component 22 can be easily separated or split from theelastic fiber component 21, when theconjugated fiber 13 a is stretched. The second polymer having such properties may be selected from the group including polyolefine polymer such as polyethylene or polypropylene and polyamide polymer such as nylon. Either homopolymer or copolymer of polypropylene can be used. Theinelastic fiber 12 of polypropylene has preferably crystallinity less than 30% and, more preferably, less than 20% and does not include a fiber to be deemed as a hard elastic fiber. The crystallinity of theinelastic fiber 12 is measured by a DSC method in the present invention. The firstelastic fiber component 21 may be made by thermoplastic polyurethane containing a lubricant such as fatty amide to facilitate theinelastic fiber component 22 to be separated easily from theelastic fiber component 21. - An example of the
elastic fibrous component 21 is a thermoplastic polyurethane whose melt viscosity based on JIS K 7311 is 23×103-180×103 poise. An example of theinelastic fiber component 22 is a polypropylene whose Melt Flow Rate (MFR) is 30 at 230° C. and 2.16 kg/cm2. A preferable weight ratio of theelastic fibrous component 21 to theinelastic fibrous component 22 is 20:80-90:10. In a preferable case of theconjugated fiber 13 a, the inelasticfibrous components 22 associated with eachelastic fibrous component 21 have a circumferential length occupying 40% to 90% of the whole circumferential length of thecomposite fiber 13 a. The areas and shapes of theelastic fibrous component 21 and theinelastic fibrous component 22 in the cross-section of theconjugated fiber 13 a are formed in such a way that theelastic fiber 11 from theelastic fibrous component 21 may have a fineness of 0.1-10 dtx and theinelastic fiber 12 from theinelastic fibrous component 22 may have a fineness of 0.05-2 dtx and less than that of theelastic fiber 11. A preferable inelasticfibrous component 22 may have a flat cross-section such as an oval shape and theinelastic fiber 12 derived from theinelastic fibrous component 22 may have also a flat corss-section. If theinelastic fiber 12 has a flat cross-section, the length of the long axis may be longer than two times of the length of the short axis so that theinelastic fiber 12 can be easily bent. - Using such a
conjugated fiber 13 a, thenonwoven fabric 1 of FIG. 1 is formed in a manner as will be described. Preferably, theconjugated fiber 13 a of continuous type is used. A plurality ofconjugated fibers 13 a is supplied in a machine direction to make a web having a basis weight of 10 g/m2 to 500 g/m2. In the course of making such a web, the attachingareas 16 depicted in FIG. 1 in which theconjugated fibers 13 a are joined or intertwined together in an inseparable manner may be formed intermittently in one of the machine direction and the cross direction intersecting orthogonally the machine direction by an appropriate treatment, for example, by embossing the web under heating or by jetting high pressure columnar water to the web or by blowing a heated air to the web. This web may be stretched within an elastic range of theelastic fibrous component 21 and under a failure point of theinelastic fibrous component 22, for example, by 70% or more in one direction or in two directions along which the attachingareas 16 are formed intermittently. Thereafter, the web is relieved from the stretched condition and is contracted by the elastic recovery force of theelastic fiber component 21 to obtain thenonwoven fabric 1 depicted in FIG. 1. Between each pair of the neighboring attachingareas areas conjugated fiber 13 a is separated or split along the interfaces of theelastic fiber component 21 and theinelastic fiber components 22 into oneelastic fiber 11 and threeinelastic fiber components 12. At the same time, theinelastic fibers 12 also elongate so as to be permanently deformed and a diameter of eachinelastic fiber 12 is reduced. In thenonwoven fabric 1 obtained by contracting the web, between each pair of the neighboringareas elastic fibers 11 contract so as to describe a substantially straight line or a gentle curve while each of theinelastic fibers 12 longer than theelastic fiber 11 describes a curve which is more complicated than theelastic fibers 11 and intersect theelastic fibers 11 and theinelastic fibers 12. - FIG. 4 is a scale-enlarged plan view showing the
elastic fibers 11 a representing theelastic fiber 11 and theinelastic fibers inelastic fiber 12 on theupper surface 2 of thenonwoven fabric 1 of FIG. 1 obtained in the manner as has been described above, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along a line V-V in FIG. 4. In the vicinity of theareas elastic fiber component 21 and theinelastic fiber components 22 of theconjugated fiber 13 a are not separated, and therefore, theconjugated fiber 13 a forms theconjugated fiber regions 13. Between each pair of the neighboringareas elastic fiber 11 a separated from theinelastic fibers elastic fiber 11 a describes a substantially straight line while theinelastic fibers inelastic fiber 12 b are intersecting theelastic fiber 11 a so as to provide crossing points. At the crossing points theelastic fiber 11 a lies inside and theinelastic fiber 12 b lies outside in the thickness direction of thenonwoven fabric 1. On the cut surface shown in FIG. 5, theinelastic fibers elastic fiber 11 a so as to surround theelastic fiber 11 a. - FIG. 6 is a scale-enlarged perspective view of the
elastic fiber 11 a of FIG. 5. The circumferential surface of theelastic fiber 11 a is defined by firstcurved surface portions 61 each radially bulging outward from an axis of theelastic fiber 11 a with a relatively small curvature radius and secondcurved surface portions 62 each radially depressed toward the axis of theelastic fiber 11 a so that these first and secondcurved surface portions elastic fiber 11 a. The secondcurved surface portion 62 lies between each pair of the firstcurved surface portions 61 neighboring to each other in the circumferential direction and these first and secondcurved surface portions groove 63 extending in the longitudinal direction of theelastic fiber 11 a. These firstcurved surface portion 61, secondcurved surface portion 62 andgroove 63 respectively correspond to thefirst surface portion 51, thesecond surface portion 52 and thegroove 53 of theconjugated fiber 13 a depicted by FIG. 3. - With a wearable article made of the
nonwoven fabric 1 including theelastic fiber 11 and theinelastic fiber 12 depicted in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, the article wearer's skin readily comes in contact with theinelastic fibers elastic fiber 11 a. Consequently, a touch and slip properties of thenonwoven fabric 1 are similar to those of theinelastic fiber 12. This is very true, when the number of theinelastic fibers 12 intersecting theelastic fiber 11 a is relatively large as in the case depicted in FIG. 4 and theelastic fiber 11 a having a rough touch and poor slip properties to the article wearer's skin is embedded among theinelastic fibers 12 on theupper surface 2 of thenonwoven fabric 1. As will be apparent from FIG. 6, theelastic fiber 11 a comes in contact with the article wearer'sskin 69 indicated by imaginary lines merely in the vicinity of the firstcurved surface portions 61 but the secondcurved surface portions 62 rarely comes in contact with theskin 69. In this way, the circumferential surface of theelastic fiber 11 a possibly coming in contact with theskin 69 is limited to an extremely small area having a small curvature radius. Compared to an elastic fiber having a circular cross-section of the same area as that of theelastic fiber 11 a, the surface area of theelastic fiber 11 a coming in contact with theskin 69 is substantially reduced. The smaller the surface area of theelastic fiber 11 a possibly coming in contact with theskin 69 is, the higher the smooth touch and slip properties of thenonwoven fabric 1 to the article wearer'sskin 69 are. Even if theelastic fiber 11 a comes in contact with theskin 69, a gap is left in many cases between theskin 69 and thegrooves 63 of theelastic fiber 11 a and such a gap serves to relieve theskin 69 from a high humid condition since the gap allows a vapour generated within the article to escape outward. Thenonwoven fabric 1 according to the invention can be implemented also in a manner that not theupper surface 2 but thelower surface 3 is constructed as depicted in FIG. 1 or the bothsurfaces - FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 5 showing the
nonwoven fabric 1 being pulled in the direction A indicated in FIG. 4. Theinelastic fibers elastic fiber 11 a as theelastic fiber 11 a is stretched in the direction A so that theseinelastic fibers elastic fiber 11 a as shown in FIG. 7. If most of theinelastic fibers 12 of FIG. 7, orientate in the direction A, the touch and slip properties of thenonwoven fabric 1 may be further similar to the smooth touch and high slip properties of theinelastic fibers 11. - FIGS. 8 and 9 are views similar to FIGS. 2 and 3, exemplarily showing the
conjugated fiber 13 a suitably used in the present invention. Thisconjugated fiber 13 a has a diameter of about 15μ and consists of theelastic fibrous component 21 presenting a semicircular cross-section and theinelastic fibrous component 22 presenting a semicircular cross-section which are separably attached together. Theconjugated fiber 13 a thus presents a substantially circular cross-section and theinelastic fibrous component 22 appearing on a circumferential surface of thisconjugated fiber 13 a occupies approximately 50% of the circumferential length of theconjugated fiber 13 a. Also in thenonwoven fabric 1 obtained from the web comprising theseconjugated fibers 13 a by stretching the web and then allowing the web to contract, a length of the inelastic fiber derived from theinelastic fibrous component 22 is longer than the elastic fiber derived from theelastic fibrous component 21. With such inelastic fibers flexing and/or curving so as to intersect the elastic fibers, the inelastic fibers function to prevent the elastic fibers from coming in direct contact with the article wearer's skin. Consequently, the nonwoven fabric obtained from theseconjugated fibers 13 a exhibits a smooth touch and high slip properties to the article wearer's skin although a level of its slip properties can not be comparative to those exhibited by thenonwoven fabric 1 depicted in FIG. 1. - Since the
nonwoven fabric 1 of the invention may be formed using the web of theconjugated fiber 13 a comprising theelastic fibrous component 21 having thegroove 53 as shown in FIG. 3 and theinelastic fibrous component 22 extending in thisgroove 53, it is easy to obtain theinelastic fiber 12 which has a fineness smaller than a fineness of theelastic fiber 11. - FIGS. 10A, 10B and10C exemplarily illustrate the cross-sections of the
conjugated fibers 13 a. Theconjugated fiber 13 a depicted in FIG. 10A presents a cross-section distinguished from that of theconjugated fiber 13 a depicted in FIG. 9 in that theelastic fibrous component 21 is formed with asingle groove 53. In the case of theconjugated fiber 13 a depicted in FIG. 10B, theelastic fibrous component 21 is formed with a pair ofgrooves 53. Finally, in the case of theconjugated fiber 13 a depicted in FIG. 10C, theelastic fibrous component 21 is formed with fourgrooves 53. In this manner, it is possible without departing from the scope of the invention to form theelastic fibrous component 21 with a selective number of thegrooves 53 in a range of one to sixteen. - FIG. 11 is a side view of a
tester 70 used in the present invention to evaluate the nonwoven fabric with respect to its slip properties. Thetester 70 comprises aplate 71 driven by anelectric motor 73 so that its angle a of a gradient relative to the horizontal plane may be increased at a predetermined rate and ablock 72 to be covered with the nonwoven fabric to be evaluated. Theplate 71 has its upper surface formed of stainless steel having a surface roughness of 12.5s as measured in accordance with JIS B 0601. Theblock 72 is made of stainless steel having a weight adjusted to exert a surface pressure of 10 g/cm2 upon the nonwoven fabric. The nonwoven fabric is attached to theblock 72 so as to cover the entire lower surface of theblock 72. Theplate 71 supporting theblock 72 is rotated around apivot 74 so that the angle α increases at a rate of 2°/sec until theblock 72 begins to slip over the upper surface of theplate 71. The angle α at which theblock 72 begins to slip is defined as a slip angle αs. The smaller the value of αs is, the higher the slip properties relative to the article wearer's skin are. Based on thetester 70, clothing fabric for men's and women's shirts and pants as undergarments made of 100% cotton exhibit the slip angle αs in a range of about 21° to about 25°. - TABLE 1 indicates the slip angle αs exhibited by the examples of nonwoven fabric of the
conjugated fiber 13 a depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3 and control nonwoven fabrics. The nonwoven fabrics of the invention were obtained by subjecting the web having a basis weight of 50 g/m2 to heat embossing both in the machine direction and in the cross direction. Theconjugated fiber 13 a consisted of thermoplastic polyurethane and polypropylene at a weight ratio in a range of 84.4:15.6 to 67.9:32.1 and polypropylene occupied about 70 to 90% of the circumferential length of theconjugated fiber 13 a. The comparative embodiments of nonwoven fabric were made of thermoplastic polyurethane fiber or polypropylene fiber and obtained by subjecting the web having a basis weight of 50 g/m2 to heat embossing in the same manner as in the case of embodiments of the invention. Both in the embodiments of the invention and in the comparative embodiments, a plurality of heat embossed zones each of 0.3 mm2 were formed at a pitch of 2 mm in the machine direction as well as in the cross direction. As will be apparent from TABLE 1, the slip angle αs of thenonwoven fabric 1 depends on the percentage by which polypropylene as theinelastic fibrous component 22 occupies the circumferential length of theconjugated fiber 13 a. In other words, the invention allows the slip angle αs of thenonwoven fabric 1 to be controlled by adjusting the proportion of theinelastic fibrous component 22 occupying the circumferential length of theconjugated fiber 13 a. When thenonwoven fabric 1 is used in a wearing article, the slip angle αs of theupper surface 2 and/or thelower surface 3 is controlled preferably in a range of 25° to 40°. - In order to control the slip angle αs of the
nonwoven fabric 1, it is possible without departing from the scope of the invention to use, in addition to those indicated as the embodiments, theconjugated fiber 13 a consisting of thermoplastic polyurethane and polypropylene at a weight ratio in a range of 20:80 to 90:10. It is also possible to use theconjugated fiber 13 a in which polypropylene occupies 40 to 90% of the circumferential length of thisconjugated fiber 13 a.TABLE 1 Length occupied by polypropylene in the whole Constituents of peripheral conjugated fiber (wt %) length of Slip Thermoplastic conjugate angle polyurethane Polypropylene fiber (%) αs Example 84.4 15.6 70.92 39.3 1 Example 76.5 23.5 75.04 34.3 2 Example 67.9 32.1 86.07 30.3 3 Control 100 — 0 49.1 1 Control — 100 100 21.3 2 - The nonwoven fabric of the present invention can be used industrially for disposable wearable articles and the nonwoven fabric can be industrially manufactured through the manufacturing process of the present invention.
- The nonwoven fabric according to the present invention, even when the nonwoven fabric contains the elastic fiber, allows the smooth touch of the nonwoven fabric to the article wearer's skin to be adjusted by placing in the vicinity of each of the elastic fiber at least one inelastic fiber which is longer than the elastic fiber. The smooth touch to the article wearer's skin can be effectively adjusted by placing a plurality of the inelastic fibers in the vicinity of the elastic fiber so as to surround this elastic fiber. Since the segment of the inelastic fiber defined between a pair of the neighboring attaching areas in which the inelastic fiber is inseparably attached to the elastic fiber is longer than the associated segment of the elastic fiber, the elastic stretchability of the elastic fibers as well as the nonwoven fabric is not disturbed by the inelastic fiber.
- The process according to the present invention for making the nonwoven fabric is primarily characterized in that the conjugated fibers consisting of the elastic fibrous component and the inelastic fibrous component separably attached to the surface of the elastic fibrous component are split into the respective fibrous components so that the inelastic fibers having a smaller fineness may surround the elastic fiber having a larger fineness. In this way, the process according to the present invention can provide thin nonwoven fabric which is elastically stretchable and contractible and allows also at least one of the upper and lower surfaces of the nonwoven fabric to present a smooth touch and high slip properties of the inelastic fiber having a smaller fineness instead of those of the elastic fiber having a larger fineness.
Claims (10)
1. An elastically stretchable nonwoven fabric comprising elastically stretchable first fibers made of a first polymer and inelastically stretchable second fibers made of a second polymer, said nonwoven fabric being characterized by that:
said nonwoven fabric has first and second surfaces as viewed in its thickness direction, said first and second surfaces extending in parallel to each other, said second fiber is bonded to said first fiber at attaching areas formed intermittently along said first fiber and spaced apart from said first fiber between each pair of said attaching areas neighboring to each other, each segment of said second fiber spaced apart from said first fiber between each pair of said attaching areas neighboring to each other being longer than an associated segment of said first fiber, and the number of said second fiber is in a range of 1 to 16 per each first fiber.
2. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 , wherein said first and second fibers intersect with each other in such a manner that said first fiber lies inside and said second fiber lies outside in one of said first and second surfaces.
3. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 , wherein said first fiber has on its circumferential surface first curved surfaces each bulging radially outward from an axis of said first fiber and second curved surfaces each depressed radially toward said axis of said first fiber, said first and second curved surfaces alternately appearing in a circumferential direction of said first fiber, and each pair of said first curved surfaces neighboring to each other in said circumferential direction cooperate with said second curved surface lying between said pair of said first curved surfaces neighboring to each other to form a groove extending in a longitudinal direction of said first fiber so that said second curved surface defines a bottom of said groove.
4. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 , wherein one of said first and second surfaces has a slip angle of 25° to 40°.
5. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 , wherein said first polymer is selected from the group consisting of thermoplastic polyurethane and thermoplastic polyurethane containing a lubricant and said second polymer is selected from the group consisting of polyolefin-based polymer and polyamide-based polymer.
6. A process for making an elastically stretchable nonwoven fabric formed by elastically stretchable first fibers made of a first polymer and inelastically stretchable second fibers made of a second polymer, said process comprising steps of:
feeding, in a machine direction, a plurality of conjugated fibers each consisting of a first fibrous component made of said first polymer and a second fibrous component extending in parallel to and releasably attached to a surface of said first fibrous component and thereby forming a web from said conjugated fibers having a basis weight in a range of 10 to 500 g/m2;
forming said web with a plurality of attaching areas intermittently formed in at least one direction of said machine direction and a cross direction intersecting orthogonally said machine direction so that said conjugated fibers can not be separated one from another at said attaching areas;
stretching said web at least in said one direction within an elastic range of the first fibrous component and under a failure point of said second fibrous component and thereby separating said first and second fibrous components one from another between each pair of said attaching areas neighboring to each other and permanently deforming said second fibrous component; and
allowing said web to contract under an elastic recovery force of said first fibrous component so that said first fiber is obtained from said first fibrous component, said second fiber is obtained from said second fibrous component and said nonwoven fabric is obtained from said web.
7. The process according to claim 6 , wherein said first fibrous component of said conjugated fiber has on its circumferential surface first curved surfaces each bulging radially outward from the axis of said first fibrous component and second curved surfaces each depressed radially toward said axis of said first fibrous component, said first and second curved surfaces alternately appearing in a circumferential direction of said first fibrous component, and each pair of said first curved surfaces neighboring to each other in said circumferential direction cooperate with said second curved surface lying between said pair of said first curved surfaces neighboring to each other to form a groove extending in a longitudinal direction of said first fibrous component so that said second fibrous component extends in parallel to said first fibrous component in said groove.
8. The process according to claim 6 , wherein the circumferential length of said conjugated fiber occupied by said second fibrous component is in a range of 40 to 90% of the whole circumferential length of said conjugated fiber.
9. The process according to claim 6 , wherein the number of said second fibrous component constituting said conjugated fiber is in a range of 1 to 16 per one of said first fibrous component.
10. The process according to claim 6 , wherein said first polymer is selected from the group consisting of thermoplastic polyurethane and thermoplastic polyurethane containing a lubricant and said second polymer is selected from the group consisting of polyolefin-based polymer and polyamide-based polymer.
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- 2003-09-19 CA CA 2498765 patent/CA2498765A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2003-09-19 WO PCT/JP2003/012025 patent/WO2004027138A1/en active Application Filing
- 2003-09-19 EP EP20030797711 patent/EP1559822B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 2003-09-19 TW TW92126004A patent/TW200407478A/en unknown
- 2003-09-19 AU AU2003264529A patent/AU2003264529A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2003-09-19 KR KR1020057004652A patent/KR20050057435A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 2003-09-22 US US10/666,732 patent/US20040132374A1/en not_active Abandoned
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Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
EP1559822A4 (en) | 2008-06-25 |
CN1681985A (en) | 2005-10-12 |
AU2003264529A1 (en) | 2004-04-08 |
WO2004027138A1 (en) | 2004-04-01 |
CN100402725C (en) | 2008-07-16 |
JP4705321B2 (en) | 2011-06-22 |
JP2004131918A (en) | 2004-04-30 |
KR20050057435A (en) | 2005-06-16 |
CA2498765A1 (en) | 2004-04-01 |
EP1559822A1 (en) | 2005-08-03 |
EP1559822B1 (en) | 2012-10-31 |
TW200407478A (en) | 2004-05-16 |
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Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: UNI-CHARM CORPORATION, JAPAN Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:KOBAYASHI, TOSHIO;REEL/FRAME:015072/0808 Effective date: 20040127 |
|
STCB | Information on status: application discontinuation |
Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION |