Eccentric hollow conjugated continuous fiber, continuous-fiber nonwoven fabric made therefrom and uses thereof

A continuous-fiber nonwoven fabric comprising an eccentric hollow conjugated continuous fiber comprising a part (A), a part containing a higher melting-point thermoplastic resin (A), and a part (B), a part containing a lower melting-point thermoplastic resin (B), the parts (A) and (B) bonded to each other in a side by side arrangement, wherein:

• the difference in melting point between the higher melting-point thermoplastic resin (A) and the lower melting-point thermoplastic resin (B) is 5° C. or greater;
• the eccentric hollow conjugated continuous fiber has a part (A):part (B) proportion in the range of 5 to 30 weight %:95 to 70 weight %;
• the eccentric hollow conjugated continuous fiber has a cross-section in which the thickness (a) of the part (A) is smaller than the thickness (b) of the part (B), a ratio of the thickness (a) of the part (A) to the thickness (b) of the part (B) [a/b] being in a range of 0.1 to 0.9on a cross-section of the eccentric hollow conjugated continuous fiber,
• wherein in the cross-section, the thicknesses (a) and (b) are each defined as the longest distances from the circumference of the hollow to the facing circumference of the cross-section of the fiber in the parts (A) and (B), respectively;
• wherein the eccentric hollow conjugated continuous fiber has the hollow eccentric towards part (A) and is crimped;
• wherein the eccentric hollow conjugated continuous fiber has a fiber section that is a cross-section obtained by cutting the fiber perpendicular to a longitudinal axis, in which a ratio of a total length of the outer circumference of the part (A) to a total length of the outer circumference of the fiber section is lower than 40%;
• and
• wherein the continuous-fiber nonwoven fabric has a bulkiness of 0.014 mm/(g/m2)or higher wherein the bulkiness is a quotient obtained by dividing a thickness (mm) of the continuous-fiber nonwoven fabric by a basis weight (g/m2of the continuous-fiber nonwoven fabric.

A mixed-continuous-fiber nonwoven fabric comprising an eccentric hollow conjugated continuous fiber containing a part (A), a part containing a higher melting-point thermoplastic resin (A), and a part (B), a part containing lower melting-point thermoplastic resin (B), the parts (A) and (B) bonded to each other in a side by side arrangement, and a non-crimped continuous fiber, wherein:

• the difference in melting point between the higher melting-point thermoplastic resin (A) and the lower melting-point thermoplastic resin (B) is 5° C. or greater;
• the eccentric hollow conjugated continuous fiber has a part (A):part (B) proportion in the range of 5 to 30 weight %:95 to 70 weight %;
• the eccentric hollow conjugated continuous fiber has a cross-section in which the thickness (a) of the part (A) is smaller than the thickness (b) of the part (B), a ratio of the thickness (a) of the part (A) to the thickness (b) of the part (B) [a/b] being in a range of 0.1 to 0.9on a cross-section of the eccentric hollow conjugated continuous fiber;
• wherein the eccentric hollow conjugated continuous fiber has the hollow eccentric towards part (A) and is crimped;
• wherein the eccentric hollow conjugated continuous fiber has a fiber section that is a cross-section obtained by cutting the fiber perpendicular to a longitudinal axis, in which a ratio of a total length of the outer circumference of the part (A) to a total length of the outer circumference of the fiber section is lower than 40%;
• and
• wherein the eccentric hollow conjugated continuous fiber has a single fiber strenght of 2 gf/d or greater.