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US 12,653,368 B2Granted
Oil absorbent wiping product
AssigneeKimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.
InventorsYu-Wen Chang, John Gavin MacDonald, Vikram S. Kaul, Jennifer L Doherty, James R. Morgan, Kaiyuan Yang, Michael R. Vaughan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A wiping product is disclosed that is well suited for wiping up oils and greases. More particularly, the wiping product has been engineered to wipe up and absorb oils within the interior of the product. The wiper is made from a laminate containing outer layers designed to wick away and/or adsorb oily substances from a surface. The wiper also includes an elastic middle layer that is oil absorbable. In one embodiment, the outer layers are stretch bonded to the elastic middle layer so that the outer layers gather and create void spaces within the product.
Claims26
A dry wiper for picking up oily substances comprising:
- a first nonwoven outer layer containing synthetic fibers, wherein the first nonwoven outer layer comprises a spunbond web;
- an oleophilic elastic layer comprising a film, the oleophilic elastic layer comprising a thermoplastic elastomer, the thermoplastic elastomer including an amorphous portion and a crystalline portion, the crystalline portion comprising from about 3% to about 25% of the thermoplastic elastomer, the thermoplastic elastomer comprising a latent heat of fusion of from about 15 to about 75 Joules per gram, wherein the thermoplastic elastomer has an oil absorption of about 0.8 grams of oil per gram of copolymer (g/g) or greater at 24 hours;
- and
- a second nonwoven outer layer containing synthetic fibers, wherein the second nonwoven outer layer comprises a meltblown or coform web;
- wherein one or more of the first and second nonwoven outer layers includes at least one microscrubber, wherein the at least one microscrubber comprises an area where the synthetic fibers of the first nonwoven outer layer and/or the second nonwoven outer layer have beenthermally bonded together prior to laminating the one or more of the first and second nonwoven outer layers to the elastic layer, wherein the at least one microscrubber is formed by the synthetic fibers being thermally bonded together;
- wherein the first nonwoven outer layer and the second nonwoven outer layer have been stretch bonded to the elastic layer to form a laminate such that the laminate has a stretch-to-stop of at least 30% in one direction at a load of 2000 grams force and such that the first nonwoven outer layer forms a gathered layer that has a basis weight ratio of greater than about 1.3 when compared to the first nonwoven outer layer laid flat, further wherein the first nonwoven outer layer defines at least one pleated area defined by a plurality of parallel folds, at least certain of the pleats having a pleat amplitude of greater than about 300 microns;
- wherein the first nonwoven outer layer and the second nonwoven outer layer have been stretch bonded to the elastic layer according to a bond pattern that occupies from about 3% to about 25% of a surface area of the elastic layer;
- and
- wherein the resulting dry wiper has an oil absorbency of at least 8 grams of oil per gram of wipe.
6 more elements
A dry wiper for picking up oily substances comprising:
- a first nonwoven outer layer containing synthetic fibers, wherein the first nonwoven outer layer comprises a spunbond web;
- an oleophilic elastic layer, the oleophilic elastic layer comprising a thermoplastic elastomer, the thermoplastic elastomer including an amorphous portion and a crystalline portion, the crystalline portion comprising from about 3% to about 25% of the thermoplastic elastomer, the thermoplastic elastomer comprising a latent heat of fusion of from about 15 to about 75 Joules per gram, the thermoplastic elastomer also including hard block sections that are partially crystalline and amorphous soft block sections, the amorphous soft block sections being oil absorbent while the hard block sections prevent the thermoplastic elastomer from dissolving in oil and wherein the thermoplastic elastomer contained in the elastic layer comprises an ethylene a-olefin copolymer, a propylene a-olefin copolymer, or a combination thereof, wherein the thermoplastic elastomer has an oil absorption of about 0.8 grams of oil per gram of copolymer (g/g) or greater at 24 hours;
- and
- a second nonwoven outer layer containing synthetic fibers, wherein the second nonwoven outer layer comprises a meltblown or coform web;
- wherein one or more of the first and second nonwoven outer layers includes at least one microscrubber, wherein the at least one microscrubber comprises an area where the synthetic fibers of the first nonwoven outer layer and/or the second nonwoven outer layer have been thermally bonded together prior to laminating the one or more of the outer layers to the elastic layer, wherein the at least one microscrubber is formed by the synthetic fibers being thermally bonded together;
- wherein the first nonwoven outer layer and the second nonwoven outer layer have been stretch bonded to the elastic layer to form a laminate such that the laminate has a stretch-to-stop of at least 30% in one direction at a load of 2000 grams force and such that the first nonwoven outer layer forms a gathered layer that has a basis weight ratio of greater than about 1.3 when compared to the first nonwoven outer layer laid flat,
- further wherein the first nonwoven outer layer defines at least one pleated area defined by a plurality of parallel folds, at least certain of the pleats having a pleat amplitude of greater than about 300 microns.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.