Process for bonding non-woven fibrous sheets and articles made therefrom

A process for bonding a first layer of fibrous, non-woven, polymeric sheet material to a second layer of compatible, thermoplastic, polymeric sheet material comprising the steps of:

• a. Superposing, in overlapping contact with one another, said first and second layers of polymeric sheet material to form a composite sheet;
• b. applying at least one stream of hot polymeric material onto the surface of said second layer of polymeric sheet material to form a narrow continuous bead of hot polymeric material;
• and
• c. after a time sufficient to allow the hot polymeric material of said bead to begin to fuse said first layer of non-woven polymeric sheet material, cooling said bead by contacting it with a smooth solid surface, maintained at a temperature below the solidification temperature of the polymeric material in said bead, and simultaneously deforming said bead, by pressing said solid surface against the upper surface of said bead with a force sufficient to cause the hot polymeric material of said bead to permeate said first layer of non-woven polymeric sheet material and to cause the edges of said bead to extend beyond the region where the polymeric material of the bead has permeated said first layer of non-woven polymeric sheet material.