Apertured nonwoven webs
AssigneeKimberly-Clark Corporation
InventorsKurt W. Ostermeier, Michael C. Josephs
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Webs having a desirable combination of strength and fabric-like characteristics can be prepared by ultrasonically induced fusion of a web of unbonded, molecularly oriented thermoplastic fibers at intermittent regions and in a manner such that the intensity of fusion in the individual intermittent regions diminishes from the center of the regions to their edges. On subsequently stretching, those areas of the regions which are most intensively fused break apart to form the perforations in the web.
Claims8
A strong, stretchable web having desirable fabric-like attributes comprising randomly arranged, molecularly oriented thermoplastic fibers, said web having intermittent perforations through the thickness thereof with the fibers located in the web areas immediately surrounding and defining the perforations being autogenously attached to one another by surface fusion to provide web strength and with the fibers in the regions of the web between the perforations being substantially unbonded to one another, said perforations having propagated outwardly from a central, intensely fused portion of a bond region containing progressively diminishing bond intensity in the direction of the edges thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.