Cloth-like, liquid impervious composite material and method for making the same
AssigneeKimberly-Clark Corporation
InventorsPaul T. Van Gompel, Karen M. B. Yaccarino
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The cloth-like, liquid impervious composite material is made by applying a nonwoven layer of loose, unadhered fibers to a liquid impervious film, and then point-bonding the nonwoven layer to the liquid impervious film to form discrete points of adhesion between the fibers and film. Because the fibers in the nonwoven layer are loose and unadhered when applied to the film, the resulting composite material has improved loft and softness. Also, when the composite material is elasticized by an elastic material, it gathers into a more pleasing appearance.
Claims36
A method for making a cloth-like, liquid impervious composite material, comprising the steps of:
- providing a liquid impervious film as a carrier sheet,
- depositing loose, unadhered fibers that are free of any bonding between individual fibers to the liquid impervious film to form a cloth-like nonwoven surface thereon, and
- point-bonding the deposited loose, unadhered fibers to the liquid impervious film to form discrete points of bonding between the fibers and film, thereby forming a cloth-like liquid impervious composite material having good loft and softness.
A cloth-like, liquid impervious composite material made by the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a liquid impervious film as a carrier sheet,
- depositing loose, unadhered fibers that are free of any bonding between individual fibers to the liquid impervious film to form a cloth-like nonwoven surface thereon, and
- point-bonding the deposited loose, unadhered fibers to the liquid impervious film to form discrete points of bonding between the fibers and film.
A cloth-like, liquid impervious composite material, comprising:
- a liquid impervious film having opposite surfaces,
- loose, unadhered fibers disposed on one of said surfaces to provide a cloth-like nonwoven layer on said one surface, and
- a plurality of bond points discretely bonding points of said liquid impervious material to respective points said nonwoven layer,
- each said bond point having an area between about 0.05 to about 1.5 mm.sup.2,
- said bond points being individually spaced apart between about 0.5 to about 4.0 mm,
- said bond points having a cumulative area between about 5% to about 50% of the area of mutually facing surfaces of said liquid impervious film and said nonwoven layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.