Non-woven fabric and method and apparatus for making the same

A non-woven fabric comprising a plurality of re-arranged fibers to form yarn-like fiber groups wherein fiber segments within a group are compacted and substantially parallelized, and a plurality of highly entangled areas, some of said entangled areas interconnecting said yarn-like fiber groups while others of said entangled areas being disposed in a yarn-like fiber group.

A non-woven fabric comprising a multiplicity of yarn-like fiber groups interconnected at junctures by fibers common to a plurality of said groups to define a pre-determined pattern of holes, said yarn-like fiber groups comprising a plurality of parallel and tightly compacted fiber segments, the fiber segments in at least some of said yarn-like groups being twisted whereby the fiber segments follow a helical path as they pass along said yarn-like fiber group.

A non-woven fabric having a ratio of fiber area density to aperture clarity of at least 20 as determined by Grey Histogram Image Analysis. by Grey Histogram Image Analysis.

A machine to produce a non-woven fabric having a predetermined pattern of holes defined by yarn-like fiber groups interconnected at junctures from a layer of starting fibrous material, the individual fibrous elements of which are capable of movement under the influence of applied fluid forces, which comprises a three dimensional backing member having a specific topographical configuration for supporting a fibrous web thereon, said backing member having a plurality of pyramids disposed in a pattern over one surface thereof, each pyramid having an apex and a base, and a plurality of sides extending from the apex to the base, the sides of the pyramids being at an angle greater than 55% to the horizontal surface of the backing member, said backing member including a plurality of openings therein, said opening being disposed in a predetermined pattern with respect to said pyramids and means for projecting adjacent fluid streams simultaneously against the top of said pyramids while a fibrous layer is disposed thereon.

A machine for producing a rearranged non-woven fabric from a layer of starting fibrous material, the individual fibrous elements of which are capable of movement under the influence of applied fluid forces which comprises;

• a rotatable hollow drum having a plurality of pyramids extending from the outer surface of said drum, said pyramids being disposed axially and circumferentially of the drum, each pyramid having an apex and a base and a plurality of sides extending from the apex to the base, the sides of the pyramids being at an angle of greater than 55.degree. to the surface of the drum, said drum surface having a plurality of openings disposed in a predetermined Pattern, means for positioning said fibrous layer on the apices of the pyramids over a portion of the periphery of the drum, means located outside the drum for projecting adjacent fluid streams simultaneously against said fibrous layer and then against the Pyramids and then through the openings and into the drum, means for rotating said drum while said fluid is being projected against said outside surface, means disposed inside the drum to remove the fluid from the surface of the drum and means for removing said rearranged fabric from the surface of the drum.

The method of producing a non-woven fabric containing spaced openings defined by groups of fiber segments from a layer of a randomly arranged overlapping fibers in frictional engagement with one another, said fibers being capable of movement in response to applied fluid forces which comprises;

• supporting the layer locally throughout the area to be affected to maintain its integrity, while the layer is so supported, moving segments of fibers in said layer, sidewise from areas of the layer spaced laterally and longitudinally from each other, into closer proximity to and increased parallelism with segments of adjacent fibers lying between said spaced areas, simultaneously moving segments of fibers in a circumferential path about the segments of fibers which are moved into closer proximity and increased parallelism by applying to the approximate centers of each immediately adjacent pair of spaced areas forces having opposed lateral translatory components of force acting parallel to the plane of the layer and cooperating rotational components of force, a portion of said rotational components of force acting in the plane of the fibrous layer and parallel to said plane, while other rotational forces act in the plane of the fibrous layer and perpendicular to said plane.