Fabrics composed of ribbon-like fibrous material and method to make the same

A method of making ribbon-like, conjugate, spun filaments, the method comprising the following steps:

• providing at least one low-softening point thermoplastic core component, and at least one high-softening point sheath component to the respective core and sheath portions of a sheath-and-core type conjugate spinning die under extrusion conditions;
• extruding the components into conjugate filaments, each conjugate filament have a sheath composed of at least one high-softening point component that substantially envelops a core composed of at least one low-softening point thermoplastic component;
• quenching the extruded conjugate filaments downstream of the spinning die;
• drawing the extruded conjugate filaments as they are being quenched thereby achieving an average filament diameter ranging from about 0.5 to about 100 microns;
• and
• applying a flattening force to durably distort the core of individual filaments into a ribbon-like configuration having a width to height ratio of greater than about 2:1.

A flexible fabric comprising a fibrous matrix of ribbon-like, conjugate, spun filaments joined at spaced apart bond locations, the filaments comprising:

• a ribbon-like core having a greater width than height and composed of at least one low-softening point thermoplastic component, and
• a sheath composed of at least one high-softening point component, the sheath substantially enveloping the core;
• wherein the individual filaments are:
• (i) substantially unattached between the spaced-apart bond locations, and (ii) oriented so that their widths are substantially in the planar dimension of the fabric.

Ribbon-like, conjugate, spun filaments comprising:

• from about 50 to about 99 percent, by weight, of a low-softening point thermoplastic component forming a ribbon-like core;
• and
• from about 1 to about 50 percent, by weight, of a high-softening point component forming a sheath that substantially envelops the core;
• wherein the filaments have been durably flattened to a width to height ratio of greater than about 2:1.