Elastic nonwoven fabric
AssigneeDelaware Valley Corporation
InventorsD. Paul DiMaggio, Jr., Nash Abu Saaduh, Timothy J. Curtis
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A dry laid nonwoven needlepunched fabric held together by elastic weld joints and a method for making the same. The fabric is made with binder fibers that have been modified to include an elastomeric component. Binder staple fibers and higher melt staple fibers are mixed, dry laid, layered and needlepunched to form a flat web. The web may be put through a structuring loom to produce a fabric with a textured outer surface formed by loops or raised strands of the higher melt fiber. The fabric is thermal bonded so as to form the weld joints that hold the higher melt fibers into the base of the fabric. The elasticity of the weld joints results in an elastic fabric.
Claims28
A nonwoven fabric comprising:
- a base of needlepunched interentangled fibers;
- a textured face on top of said base, formed by said fibers;
- and
- a multiplicity of weld joints interspersed within said base to hold said fibers within the fabric, said weld joints including an elastomeric component in sufficient quantity such that said nonwoven fabric is moderately elastic.
A nonwoven web comprising:
- higher melt staple fibers and low melt binder staple fibers interentangled to form a web, said binder staple fibers have been modified to include an elastomeric component.
A nonwoven fabric comprising:
- a nonwoven needlepunched web, said web having a base of interentangled polypropylene fibers and a textured face formed by said polypropylene fibers;
- and
- a multiplicity of weld joints formed from polyethylene interspersed within the base of said polypropylene web to hold said fibers within said web, said weld joints further including an elastomeric component in sufficient quantity such that said nonwoven fabric is moderately elastic.
A nonwoven web comprising:
- polypropylene staple fibers and polyethylene binder staple fibers interentangled to form a web, said polyethylene fibers being modified with an elastomeric component.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.