Crimped polymeric fibers and nonwoven webs made therefrom with improved resiliency
AssigneeKimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.
InventorsTy J. Stokes, Ryan C. Frank
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention is directed to crimped and resilient polymeric fibers and to fabrics and laminates made from the fibers. In general, the fibers are produced by crimping a polymeric fiber and then cross-linking a polymer and/or monomer contained within the fiber. Cross-linking the polymer makes the crimp contained with the fiber more permanent and more resilient. When formed into a nonwoven web, the fibers produce high loft fabrics which are resilient to compressive forces. Nonwoven webs made in accordance with the present invention are particularly well suited for use in filter products and liquid absorbent products.
Claims38
A process for producing resilient nonwoven webs from crimped fibers comprising the steps of:
- a) Providing a crimped fiber made from a polymeric material, said polymeric material comprising polyethylene;
- b) Forming said crimped fiber into a nonwoven web;
- and
- c) Thereafter, cross-linking said polyethylene contained in said crimped fiber thereby making the crimp present in said fiber more resilient to compression.
A process for producing resilient nonwoven webs from crimped fibers comprising the steps of:
- a) Melt spinning multicomponent fibers, said fibers containing a first polymeric component and a second polymeric component, said first polymeric component containing a cross-linking agent, said cross-linking agent comprising a photoinitiator;
- b) Crimping said multicomponent fibers;
- c) Forming said multicomponent fibers into a nonwoven web;
- and
- d) Exposing said nonwoven web to electromagnetic radiation, said electromagnetic radiation activating said photoinitiator for causing said first polymeric component to cross-link.
A resilient nonwoven web comprising a polymeric fiber having a resilient crimp, said polymeric fiber being made from a polymeric material, said polymeric material comprising polyethylene, said polyethylene being cross-linked after being formed into said nonwoven web thereby making the crimp present in said fiber more resilient to compression.
A resilient nonwoven web comprising:
- crimped polymeric fibers made from a melt extruded polymeric material, said polymeric material comprising polyethylene, said polyethylene being cross-linked after being formed into said nonwoven web thereby making the crimp present in said fiber more resilient to compressive forces exerted on said nonwoven web.
A process for producing resilient nonwoven webs comprising the steps of:
- adding a thermoset monomer to a polyolefin;
- meltextruding said polyolefin into fibers;
- crimping said fibers;
- forming said fibers into a nonwoven web;
- and
- exposing said nonwoven web to ultraviolet light, said ultraviolet light initiating free radicals causing said thermoset monomer to polymerize thereby causing the rigidity of said crimped fibers to increase.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.