NONWOVEN FABRIC

• US 20070298671A1
• Filed: 05/14/2007
• Published: 12/27/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/23/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Unicharm Corporation
• Original Assignee: Unicharm Corporation
• Inventors: KIMURA, Akihiro, ISHIKAWA, Hideyuki, MIZUTANI, Satoshi, NODA, Yuki
• Granted Patent: US 8,143,177 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 442/334
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 1/42 characterised by the use of certain kinds of fibres insofar as this use has no preponderant influence on the consolidation of the fleece
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24992 Density or compression of components
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 442/60 Nonwoven fabric [i.e., nonwoven strand or fiber material]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 442/608 Including strand or fiber material which is of specific structural definition
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 442/689 Hydroentangled nonwoven fabric
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 442/696 Including strand or fiber material which is stated to have specific attributes [e.g., heat or fire resistance, chemical or solvent resistance, high absorption for aqueous compositions, water solubility, heat shrinkability, etc.]

Abstract

It is an objective of the present invention to provide a nonwoven fabric prepared so as to be able to rapidly transfer a predefined liquid. The nonwoven fabric is formed by jetting a fluid, which consists mainly of gaseous matter, to a fiber web 100 supported from beneath by a predefined breathable support member, from an upper surface side in order to move fibers in the fiber web 100. A number of groove portions 1 and a number of convex portions 2 are formed on a jetted area of the nonwoven fabric in the direction in which the area is extended, and the fiber density of the groove portions 1 is less than the fiber density of the convex portions 2.

Claims

1. A nonwoven fabric having a first direction and a second direction comprising:

a plurality of jetted areas to which a fluid is jetted; and

a plurality of nonjetted areas to which the fluid is not jetted,

wherein the nonwoven fabric is formed by jetting the fluid, comprising mainly of gaseous matter, to a fiber aggregate, and

a fiber density of each of the jetted areas is less than a fiber density of each of the nonjetted areas.

2. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 1, wherein a weight of each of the jetted areas is less than a weight of each of the nonjetted areas.

3. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 1, wherein the content of a fiber oriented in the first direction is less than the content of a fiber oriented in the second direction in each of the jetted areas.

4. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 1, wherein a value of percent open area measured from a first surface side in the thickness direction of the nonwoven fabric is greater than a value of percent of open area measured from a second surface side which is opposite to the first surface side in each of the nonjetted areas.

5. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 1, wherein each of the jetted areas comprises a number of groove portions hollowed in the thickness direction of the nonwoven fabric on the first surface side of the nonwoven fabric, and each of the nonjetted areas are disposed along each of the groove portions and comprise a number of convex portions protruding in the thickness direction on the first surface side.

6. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 5, wherein each of the convex portions comprises side portions formed on both sides of the convex portions, and the fiber density of each of the side portions is greater than the fiber density of each of the groove portions.

7. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 6, wherein the fiber density of each of the side portions is greater than the fiber density of the center portions that are sandwiched between the side portions of each of the convex portions.

8. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 5, wherein a difference between the value of the percent open area measured from the first surface side and the value of the percent open area measured from the second surface side is no less than 5% in each of the convex portions.

9. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 5, wherein the fiber density of each of the groove portions is no greater than 0.18 g/cm³, and the fiber density of each of the convex portions is no greater than 0.20 g/cm³.

10. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 5, wherein each of the groove portions comprises a number of sparse areas where the fiber density is less than an average fiber density of a bottom portion formed at a bottom of the groove portions.

11. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 10, wherein the sparse areas are openings.

12. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 11, wherein the fiber density of a peripheral border of each of the openings is greater than the fiber density of the area sandwiched between the openings in the groove portions.

13. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 11, wherein the fiber in the peripheral border of each of the openings is oriented along the peripheral border of each of the openings.

14. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 5, wherein a specific convex portion of the convex portions differs from the convex portions which lie adjacent to the specific convex portion across a specific groove portion of the groove portions in height in the thickness direction.

15. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 5, wherein a top of each of the convex portions comprises a substantially flattened shape.

16. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 5, wherein a number of areas protruding in the direction opposite to the direction in which the convex portions protrude are formed on the second surface side.

17. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 5, wherein the nonwoven fabric comprises a substantially corrugated shape in the first direction.

18. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 1, wherein the second surface side of the nonwoven fabric is a substantially planar surface.

19. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 1, wherein the fiber configuring the fiber aggregate comprises a water-repellent fiber.