APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING NON-WOVEN FLEECES

• US 3,802,817 A
• Filed: 09/29/1972
• Issued: 04/09/1974
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/1969
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Masato Goto, Mutsuo Matsuki, Sadaji Nishimura
• Original Assignee: Masato Goto, Mutsuo Matsuki, Sadaji Nishimura
• Inventors: Matsuki, Mutsuo, Nishimura, Sadaji, Goto, Masato
• Primary Examiner(s): Spicer, Jr., Robert L.
• Application Number:
  US05/293,694
• Time in Patent Office: 557 Days
• Field of Search: 57/164 264/21F,177F 161/175 425/66,72,83
• US Class Current: 425/66
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 3/03 at random

Abstract

The invention relates to a process for the manufacture of a fleece-like sheet having a non-woven texture, from a large number of melt-spun monofilaments. The improvement resides in the arrangement of the melt-spun monofilaments in a curtain-like form which is then subjected to the action of a pair of air jet streams in a sucker only once during travel of the curtain of monofilaments from the both sides thereof, the jet velocity of said jet streams being selected to be in the turbulent flow range, and then projected from the sucker onto a travelling gas pervious belt-like collector.

Claims

1. An apparatus for the manufacture of a fleece-like non-woven fiber structure in the form of a sheet comprising an orifice plate having a plurality of extrusion orifices arranged generally in an elongated rectangular array having a longitudinal ring substantially equal to the width of the non-woven fibrous sheet to be manufactured through which an artificial high polymer material is melt-spun into a corresponding array of monofilaments, a sucker unit positioned below said orifice array at a sufficient distance to allow said monofilaments to solidify at least on the surfaces thereof and to allow said monofilaments to be stretched at least twice their length, said sucker unit comprising a first member having an elongated slot extending vertically therethrough for receiving said array of monofilaments in a substantially planar curtain and a second member having an elongated slot extending therethrough in vertical alignment with the slot in slot in said first member, the slot in said second member having internal walls flaring outwardly adjacent the first member to define a V-shaped groove, said first member extending into said groove in closely spaced-apart relation to the walls of said groove to define an inlet passage means on each side of said first member, plenum chamber means disposed on opposite sides of said first and second members in communication with each of said inlet passage means and moving collector means disposed below said sucker unit for receiving said monofilament in the form of a fleece-like non-woven fibrous structure.

2. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the angle of convergence between the orifices along the longitudinal edges of said array and the vertical plane in which said monofilaments are disposed during passage through said slots is between 10* and 15*.

3. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said outwardly flaring walls of said slot in said second member are disposed at an angle of approximately 30* with respect to each other and the opposed walls of the portion of said first member extending into said slot are disposed at a lesser angle with respect to each other.

4. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first member is made of common steel and extends into said groove approximately one half the depth of said groove and is provided with walls on opposite sides of said slot each of which has a thickness relative to the length of said slot on the order of approximately 1 to 1,000.