Non-woven fabric

• US 8,088,315 B2
• Filed: 06/28/2006
• Issued: 01/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Manel Torres
• Original Assignee: Manuel Torres
• Inventors: Torres, Manel, Luckham, Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Theisen, Mary F
• Application Number:
  US11/993,928
• Publication Number:
  US 20090036014A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,015 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 264/115
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 3/30 for aerosols aerosol containers B65D83/14
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 1/407 containing absorbing substances, e.g. activated carbon
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 1/4218 Glass fibres
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 1/4234 Metal fibres
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 1/4242 Carbon fibres
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 1/425 Cellulose series
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 1/4266 Natural fibres not provided for in group D04H1/425
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 1/4291 Olefin series
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 1/587 characterised by the bonding agents used
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 1/64 the bonding agent being applied in wet state, e.g. chemical agents in dispersions or solutions
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 1/655 characterised by the apparatus for applying bonding agents
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 1/72 the fibres being randomly arranged
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 442/60 Nonwoven fabric [i.e., nonwoven strand or fiber material]

Abstract

This invention relates to non-woven fabrics, in particular to a method of making fabrics by spraying fibres onto a support member, and to a mixture of fibres, binder and diluent for use in the method of the invention. The present invention has the objective of providing a composition that can be used to produce fabrics having an improved texture and which gives excellent results when sprayed as an aerosol using a propellant.

Claims

1. A method for producing a non-woven fabric comprising the steps of:

a) providing a container containing a composition which is capable of producing a spray of the composition, wherein the composition comprises fibres, a binder and a diluent characterized in that the binder is a thermoplastic elastomeric block copolymer and;

b) spraying the composition onto a supporting surface.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the binder is a styrene-diene-styrene triblock copolymer.

3. The method according to claim 2 wherein the diene is butadiene or isoprene.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the diluent comprises a propellant and/or a solvent.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the diluent comprises a propellant selected from the group consisting of liquefied petroleum gas, dimethyl ether or carbon dioxide and mixtures thereof.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the diluent comprises a propellant which makes up between 20 and 90% of the composition.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the diluent comprises a solvent selected from the group consisting of petroleum ether having a boiling point of between 30 to 60°

C., dimethoxymethane, diethyl ether and dimethyl ether.

8. A method according to claim 1, wherein the diluent in the composition comprises a propellant and step a) comprises pressurising the container above 1 and up to 20 atmospheres.

9. A method according to claim 1, wherein the spray formed in step b) is a fine spray with droplet size less than 500 micron.

10. A method according to claim 1, wherein the distance between a spray point on the container and the supporting surface is 10 to 200 cm.

11. The method according to claim 6, wherein the diluent comprises a propellant which makes up between 40 and 80% of the composition by weight based on the total weight of the composition.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the diluent comprises a propellant which makes up between 50 and 70% of the composition by weight based on the total weight of the composition.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the is diluent comprises dimethyl ether.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the distance between the spray point on the container and the supporting surface is 50 to 150 cm.

15. The method of claim 2, wherein the diluent comprises a propellant and/or a solvent.

16. The method of claim 3, wherein the diluent comprises a propellant selected from the group consisting of liquefied petroleum gas, dimethyl ether and carbon dioxide and mixtures thereof.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the diluent comprises a propellant which makes up between 20 and 90% of the composition by weight, based on the total weight of the composition.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the diluent comprises a solvent selected from the group consisting of a solvent selected from the group consisting of petroleum ether having a boiling point of between 30 to 60°

C., dimethoxymethane, diethyl ether and dimethyl ether.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the diluent comprises dimethyl ether.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the diluent in the composition comprises a propellant and step a) comprises pressurizing the container above 1 and up to 20 atmospheres.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the spray formed in step b) is a fine spray with droplet size less than 500 micron.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the distance between a spray point on the container and the supporting surface is 10 to 200 cm.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the distance between the spray point on the container and the supporting surface is 50 to 150 cm, and step a) comprises pressurizing the container between 8 and 15 atmospheres.