CA1278419C - Nonwoven fibrous hydraulically entangled elastic coform material andmethod of formation thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

Nonwoven fibrous elastomeric web material, including absorbent webs and fabric web material, and methods of forming the same, are disclosed. The elastomeric web material is a hydraulically entangled coform or admixture of (1) meltblown fibers, such as elastic meltblown fibers and (2) pulp fibers and/or staple fibers and/or meltblown fibers and/or continuous filaments, with or without particulate material; such coform can be hydraulically entangled by itself or with other materials, including, e.g., super absorbent particulate material. The use of meltblown fibers facilitates the hydraulic entangling, resulting in a high degree of entanglement and enabling the use of shorter staple or pulp fibers. The hydraulic entangling technique provides a nonwoven fibrous elastic material having increased web strength and integrity, and allows for better control of other product attributes, such as absorbency, wet strength and abrasion resistance. A smooth surfaced and/or highly absorbent elastic web material, with isotropic strength and recovery in both machine- and cross-directions, can be provided according to the present invention.

Description

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lhe present invention rela~es to nonwoven fibrous elastic material ie.g., a nonwoven ribrous elas~ic web~, including reinrorcea elas~ic malerial, wherein tne nonwoven ribrous elastic material is a hydraulically entangled cororm ~e.g., admix~urej of meltblown fibers and fibrous ma~erial ~ror example, meltblown ribers of an elastomeric material and at leas~ one or ~l~ pulp ribers, ~) staple fibers, ~) meltbiown ribers and ~4) continuous fllaments), with or withoul particulate material; nonwoven material incluaing laminates of such nonwoven fibrous elastomeric web attached ~o a ~ilm or fibrous web; ana methods o~ forming such materiai.
lt has been desired to provide a cororm which has incre-ased strength and s~ructural integri~y, and, depending on the ma~erîals u~ilized, wnich can be made low linting and highly : absorbent, wlth excellent hand, drape, and anisotropic s~retcn anà recovery properties. It has also been desired ~o provide such cororm, which can be produced relativeiy inexpensively. ~uch coform would have wide use in a ran~e or applications, including wipes, absorbent inserts and outer covers ~or diapers, reminine napkins and incontinence ar-ticles, bibs, bed mattress pads, terry cloth and various durables, .ncluding garmen~s.
U.~. ~atent No. 4,1~0,324 to Anderson, et al., dis-closes a nonwoven fabric-like composite material which consists essentially of an air-formea matrix of thermoplastic polymer microIibers having an average fiber diame~er of less than about 10 microns, and a multiplicity or individualized wood pulp ribers disposed throughout the matri.x of microfib-ers and engaging at least some of the microfibers to space~he microfibers apar~ from each :

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other. This patent disclo~e~ that the wood pulp fibers can ba intertwlned by and h~ld captive within th~ matrix of ~lcro~ib~rs by mechanical entanglement of the microfibers wlth thQ wood pulp fibexs achi~ved durin~ incorporation and deposition o~ the wood pulp fiber and meltblown fiber~; and that the mechanica} entangle~ent and intertwining of the microfibers and wood pulp fibers alone, without additional bonding such a3 adhesiva bondiny, thermal bonding, addi-tional ~echani~al bonding, etc., ~orms a coherent inte ~rated fibrou~ structure. This patent further disclose~
that the strength of the web can be improved by embossing the web either ultra~onically or at an elevated temperature so that the thermoplastic microflbers ar~ flattened into a `~ilm-like structure in the embossed area~. Additional fibrous and/or particulate materlal~, includinq synthetic fiber`s sucn as stapl~ nylon ~iber~ and natural f iber~ such as cotton, flax, jut~ and silk can h~ incorpor~ted in th~
composite mater$al. The material is formed by initially ~or~ing a primary air stream containin~ meltblow~ micro-fibers, forming a secondary air stream containing wood pulpfiber~ (or wood pulp fibers and oth2r fiber~; or wood pulp fibers and/or other fibers, and particulats material), merging the primary and secondary streams under turbulent condition~ to form an integrated air stream containing a thorough mixture of the microfibers and added fibers, such as wood pulp fibers, etc., and then directing the integrated air stream onto a forming surface to air-form the fabric-lilce material. A wido variety o~ thermoplastlc polym~r~ are disclosed in Anderson, et al. as being useful for ~ormin~ the meltblown microfibers, such materials including polypropylene and polyethylene, polyamides, polyesters such as polyethylene t~rephthalate and thermo-plastic elastomers such as polyurethanes. This patent dlscloses tha~ ~y appropriate ~alectlon of thermoplastic polymers, materials with different physical properties can be fashioned. Howe~er, the product produc~d by Anderson, et

3 ~.2~ L9 al., particularly when further bonded, lack~ the tactile and vlsual a~thQtic~ nece~sary for textile materials.
U.S. Patent No~ 4,118,531 to ~Iauser di~clo~eR fibrous webs, and m~athod~ o~ or~ing such wQb5, th~ webs including IQicrof ibers and c:rimped bulklng fiber~ . Thi~ patent disclose~ ~hat the webs are formed by i~orming~ thQ micro-~Eibers by a meltblowing technique, admixing th~ crimped bulking ~ibers with the microf ibers, and then depositing the admixture on a collecting surface. This patent di clo~es that the ~ibrou~ webs are resilient and have good heat insulation properties.
U. S . Patent No. 3, 485,706 to Evans disclo~es a taxtil2~1ike nonwoven fabrlc and a process and apparatu~
for its production, wherein the ~abric has fibars randomly entangled with aach other in a repeating pattern o~ l~cal-iz~d entangled regions interconnected by fibar~ extending between ad~ac~nt entangled regions. The pr~ce3~ di~closed in th$~ patent in~olves supporting a layer o~ ~ibrous material on an apertured patterning member gor trea~ment, jetting ~i~uid supplied at prPs~ure~ of at least 200 pounds per square inch (psi) gage to form streams havin~ over 23, 000 energy flux ln oot-pound~/inch2-second at the treakment distarlce, and traversirlg ths supporting layer o~
fibrou~ ma~erial with the streams to entangle fibers in a pattern determined by the supporting member, using a su~icient amount of treatment to produce uni~ormly patterned fabric. (Such technique, of using jetting li~uid str~ams to entangle fibers in forming a bonded web material, is h0rein called hydraulic entanglement.) The initial material is discloced to consist of any web, mat, batt or the like of loose fibers disposed in random relationship with ona another or in any degre~ of alignment. The initia}
mat~rial may be mada by de~ired techniques such as by aarding, random lay-down, air or ~lurry deposition, etc.;
and may consi3t of blend~ oP fibers OI di~erQnt typas and/or ~ize3~ and may include scrim, WOVQn cloth, bonded nonwoven fabrics, or other reinforcing material, which i~

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inc~r~orated into th~ ~inal product by the hydraulic entanglement. This pat~nt discloses the use o~ various ~ibers, lncluding elastic fibers, to be used in the hydraul~c entangling. In Example 56 o~ thi3 patent is illu~trated the preparation o~ nonwov~n, ~ulti-level patterned structuxas composQd o~ two web~ o~ polyester ~taple ~iber~ which havs a w~b of spande~ yarn located th~rebetwean, khe web being ~oinQd to 2ach o~her by application of hydraulic jets o~ water which ~ntangle the ~ibers oY one web wlth the fib~r~ of an adjacent web, with th~ sp~ndex yarn being str~tched 200% durlng the entangling BtBp, thoxeby providin~ a puckared ~abric with high ela~-ticity in the warp direction.
U.S. Pa ent No. 3,494,821 to Evans disclose~ nonwoven fabrics of ~taplP fibers highly entangled with, for exa~ple, continuous filaments or yarns, produced by ass~bling l~y~r o~ rein~orcing filament~ or yarns, and 6taple length te~til~
Sibers, on a patterning me~ber and hydraulically entangl~ng the f$bers by high ~n2r~y t~eat~ent with li~ui~ str~a~ o~
very s~all diam~ter formed at very hlgh pre~ure~.
U.S. Patent No. 4,426,421 to Nakamae, et al. di~close~ a multi-layer composite shaet useful as a substrate for arttficial leather, comprising at least three fibrous layers, namely, a superficial layer consisting o~ spun-laid extremely fine fibers entangled with each other, thereby ~orming a body of a nonwoven fibrous layer; an intermediate layer consisting of synthetic staple fibers entangled with each othor to ~orm a body of nonwoven fibrous lay~r; and a basQ layer consisting of a woven or knit fabric. The compo~it~ sh~et is disclosed to be prepared by superi~posing the layers together in the aforementioned order and, then, incorporating them together to form a body o~ composite sheet by means of a needle-punching or water-stream-e~ecting under a high precsure. This patent discloses that the spun-laid extremely ~ine ribers can be produced by the meltblown method.

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U~S. Paten~ No, 4,209,563 to ~lsson discloses a method o~ making an elastic ~aterial, and the elastic material for~d by ~uch ~ethod, the method including continuously ~orwarding relativ~ly elastomeric filament~ and elongatable but relatively non-elastic filaments onto a forming ~urface and bonding at least 80me of the ilament cro~sings to form a coherent cloth which is subsequently ~echanically worked, a~ by stretching, following which it is allowed to relax;
the elastic modulus of the cloth is substantially reduced after the stretching resulting in the per~anently stretched non-~lastic ~ilaments relaxing and loopiny to lncrease the bulk and improve the feel of the fabric. Forwarding of ~he ~ilaments to the forming sur~ace is positiv~ly controlled, which the patentee contrasts to the use of air ~tream~ to convey the fibers as used in meltblowing spQration~.
Bonding o~ the ~lla~ent to for~ th~ coh~rent cloth may utiliza embossing patterns or smooth, heated roll nips.
U.S. Patent No. 4,g26,420 to LiXhyani discloses a ~onwoYen f abric having el a~tic properties and a proces~ for for~ing euch fabric, wherein a batt composed o~ at least two types o~ staple ~ibers ls sub;ected to a hydraulic entangle-ment treatment to form a spunlaced nonwoven fabric. For the purpose of imparting greater stretch and resilience to the fabric, the process comprises forming the batt of hard fibers and o~ potentially elastic elastomeric fibers, and after the hydraulic entanglement treatment heat-treating the th~s produced fabric to develap elastic characteristics in th~ Qlastomaric fib2rs. The pre~erred polymer for the Q 1 a ~ t o m e r i c f i k e r s i s p o l y ( b u t y l e n e terephthalate)-co-poly-(tetramethyleneoxy) terephthalate.
Th~ hard ~ibers may be o~ any synthetic fiber-~orming material, such a~ polyesters, polyamides, acrylic polymers and copolymers, vinyl polymers, cellulose ~erivatives, gla~s, and the like, as well as any natural fiber~, such as 3.5 cotton, wool, silk, paper and the like, or a blend o~ two or morQ hard fl~ers, tha hard fibers generally having low stretch characteristics as compared to the stretch charac-7~ 9 teri~tics o~ th2 elastlc ~iber#. Thi~ pat~nt furtherdi~close~ that the batt o~ the mixture o~ ~iber~ that i5 hydraulically ~ntangled can be formed by the procQdure~ of forming fib~rs o~ each o~ the m~terial~ separat~ly, and then 5 blending ~hQ ~ibers toge~her, tl~e blend b~ing ~orm~d into a batt on a cardlng machine.
U.s. Patent No. 4,~91,S13 to Suzuki, Qt al. discloses a fiber implant2d nonwo~en fabris:, and ~ethod o~E producing such nonwoven fabric, wherein a fibrou~ w~b con~isting o~
10 ~ibers ~hortsr than 100 mm i~ la~ d upon a ~oamed and elastic sheet o~ open pore type having a thicXn~3s less than 5 mm, with thi~ material then b~ing sub~ected to hydraulic entangling, while the ~oaIaed sheet i~ ~tretched by 10% sr mora, so that thQ short ~ibers~ of thç~ fibrou~ wQb may be 15 implanted dleeply into the lnterior of the ~oamed she~t and not only mutually entangled on the 3urfac~ the ~ibrou~
web but al~o interlooked with material of th~ ~oa~ed sheet along thc surPace as well a~ ln the interior o~ th~ ~oamed sheet . The ~hort f iber~ can include natural fibers such as silk, cotton and flax, regenerated ~iber~ such a~ rayon and cupro-a~moniu~ rayon, semi-synthetic ~ibers such as acetat~ and premix, and synthetic fibers such as nylon~
vinylon, vinylidene, vinyl chlorida, polyester, acryl, polyethylene, polypropylen~, poiyurathane, benzoate and polyclar. The roamed sheet may be o~ ~oamed polyurethane.
While the above-discussed documents disclose products and processes which exhibit some o~ the characteristics or ~ethod step~ o~ the present invention, none disclos~s or sugg~st~ the presently claime~ process or the product resulting ~ro~ this process, and nonQ achieve~ the ~dvan-tages o~ the present invention. Thus, the co~orm web material produced by the prac2s~ in U.S. Patent No. 3,100,324 to Anderson, st al~, when bonded by f urther ~ond ing techniques such as adhesives, lacks th~ a~s~h~tics nQc~s~ary for the web material to b~ used advantageously for textile ~atarials. Moreovex, the non-woven ~abric o~
U.S. Patent No. 3,485, 706 to Evan~ uses staple fibers to provide th~ loo~a ends nece~sary gor the hydraulic enltangl ing .
~rhus, it is desir~d to provide a nonwoven fibrous ela~to~eric web material having increased web strength and integrity over known structures. It i~ further de~ired to provide a nonwoven fibrous elastomeric web material whlch i5, low linting and can be made highly absorbent, which material can have a cloth-like, smooth or textured surface with excelleni: hand, drape, and isotropic stretch and recovery properties, and ~arrier propert~ e~, deperlding on the materials utilized in the web, and which material has improved abrasion resistance. It is furthar desired to provide such material, utili2ing a pro::ess which is simple and relatively inexpensive.

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Accordingly, it 1~; an ob~ ect of the present inYention to provide a nonwoven fibrous elastom~ric material (e.q~, a nonwoven fibrous sel~-supporting elastomeric mater~al, such as a nonwoven elastomeric web) ha~ing high web ~trellgth and integrity, isotropic strength, and with isotropic stretch and recsvery properties, and methods ~or forming such material.
It is a further object o~ the present invention to provide a nonwoven f ibrou~ elastomeric web material having high web strength ~nd integrity, low linting and high durability, which ~aterial is hi~hly absorbent, and methods o~ forming such material.
It i~ a further object of the present invention to provid~ a nonwoven f ibrou~ elastomeric material that has a cloth-like, s~ooth or textured suxface, with excellent hand, drape and lsotropic stretch and recovery properties, which can be used as a fabric for, e.g., durable It is a further ob~ ect o~ the present invention to provide a nonwoven fibrou~ elastomeric material having ~2~ 9 ~mprovea tac~ile and visual aesthetics, for such material ~o is used for various textile purposes, including garments.
It is a s~ill rurther object of the presen~ invention to provide a laminate of such nonwoven fibrous elastomeric ma~erial and another web, eitner fibrous or non-ribrous (e.g., a filmj, naving elastic ~roperties. Sucn laminate can be usea in dis~osable dia~ers (e.g., the nonwoven ribrous elastomeric material being bonded to a film to provide cotton-like reel to tne lamina~e.
It is a rurther object of the present invention to provide a reinforced nonwoven fibrous elastomeric web material, wherein the web includes a reinforcing material such as a scrim, screen, net, melt-s~un nonwoven, woven material, etc., and methods of forming such reinforcea nonwoven fibrous web material.
It is a further object of the present invention wnerein sta~le fibers are not necessary to provide the loose ends necessary ror nydraulic entangling.
The present invention achieves each of tne above objec~s ~0 ~y providing a composite nonwoven fibrous elastomeric ; material rormed by hydraulically entangling a coform comprising an admixture of (1) meltblown fibers and ~) ribrous ma~erial, with or without particulate material incorporated in the aamixture, wherein at least one of the meltblown ribers and fibrous material are elastic so as to provide a product, arter hydraulic entangling, that is elastic. ~esirably, the meltblown fibers can be maae of an elastomeric materiai, whereby the admixture subjected to hvdraulic entanglement is constituted by (1) meltblown ~0 elastic fibers ~e.g., meltblown fibers of a thermoplastic elastomeric material3, and (~) fibrous material ~e.g., at least one of pulp fibers, staple fibers, meltblown ~ibers and continuou~ filaments).
Another as~ect or the invention resides in the ~rocess for for~iny a nonwoven fibrous elastameric web material, the process providing an admixture includiny a first component of meltblown material and a second component 7~

of a leas~ one ma~erial selected rrom tne group consis~ing or pulp ribers, staple ri~ers, melt blown ribers and continuous fiiamen~s, wiln al leasl one OI tne rirs~ and secona com-~onents being elastic. riine web is formed on a support, and a ~ïurality or hign pressure liauid streams are jetced toward at least one surrace or tne admixture so as to hydraulically entangle and inter~wine ~he rirst component and the second component to tnereby form an elastomeric material.
Ihe ribrous material can be ~ul~ riber. iIhe fiber 0 material can be any cellulosic material, including, e.g., wooa fibers, rayon, co~ton, etc.; and the staple ~ibers can be eitner natural or syntnetic staple fibers, including, e.g., wool ribers and polyester ~ibers.
The fibrous material can be meltblown fibers. For example, streams o~ different mel~blown fibers can be intermingled just arter their rormation ~e.g., ius~ arter extrusion and a~tenuation of the polymeric material forming the meltblown ~ibers). The meltblown ribers can be made or dirrerent materials andjor ha~e dir~erent diameters (e.g., ~0 admixture~ or meltblown microribers, or admixtures or meltblown microribers and meltblown macro~ibers, can be subjected to the nydraulic entanglement). Tnus, the admix-ture subjected to hydraulic entanglement can be 100% melt-blown ~ibers. ln any event, the coform ~admixture) must have surricient rree and mobile ribers to provide the desired degree of entan~ling and in~ertwininy, i.e., sufficient ribers to wrap around or in~ertwine and surricient ribers to be wrapped around or intertwined.
The Iibrous material can be continuous rilaments. The continuous ~ilaments can be elastomeric, or can be formed into a web with the elastic meltblown ~ibers and then mechanically worked so that the resulting web has elast.icity, as discussed in the previously-referred--to U.S. Patent No.

4,20g,56~. 1'hus, the continuous filaments can be elastomeric rilaments such as, e.g., s~andex, or can be elastomeric yarns. Moreover, spunbond continuous rilaments, or otner con~inuous rilamen~s or yarn~, can be mixed with the meltbl-own elastic fibers prior to depositing on a collecting A

-~a-surrace, ~ith the admixture or mel~olown elastic fibers and continuous rilaments being hydraulically entangled. Or course, in tnis latter case ir tne continuous rilamen~s are non-elastic, tney must be eionga~able, wnereby mecnanical working istre~clhing, as in U ~. ?atent No. ~,~OY,5~j or tne material arter nydraulic entangling will ~rovide a material naving stretch u~ tO a "sto~ing point'l governed by how much the elongatabie continuous rilaments nad been elongated. In tnis latter A

--10 ~2~341l 9 cas~, looss fibers (e.g., staple fibers) can also be included in the admixture that i5 hydraulically entangled.
In addition, a spunbond web o~ continuous filaments can be lamin~t~d w~th a meltblown elastomeric coform web, and the laminate th~n hydraullcally entangled. Her~ also, as in pr~vious Qmbodi~ents, where the continuou~ fila~ents are non-ela~tic the hydraulically entangled mat~r~al must be sub~ect~d to m~chanical working in order to for~ an ela~tic material. Generally, an admixtur~ of meltblown elastic 10fiber~ and 1005e (staple or pulp) ~iber3 can be laminated to another web and then hydraulically entangled, with the resulting material ~echanically worked, if necessary, as discus~ed above to ~or~ an elastic material within th~ scope of the present invention.
15Th~ use o~ meltblown fibers as part of the admixture sub~ected to hydraul1c entangling facilitate~ ~ntangling.
This rssult~ in a higher degree of anta~glement and allow~
the us~ of shorter staple or pulp fiber Moreover, the use o~ a coform including meltblown fibers dscrease~ th~ amount of energy needed to ashiQve sati~-factory hydraulic entangling, as compared to the amount of en~rgy necessary to, e.g., hydraulically entanglQ together separate layer~ laminated one on the other, with at least one of the layers being elastic fibers. As can b~ appre~
ciated, a decreased amount of ~nergy is required to hydraulically entangle an intimate blend, as compared to the amount of energy needed to hydraulically entangle a laminate to provide an intimate blend.
ThG u3e of meltblown fibers provides an improved product in that the entangling and intertwining among ~he ~eltblow~
~ibers and pulp fibers and/or staple fibers is improved.
Due to the relatively great length and relatively small thioXness o~ the meltblown fibers, wrapping of tha lndi-v~dual maltblown flbers around and within other fibQrs and filaments in the web is enhanced. Moreover, the meltblown fiber~ have a relatively high surface area, small diameters and are a sufSicient distancQ apart from one anoth~r to, 11 ~l2~ 9 e.g., allow csllulos~ fiber9 to ~reely move and wrap around and within the ~eltblown fibers.
Furthermora~ due to t~e relatively long length of the meltblown ela~tlc fibers, th~ product ~or~ed by hydrauli-S cally entangling ~lbers including such melt~lown fibers havebetter recovery; that is/ slippage between entangled bonded ~ibers would ba expected to be le~s than when, e.g., 100%
staple elastic fibers ars used.
In addition, by utilizing a cofor~ of ~1) the m21tblown Piber3 and (2) ~taple fibers and/or pulp fibers and/or meltblown ~ib~rs and/or continuou~ filament~, together with any other material~ incorporated therewith (s.g., parti-culate~), bekter blendlng o~ the variou~ ~ibers and parti-culates are achieved.
Moreover, use of meltblown fibers, as part o~ a coform web that is hydraulically entangled, ha~ the added benefit that, prior to hydraulic entang1e~ent, ths web ha~ som~
dagree of entanglement and integrlty.
Th6 u~e o~ hydraulic ~ntangling techn~que~, to mechani-cally entangle (e.g., mechanically bond1 the fibrousmaterial, rather than u~ing only other bonding technigues, including other mechanical entangling techniques such a~
needle punching, provides a composit~ nonwoven fibrous web material having increased stre.qgth and integrity, with isotropic stren~th properties, while not deteriorating hand, drape and isotropic stretch and recovery` properties, and allows for better control of other product attributes, such as absorbency, wet strength, abxa ion resistance, visual and tactile aesthekics, etc. In addition, us~ of hydraulic entangling adds liveliness to th~ resulting elastic material that i9 not achieved when using, e.g., thermal or chemical bonding techni~ues. That is, the combination of ela~tic and drape propertie~ achievad by the present invention provides a li~linQss in the ~inal product not achieved when using other bonding technique Moreover, use of hydraulic entangling ea~ily permits dissimilar fibrous matsrial~

~ 12 ~27~9 (e.g., ~aterlals that cannot be ohemically or thermally bonded) to b~ used.
Mor~ove~, d~pending on th~ various fibrous material (e.g., pulp a~d/or ~taple ~iber~ and/or meltblown fibers and/or continuous filaments) utilized togethor with the meltblown el~stic fiber~ 1n the co~orm that i8 hydraulically entangl~d, a ~inal product having a cloth lik~, smooth ~ur~aoe can be achiev~d, and/or a product that L highly ab~oxbant and low li:~tinq can bQ achiev~d. Such product has excellent abrasion re~i~tance. Such product can have excall~nt stretch and recovery ~a dQficiency of conventional hydraulically entangled product~), without a rubbery feeling o~ the product (that 1~, th2 product can hav~ a cotton like feel~. In particular, utilizing, 9.g., staple fibers as part o~ the cofor~, tos~ther with th~ meltblown elastic matorial, a fabric that i~ lsotropic (that i~, in both th~
machine direction and cros direction) in both ~t~etch and r~covery propgrtie~, ha~ng a cloth-like smooth sur~ac~, can be achiavad. Such material could have many US~8, rang~ng ~rom dispo~able outer covers to durable fabric~ for clothlng and home furnishings. For ~xampla, in view of th~ ~xcellent drape of thQ entangled product, an ultrasuede product can be provlded by the present invention. Xn addition, the present lnvention can be utilized to fo~m insulation material having stretch pxoperties, such as mattress pads.
Moreover, by incorporating, e.g., a cellulosic, pulp mat~rial fib~r with th~ meltblown elastic material, and hydraulically entangling the admixture of pulp and meltblown elastic ~ib~r~, a highly absorbent, low linting material, having sxcept~onally good structural integrity, can be achieved. Moreover, ~uch aomposite could be made water repellant and u~ed as an outer cover or garment.

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BRI~F ~ESCRI~ION QF TH~ WING~

Flg. 1 is ~ ~chem~tic view o~ on~ ~xample o~ an appar~tu~ ~or rorm$ng ~ nonwoven hydraulically en~angled c:ofor~ elasl:ic web ~aterial o~ the pra~nt invsnt~on;
Figs. 2A and 2B are photomicrogI-aphs, (238x as~d 53x, magni~ica~ion, re~pectively), o~ a hydraulically entangled eofor~ o~ staE~ ibQrs and 11!81t~l0Wn ~la~l:oD~eri~ ~ibers according to the pres~nt invention, with Fig. 2EI bQ~ng at a lowar magni~ ation than Fig. 2A; and Fig~. 3A and 3B are photomicrograph~, (79x and 94x D~agnif ication, re pectively), o~ respective oppo~ita sides o~ a hydraul ically en~angl~d cofor~ of pulp and Jneltblown ~lastomeric ~iber~ according to the preE~ent inventiosl, DETAIl~:D D2SCRIP~XON oF TEIE I~M~IQN

While the inventiorl will be de~cribed ir connectiorl with sp6~ciflc and preferred e~odiment~, it w~ll b~ ~nd~r~tocd that it is not intended to 1 iDli~ the invention to thos~
e~bodiment~. On the contrary, it is intended to cov~r all alterat~on , mo~i~ications and equivalents a~ ~ay be included within the spirit and ~cope of the ln~ntion as de~ined by the appended claims.
Th~ present invention contemplates a nonwoven flbrous : hydraulically entangled coform elastic material and a ~athod of forming the same. The invention involves the processing o~ a coform or admixtur~ of meltblown fibers and flbrous mater~al, with or without particulate material, with aither the meltblown fibar or ~ibrou~ material b~ing ela~tomeric, and with tha ~eltblown ~ibers and fibrou~
materiaI being either alons in ths admixture or being wlth 30 other matQrials, including part:iculate material, and either as a single coform layer or plurality of ~tacked layers.
Tha admlxkurQ is hydraulically entangl~d, that i~, a plurality o~ high pressure liquid columnar ~tream3 are ~ etted toward a sur~ace o~ the admisckure, theraby Dlachani-:", -~ ...... . .. ..

~2~ 3L9 cally encangliny and inter~winlnc; ~ne meltblown ribers and tne ribrous material ribers so as to form the elastic .material. Tne ribrous material can be at least one or pulp fibers, staple fibers, meltblown ribers and continuolls laments.
3y a cororm or meltblown fibers and fibrous material, we mean an admixture (e.g., codeposited admixture) of meltblown ribers and the ribrous material. ~esirably, the ribrous material i5 intermingled with the meltblown fibers jUSt after extruding the material or the meltblown ~ibers tnrough the meltbiowing die, as discussed in U.~. Patent No. 4,100,324.
Where the admixture includes pulp fibers andjor staple fibers and/or continuous filaments in addition to meltblc)wn ribers, witn or wi~hout particulate material, the admixture may contain 1~ to gg% by weight meltblown fibers. Or course, wnere ~he fibrous ma~erial is mel~blown ~ibers, the admixture may be 100~ meltblown ribers. By codepositing the meltblown ribers and the ribrous material in this manner, a substan-tially homogeneous admixture is deposited to be subjected to ~0 the hydraulic entanglement. Various other tecnniques can be utilized to provide the coform. E~or eXample, ~i~ers can be dry laid or wet laid (by conventionai techni~ues) into a web or meltblown ribers, in order ~o form the admixture. As a speciIic embodiment, a meltblown web can be stretched, with fibers being wet laid into the stretched web to rorm the admixture. ~enerally, mixtures o~ meltblown ~ibers ancl fibrous material, which after hydraulic entanglement form an elas~ic material, can be used as the coforms ~admixtures) ~or purpo~es of the present invention.
It i5 not necessary that the coform web (e.g., the meltblown ribers of the coform) be totally unbondecl when ~assed into the hydraullc entangling step. However, the main criterion is that, during the hydraulic entangling, there are surficient rree riDers (~ne ribers are surriciently mobilej to provide the desired degree or entangling. 'l'hus, if tne ~27~34~9 mel~blown r bers have not ~een agglomeratea too much in the meltblowing process, such su~ricient mobility can possibly ~e ~rovided ~y debonding a ligntly bonded web due to tne ~'orce or tne jets auring tne nydraulic entangling. In tnis regard, tihe degree or agglomeration or the deposited admixture, including ~he meltblown fibers, is affected by the processing parameters in ~orming and de~ositing ~he meltblown fîbers, e.g., extruding temperature, attenuation air temperature, auencn air or water temperature, rorming distance, e~c. An 1~ advantageous techniaue to avoid undue agglomera~ion of the deposi~ed admixture tnat is subjected to the nydraulic en~an-yling is to auench the rormed fibers prior to deposition on a coilecting surface. A auenching technique is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3,~5Y,4~1 to Weber, et al.
A7ternatively, the cororm web can be treatead prlor to the hydraulic entangling to su~riciently unbond the ~iDers.
~or example, tne coform web can be, e.g., mechTanically stre~ched and worked ~manipulated), e.g., by using grooved nips or procuberances, prlor to hydraulic entangling to ~0 sufficientiy unbond the fibers.
The terms 7'elastlcl' and "elasto~neric" are used inter-cnangeably herein to mean any materiai which, upon appli~
cation OI a force, is stretchable to a scretched length which i~ at least about 110% or its relaxed length, and which will recov~r at least about 40% or its elongacion upon reiease or the stretchitlg, elongating force. For many u~es ~e.g., garment purposeR), a large amount or elongatiorl ( e.g., over 2%) is not necessary, and the itnportant criterion is ~he recovery propercy. Many elastic materials may be 30 stretched by much more than ~% or tneir relaxed length and many or these will recover to sub~tantially their original relaxed length upon release or the stretcning, elongating rorce.
As used herein, the term l'recover" re~ers to a contrac-tion of a stretched material upon termination of a force t Iollowlng stretching OI the material by application or the force. Por example, if a material having a relaxed, unbiased length or one ~1) inch was elongated ~0% by stretch--ing to a length o~ 1 and 1/~ ~1.5j inches the material would A

l~o have a s~retchea length ~hat i5 150~o or its relaxed length.
lr tnis exemplary stretcned material contracted, that is recovered, ~o a lengtn of 1 and lj~0 ~l.lj inches, arter release or tne biasing and stretching rorce, the materiai would have recoverea 80% ~0.4 incnj of i'~6 elongation.
As used herein, the term "meltblown fi~ers" refers tO
fibers which are made by ex~ruding a molten tnermoplastic material tnrough a piurality or rine, us~ally circular, die ca~illaries as molten ~hreads or rilaments into a high velocity gas (e.g., air) stream wnich attenuates tne fila-ments or molten thermoplastic material to reduce tneir diameter. rhereafter, the meltblown fibers are carried by tne hign veloci~y gas stream and are deposited on a collect-ing surface to form a web of randomly dispersea meltblown ribers. ~eltblown ribers within the sco~e or the present inVQntiOn include both microfibers (fibers naving a diameter, e.g., of less than about 10 microns) and macro~ibers (ibers having a diame~er, e.g., of about ~0-100 microns, par-~icularly 2~-50). Whetner microribers or macroIibers are rormed depend, e.g., on the extrusion die size and, par-ticularly, the degree or at~enuation of tne extruded polymer material. Meitblown macroribers, as compared to meltblown microribers, are rirmer, ana provlde a product having a higher bulk. Generally, meltblown elastic fibers have relatively large diame~ers, and do not fall withis~ the microfiber size range. Processes ror forming meitblown ribers and depositing such ribers on a collecting surrace are disclose~, ror example, in U.S. ~atent No. 3,~4g,241 to ~un~in, et al and U.S. ~aten~ No. 4,0~3,3~4 to Haraing, et 30 al.
Tt is pre~erred that conventional meltblowing techniaues be modifiea, as set forth below, in providing the most advantageous elastic meltblown cororm webs to be hydrauli-cally entangled. As indicated previously, ~iber mobility is A

~7~ L9 , .

:nighly impor~ant ~o the nydraulic entangling process. Lor exampie, not only do the 'Iwrapper" fibers nave to be rlexibie and mobi,e, but in many instances the base ribers (around wnich the o~her ri~ers are wrappedj also need to move freely.
~owever, an inherent ~ro~erty or elastic meltblowns is agglomeration or the ribers; that is, the fibers tend tO
s~ick ~oge~ner or bundle as a result of their tackiness.
Accoraingly, it is preferred, in forming the meltblown web, to take ste~s to li.mi~ the xiber-to-riber bonding or the O meltblown web prior to hydraulic entanglement. ïechniaues ror reducing the degree or riber-to-fiber bonding include increasing tne forming distance (the di~tance between the die and the collecting surracej, reducing the primary air pressure or ~emperature, reducing the rorming ~under wire) vacuum and introducing a rapid quench agent such as water to the stream or meltblown ~ibers between the die and collecting surrace (such introduction of a rapid quench agent is described in V.~. Pa~ent No. ~,g5Y,421 to Weber, et al.). A
combination or these techniaues allows rormation or tne most aavantageous meltb1own web ror nydraulic entangling, with surricient riber mobili~y and reduced riber bundle size.
A specific example wiil now be described, using *Arnitel, a polyetnerester elastomeric ma~erial avaiiable from A. ~chulman, Inc. or Akzo Plastics, as the elastomeric material formed into meltblown webs to be hydraulically entangled. Thus, con~entional parameters ~or rorming meltblown "Arnitel" webs, to provide meltblown l'Arnitel" webs to be nydraulically entangled, were changed as follows: (l) the ~rimary air tem~erature was reduced; (2j the xorming distance was increased; (3) the forming vacuum was reduced;
and ~4) a water auench system was added. Moreover, a rorming drum, rather tnan a rlat forming wire, was used for riber collection, with the ribers being coliected at a point tangential to the drum surrace.
~ Trade marK

~27~ 9 :L~
.s~entîaliv, ~ne above-cited chanyes resul~ed in rapia riber ~uenching tnereby reducin~ tne degree or fiber-~o-ficer ~onaing and the size or ~iber bundles. rhe velocity or the riber s~ream, as i~ was collected in web rorm, was red~cea along witn impact pressure resulting in the formation or a ioosely packea non-agglomeratea fiber assembly, which could advantayeously be hydraulically entangled.
Various known thermoplastic elastomeric materials can be utilized ror forming the meltblown elastomeric ribers; some are disciosed in U.~. Patent No. 4,65~, 80~ to Morman.
Brierly, this patent di~closes various elastomeric materials for use in ~ormation of, e.g., nonwoven elastomeric webs or meltblown fibers, including polyester elastomeric materials, polyurethane elastomeric materials, polyetherester slasto-meric materials and polyamide elas~omeric materials. uther elastomeric materials for use in the rormation of tne fi~rous nonwoven elastic web include elastomeric polyolefin materials (e.g., tnermoplastic polyolerin rubbers, including polypropy-ene rub~ers~ elas~omeric copolyester materiais, and ethylenevinyl acetate. Eurther elastomeric materials for use in tne presen~ invention include (a) A-~-AI block copolymers, where A and At are each a tnermoplastic polymer end block whicn includes a styrenic moiety an& where A may be the same thermoplastic polymer end block as A', such as a poly(vinyl arene), and wnere ~ is an elastomeric polymer mid block such as a conju~ated diene or a lower alkene; or ib~ blends of one or more polyolerins or poly-(alpha-methylstyrene) with A-~-AI
block copolymers, wnere A and A' are each a tnermoplastic polymer ena block wnich includes a styrenic moiety, where A
may be the same thermoplastic polymer end block as A', sucn as a poly~vinyl arenej and where ~ is an elastomeric ~olymer mid block such as a conju~ated diene or a lower alkene.

~7~
1~
~larlous s?eci.ic ma~er1als ror rorming tne meltblown elas-tomeric fibers include polyester elastomeric materials availa~le under the trade d2signation ~Hytrel from E.I.
~u~ont ~e Nemours ~ ~o., poiyuretnane elastomeric materiais available under the trade designatlon *Estane from ~.F.
~oodrich & Co., polyetherester elastomeric materials avail-able under the trade designation *Arnitel rrom A. ~chulman, Inc. or Akzo Plastics, and polyamide elastomeric materials available under the ~rade &esignation ~Pebax from the ~ilsan Company. Various elastomeric A-B-A' block copolymer mater-ials are disciosed in V.S. ~atent Nos. 4,~,53~ to ~es Marais and 4,355,4~5 to Jones, and are availabie as *Kraton polymers from the ~nell ~hemical Company.
Wnen utilizing various of the "Kraton" materials ~e.g., "Kraton" G), it is ~referred to blend a polyolefin therewith, in order to improve meltblowing of such block copolymers; a particularly preferred polyolefin for blending with the "Kraton" G block copolymers is polyethyiene, a pre~erred polyethylene being *Petrotnene Na~O1 ob~ained from V.S.I.
Chemicals Company. Discussion of various "Kraton" blends for meltblowing purposes are described in U.S. Pa-tent No.
4,657,80~, and reference is directed thereto for purposes of such l'Kraton" blends.
Various pulp and staple ribers which can be codeposited witn the meltblown elastomeric fibers, to provide the coform wnich is subjected to hydrauiic entangling, are described in U.S. Patent ~o, 4,100,324 to Anderson, et al. In general, ribrous material ~e.g., pulp riber and~or staple rlber and~or meltblown fibers and/or continuous fil~ments), With or without particulate material, can be admixed with meltblown fibers within the context of the present invention. However, sur~iciently long and rlexible ribers are more userul for the present invention slnce they are more useful for entangling and intertwining. Sou~hern pine is an example of a pulp * - Trade-marks .d~

~27~4~
~o ~iber whicn is surIiclen~lv long and rlexible for entangle-men~. Ocner pulp ribers include red cedar, hemlock and black spruce. ~or example, a ty~e ~k~rof~en ~Ch kraft wood pulp (70% western red ceaar/~0~ nemlock) can be used. ~oreover, a bleached l~ortnern softwood krart pulp known as Terrace ~ay Long Lac-ls, naving an average lengtn of 2.~ mm, is also ad-vanta~aeous. A ~articularly preferred pul~ material is I~
~International ~aper *Super ~oft'). ~uch pulp is preferred because it i5 an easily fiberizable pulp materiai. However, the ~ype and size of pulp fibers are not particularly limited aue -co the uniaue advantages gained by using high surface area meltblown fibers in the present invention. For exampie, short ribers sucn as eucalyptus, other such hardwoods and highly refined fibers, e.g., ~ood fibers and second-cut cotton, can be used since the meltblown fibers are surfi-ciently small and encase and trap smaller fibers. Moreover, the use of meltblown ribers provide the advantage that material having properties associated with the use or small denier fi~e~s ~e.g., 1.35 denier or less~ can be achièved ~0 using larger denier fi'bers; use of such larger denier staple ribers is cost erfective. Vegetable fibers such as abaca, flax and milkweed can also be used.
Staple fiber materials ~both natural and syn-chetic) include rayo~, polyester staple fibers including, e.g., polye~hylene tere~hthala~e, cotton (including cotton linters), wool~ nylon and polypropylene.
Continuous fiiaments include filaments, e.g., 20~Lor lar~er, such as spunbond ~spunbond polyolefin suc'n as spunbond polypropylene or polyethylene~, bicomponent fila-ments, shaped filaments, yarns, etc. Nylon or rayon areother materials which can be used for ~he continuous rila-ments. The continuous filaments can be included in the admix~ure for various purposes, includiny for reinforcement.
Advantayeously, spunbond polyolerin continuous filaments are co-deposited with tne meltblown ribers to rorm the admixture, which admixture is then subjected -co the ~ - Trade-marks A

~7~ 9 2~
hydraulic entangling. ~ucn continuous rilamen~s can ~e formea concurrently with tne forming or the meltblown ribers and mixed therewltn prior to deposition o~ the meltblown fibers on a collec~ing surface; conventional rilament rorming apparatus, such as (lj a Lursi gun or (~j the a~paratus described in U.s. ~atent ~o. 4,340~5~ to Ap~el et al., can 'oe used to '~orm the sDunbond rilaments.
Wnere continuous rilaments are used, either fiiaments of an elastic material ~or a material that can be made elastic 0 by a rurther treatment) or or an elongatable (but not elastic) material can be used in order to achieve a final product tha~ is elastic. Moreover, where an elongatable ~but no~ elasticj material is used, the hydraulically entangled materiai will have to be subjected to a post treatment in order to elongate the eiongatabie material. For example, after the hydrauiic entanglement the material can be mechani cally worked, e.y., stretcnea, in at least one airection to elongate the elongatable materiai, whereby after relaxation or ~ne strelcning the worked product will have a low moduius of elasticity in the direction ~or directions) of the stretcn. A techniuue of mec:nanical working -to provide elasticity to a bonaed product, which corresponds to the present technique, is disclosed in U.S. ~atent No. 4,20g,5~3.
The fibrous material can also include meltblown fibers, which may be microribers andjor macrofibers. While meltblown fibers, in general, can be used for the ribrous material, it is a reauirement that the meitblown ribers rorming tne fibrous material, and the first-named meltblown fibers, nave sufricient fiber mobility such that tne mobile fibers can wrap around and within less mobile fibers, to intertwine and intertanale therewith. Thus, while meltblown fibers oniy of relatively small diameter can be used, at least a portion of the meltblown ribers must be relatively mobile. ~f course, a . ; .

~7~

,nixture or microfibers and macroriDers can be used to rorm the admix~ure, wnere ~ne macrofibers are reiatively less mobile and the microfibers re.La~i~ely mobile, to provlde ~he necessary entangling and intertwining in tne hydraulic entanglement.
At least one of mel~blown fibers and fibrous material i5 elastic, in order that the hydraulically entangled material i5 elaStlC.
iLhe various polymers re~erred to herein include not only 1~ the nomopolymers, but also copolymers thereof.
~ ig. 1 scnematically shows a representative a~paratus for producin~ a nonwoven nydraulically entangled elastic cororm material within the scope ol the present invention.
Of course, such apparatus, and the product formed, are merely illu5 trative and not limiting.
A primary gas stream ~ of, e.g., elastic meltblown microfibers is formed by known meltblowing techni~ues on conventional meltblowing apparatus generally designated by reference numeral 4, e.g., as discussed in U.S. Patent No.
~0 3,~4g,~41 to Buntin, et al. and U.~. Pa~ent No. 4,04~ 4 to ~arding, et al. ~asically, ~he method of formation involves extruding a molten polymeric materiai through a die head generally designated by the re~erence numeral ~ into rine streams and atenuating the streams by converging rlows of high velocity, heated gas lusually airj supplied frDm nozzles ~ and 10 to break the polymer streams into fibers of rela-tively small diameter. The die head pre~era~ly includes at least one straight row of extrusion aper~ures.
In tne present illustrative example, tne primary gas stream 2 is merged witn a secondary gas stream 12 containing at least one of pulp fibers, staple fibers, meltblown ribers and continuous filaments, witn or without particula~e material. As inaicated previously, long, ~lexible ribers are more userul for the present invention since they are more userul ror en~angling and intertwining. Various .~

`" 31 2'7~
~pec:i~ic materials for the pulp fib~E~, ~taple ~ibers and contirluou~ f ilament~ have pr~viously been set ~orth .
The s~oorldary gas stream 12 o, e . g., pulp or ~tapls fib~rs i~ produced by convent~onal pick~r roll 14 having

5 picking te~th :eor divQllicating pulp ~ho~t~ 16 into individual ~iber~ In Fig. 1, the pulp ~ha~t~ 16 ar~ fad radially, i.e., along a picker roll r~dius, to th~ picker roll 14 by means of rolls 18. As th~ t~3~th on th~ pick~r roll 14 dive~ licate th~ pulp 6heets 16 into individual 10 fiber3, the resulting qeparated ~iber~ are conv~y~d down-w~rdly toward the primary a~ r tr~am 2 through a ~or~ing nozzl~ or du~qt 20. A housing 22 enolo e~ th~ picker roll 14 and provl de~ passag~ 24 bQtwe~n th0 hou~ing 2~ arld th~
pick~r roll ~urfac¢. Proce~s air i~ supplied by conven-1 5 tional maan~ , ~ . g ., a blower , to the pick~r roll 14 irl thepa~a~e 24 via duct 26 in suPrici~nt quantlty t~ ~nre a~ a medium for conveying ~iber~ through the duat 26 at a v~locity approaching that of the pLcker t~th.
Stapl2 fi~er can be~ oarded and al~o read~ly dellvered as a web to th~ picker roll 14 and thu deli~r~d xa~do~ly : in the formed web. $hi allows us~ o~ higher llns ~p0~d~
and provides a web ha~ing isotxopic strength propertiaeO
Continuous fila~ent~ can, e.g., b~ eithQr extruded through another no~zle or fed a~ yarns supplied by educting with a high efficiency Venturi duct and al~o deliver~d as a secondary ga~ s~ream.
A secondary gas stream including meltblown ~ibers can be form~d by a ~econd ~eltblowing apparatus of th~ type previously descri~ed or may be ~ormed by th~ ~ame melt-30 blowing apparatus used to form tho primary ga~ ~trPam 2.
Th~ primary and secondary straams 2 and 1~ are mergingwith each other, the veloc ity of the e~condary ~tream 12 preferably baing lower than that of th~ primary ~trea~ 2 o that th~ int~grated s~ream 28 flows in the a~m~ diraction as primary strQa~ 2. The lntegrated ~tream i~ coll~cted on bolt 30 to form coform 32. With referenco to for~ing cofor~
32, attention i~ directed to th~ techniquas d~cribed in ` ~4 ~ 9 U.~. Pa~ent No. 4,100,3~4.
Tne nvdraulic entangling ~ecnniaue involves treatment or the coform ~2, wniie supported on an apertured support 34, wi~n st~eam~ of liauid from jet devices ~6. 'i~he support ~4 can be a mesn screen or rorming wires or apertured plates.
Ihe suppor~ ~4 c;an al50 nave a pattern so as ~o form a nonwoven material witn sucn pactern. Alternatively, tne nonwoven ma~erial can be rormed without a pattern as descri-bed in U.S. ~atent No. 3,493,4~ to ~unting, et al. The apparatus for nydraulic entanglement can be conventional apparatus, such as described in the arorementioned U.~.
Patent No. 8,4g3,462 to ~unting, et al., or in U.S. Patent No. 3,485,706 to Evans. Alternative apparatus is snown in E'ig. 1 and described by Honeycomb ~ystems, Inc., Biddeford, Maine, in the article entitled "Rotary Hydraulic Entanglement of Nonwovens", reprinted rrom INSIGHT '~ IN ERNATIONAL
A~VA CED~ 5~ DIN~_~ N'E~EN~E. ~n such type of an aDparatus, riber en~anglement is accomplished by jetting li~uid supplied a~ pressures, e.g., of at least about 100 psi (gaugej ~o rorm fine, essentially columnar, liauid streams towara the surface of the supported coform. I'he supported cororm is traversed witn the s~reams until the ribers are randomly entangled and intertwineâ. The cororm can be passed through the hydraulic entangling apparatus a number of time~
on one or both sides. The liquid can be supplied at pressures or , rom about 100 to 3000 p5i (gauge~. The oririces wnich produce the columnar liquid streams can nave typical diameters Known in the art, e.g., 0.00~ inch, and can be arranged in one or more rows with any number of orifices, e.g., 40, in each row. Various ~echniques for hydraulic entangling are described in the aforementioned U.S. Patent ~o. 3,485,rl06, and this patent can be referred to in connec-tion with such techniques.

~.Z~
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AXter th~ cororm has been nvdraulically entangled, it may, optionally, be treated at bonding station 38 ~o further ennance its strengtn. A padder inciuaes an ad~ustable upper rotatable top roll ~ mounted on a rotatable snaft 42, in light contact, or s~opped to provide a 1 or ~ mil gap between the rolls, with a lower piCK-Up roll ~4 mounted on a rota~a-ble snar~ 46. The lower pic~-up roll 44 is partially immersed in a ~ath 48 of aaueous resin binder composition 50.
The piC,Y-Up roll 44 ~iCY5 Up resin ana transrers it to the hydrauiically en~angied cororm at the nip between the two rolls 40, 44. Such a bonding station is disclosed in U.S.
~atent No. 4,~12,~2~ to Kennette, et al. Other optional secondary bonding ~reatmen~s include tnermal bonaing, ultrasonic bonding, adhesive bonding, etc. ~uch secondary bonding treatments provide aadea strength, but also stiffen the resulting product (that is, provide a product having decreasea softness). After the hydraulically en~angled cororm has passed through bonding station 3~, it is dried in through-dryer 52 ana wound on winder 54.
The cofor~ of the present invention can also be hydraul ically entangled with a rein~orcing material (e.g., a reinforcing layer such as a scrim, screen, netting, knit or woven material, of non-elastic or elastic materialj. Of course, use or a non-elastic reinforcing material may limit ~he elasticity or the hydraulically entangled web material.
A particularly preferable techni~ue is to hydraulically entangie a cororm with continuous filaments of a polypro-pylene spunbond fabric, e.~., a spunbond web composed of ~ibers wi~h an average denier of 2.3 d.p.f. A lightly point-bonded spunbond can be used; however, for entangling pur-poses, unbonded spurlbond is preferable. ~l;he spunbond can be debonded before being provided on the coform. Also, a meltbl-ownjspunbond laminate or a meltblownjspunbond/meltblown laminate as described in U.~. ~atent No. 4,041,~03 to Brock, et al. can be provided on the coform web and the assembly hydrauiically entan~led.

Spunbond polyest~r web~ wh~ch have been debondsd ~y passing th~m through 21ydraulio Qntangling e~uipment can b~
sandwiched bQtweQn~ e.g., 5t~ple coform webs, and ~n~angle bonded . Al BO, unbond~d ~Qlt-spun polypropylene and knits 5 can b~ positioned siD~ilarly betw~n co~orm web~. This tachnigue signi~ican~ly incr~ase3 web 3trength. Web~ of m~ltblown polypropylene fiber~ can al~o be pc~itioned betwQen or under coform web~ and then elnta~gled. This techniqu~ improve~ barrler pxopertie~. La~inateE~ o~
10 re~ n~orcing ~ibers and barrier fib~r~ can ~dd ~pec:ial prope~tie~. For example, if ~uch ~iber~ are added as a comingled blend, other propertie~ can b~ 2ngin~sred. For example, lower basis wQight webs ~a9 compz~red to conven-tional loos~a ~taple webs) can bo produc~d sincs meltblown 15 ~ibers can add neQdad larger numbers of ~ibQrs ~or the . ~tructural lntegrity n~acessary for. ~roducing low ba~
weight web~. Such fabrics can be engin~er~d ~or control Or fluid distrlbution, wetne~s control, ab~orbQncy~ print-ability, ~iltration, etc. by, ~ controlling por~ ~ize gradi~nt~ (~.g., i~ the Z direction~. ThQ cofor~ can lso be laminated with extruded film~ ~alactic or non-~las~ic), coating6, ~oams (e.g" op n c~ll foams), nat~, ~taple ~iber web~, QtC, Further~ore, a cofor~ o~ ,eltblown fiber~ and (2) at least one of pulp fibers, staple fiber~, other meltblown fibers and continuous fila~ents can be laminated to variou~
webs, woven or nonwoven, and the lami~ate hydraulically entangl~d and, i~ necessary, mechanically worked to produce elastic web materials within the scope of tha present invention. Hsre again, an important factor to attain the ob~ective~ of tha present invention is that the co~orm material and web have sufficient mobility, with sufficiant matarial around which :Eibrou3 ma~rial can wrap around and within, such that su~icient hydraulio entanglemznt is achieved. Th~ web can be a ~oam shaet, or scrim, or a w~b o~ a knit or woven or nonwovan ~at~rial, whils ~till satis~ying the objectives Or th~ present inven~ion.

~27~
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A~ will be appreciated, additional layers laminated and hydrauiically en~angied wi~h the coform including the meltblown elastic fibers can provide various attributes to the final product, inc~uding reinforcement therefor and a different nand or feel It i5 also advantageou~ to incorporate a super~absorbent material or other particulate materials, e.g., carbon, a1umina, etc., in the cororm. A prererable ~ecnni~ue with respect to the inclusion or super-absorben~ material is ~o include a material in tne cororm wnich can b~ chemically modified to absorb water after the hydraulic entanglement treatment such as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3,5~3,~41 to ~vans, et al. Other techniques for modirying the water solubility and/or absorbency are described in U.S. Patent Nos. 3,379,7~0 and 4,128,~92 to ~eid. The super-absorbent a~d/or particulate material can be intermingîed with the non-ela~tic meltblown fibers and tne fibrous material, e.g., the at least one Q~ pulp fibers, staple fibers, meltblown fibers and c~ntinuous filaments at the location where the secondary ~0 gas stream of fibrous material is introduced into the primary stream sf non-elastic meltblown fibers. Reference is made to U.S. ~atent No. g,100,324 with respect to incorporating particulate material in the coform. Particulate material can also include synthetic staple pulp material, e.g., ground synthetic staple fibers.
Figs. 2A and 2B are photomicrographs showing an elastic meltblown and staple fiber coform according to the present invention. In particular, the coform material was ~5%
meltblown *Estane 538~ and 25% polyethylene terephthalate 30 staple flbers, the staple fibers having a size of 3.0 dpf X
0.~". The coform was hydraulically entangled at a line speed of ~3 fpm, on a 100 x g2 mesh, providing a web having a basis weight of 78 gsm. ~oth Figs. 2A and 2~ show the treated side.
Specific embodiments of the present invention will now be set forth. As can be appreciated, such embodiments are exemplary, and not limiting. Initially, formation of a ~ - Trade-mark X

-- 2 R ~27~4i9 hydraulically entangled elastic ab~orb2nt material will be discu~ed. A go g/~2 pulp el~stic cofor~ mado with 60%
~ltblown Q 60/40 blend (that i9, a blend 60% "Kraton" G
1657 and ~0% poly~thylen~) and 40% ch~ically debonded Southern pin~ wood fiber (IPSS) wa~ hydr~ul~cally ~ntangled ~with ~ets o~ water) utilixing hydraulic Qntangling equip-~ent a~ discussed above, using a manifold having ~et~ wlth 0.005 inch ori~ice3~ 40 orifices per inch, and wlth on~ row of ori~ice , with tha CQ~Orm being supported on a 100 x 92 10 semi-twill weava mesh belting during th~ hydr~ulic entangling treatment. Using a 400 psi (gaugs) manifold pressure, the material was entangl~d by pa~ing it thrQe ti~e~ under the ~anifold on each sid~. The r~ulting ~ntangl~d ~aterial is ~hown in Figs. 3A and 3B.
Subsequen~ ~amples were al~o made ak ~h~ 3a~a tim~ by ~tacking up to four layers o~ go ~jm2 (360 g/~2) on top o~
one another and th~n entangling the~ u~ing mor~ pres~ur~ and pa~s~. Such sample~ wer~ well-bond2d toyeth~r and would not pull apart (e.g., would not dela~inat~). Pattern~ng of 20 a 90 g/m2 ~ample wa~ also done by plactng a 7 x 8 ~esh on top of the lO0 x 92 mesh ~elting. The entangl~d co~po~ite~
had exceptlonally good structural int~grity, ~ven whe~
repeatedly str~tched, the machin~ dirsction 6tr~tch of the various basi~ weight æample~ ranging from 32-66% ~hile machine direction recovery r~nged from 92-96%. Stretch and recovery o~ such material~ can readily be chang~d by adjusting the degre~ o~ entanglement, the elastic :
cellulo~e fiber ratio, th~ type of belting utilized ~or supporting th~ co~orm during the hydraulic entangling, and th~ degree o~ pre-~tretching of the web ~e~ore entangling, for example.
Example~ o~ cloth-lik~ elastlc ~taple co~orms will now be descrlbed. An elastlc coform of a 2.3 oz/yd 25/75 blend of meltblown "Estane" 58887 (the ~lbQrs being approxi~ately ~0 ~ in diameter) and polyester ~taple fiber~ (3 d.p.~. x .6") wa~ hydraulically entanglsd by placing the co~or~ on top o~ a 7 x 8 mesh wirs which was in turn po~itlonad on top 2 ~2~

of a loO x 92 ~esh forming wire. The cofor~ was pa6sed six timas under apparatu~ a~ ~hown in Fig. 1, utilizing a mani~old having ~ets with û-005 ~nch orifices, 40 orifices per inch, with one row of orii~ ces . The ~nani:Eold pres~ure :Cor tha fir~t pa3~ wa~ 200 p~i ~gauge~ rollowsd by 400t 800, 1500, 1500 and 1500 p9i (gauge). The web wa~ then turned ov~r, ~ligned to be positioned in th~ E~ame location as pr~viou~ly on top o~ the 7 x 8 wire template ~nd then pas~ed agaln six times under the mani~old at thl~ sam~ respective pre~;ures. With the 7 x 8 ~esh wlr~, ~u~ici~nt a~ounts o~
~ibers were moYed to ~ona island~ o~ fi:b~arR b~twQerl th~ warp and shute wires (that i~, stapl~ ~iber~ concentrated in the i~land areas) such that the islands wer~ ~imply cormected by the band~ of meltblo~rn elastic fib~ar~O Th~ ~a}~ric mea~;ured 80% stretch and at lea~t 90% recovery, tha ~abric being lsot~opic ( in both machine and cross dir~ctions) in both ~tretch and recovery prop~rtic~.
- Wlth thQ us~ o~ a wir~ to position f~b~r~3, th~ weak point o~ the fabric wa~ the area contain~n~ only ela~tis fibers: to improve strength, alaBtic ~lber~ could ~
pre-po~ition~d ~such as us~ o~ a laminate o~ po ition~d meltblown ela~tio fibers) to align with th~ w~re template and calendered, and/or ~ubsequent bonding could be utilized in tho area o~ ela~tic fibcr~, and/or impro~ed ~trong~r elastomers could be used and/or ~inders utilized.
Ag an additional example utilizing staple ~ibers, melt~lown ~ibers of a Q 70/30 blend (a blend o~ 70% "Kraton"
G 1657 and 30% polyethylene) and wool fibers have been used to construct elastic staple cofor3 fabrics, which make a semi~disposable wool blanket ~or possible use in hospitals, backpacking and campin~, airlines, etc.
By optimizing ~iber sizes, types, blends, web basis w~ights, proc~ss cond$tions, etc. a wide ~a~ily o~ sMooth ela:3tic webs with smooth surfaces can be ~a}:ricatsd. Such 3S 3mooth sur~ace~ o~ elastlc webs~ achieved by the olasto~neric web material o~ the present inven~ion i8 cl~arly advan-tageous, a~ compared to corrugated ~nd rough elastic ~27~9 fabrics previou~ly provided. In this regard, attenkion is dir0ct~d to the pr~viou~ly discu~ed U.S. Patent No. 4,657,802 to ~orma~, ds~cribing a composite nonwoven elastic web ~or~ed by providing a stretched nonwoven ela~tic web join~d to a fibrous nonwoven gatharabl~ web while the ela~tic web i8 s~r~tched, wher~by, wh~n t~nsion on ths elastic web i9 removed, thQ 31a5tic web return~ to its xelax~d lenyth to gather the fibrous nonwoven gatherable web, provlding ~ compo ite elastic w2b (th~t i~, a web for~ed by ~tretch-bonded-laminata technology). Note also ths ela~tic material~ disclosed in U.S, Patent No. 3,485,706 to Evan~, e.g., Example 56 th~reo~. The compo~it~ w~b ~or~d by th~ stretch-bonded-laminat~ tachnology ha~ a corrugated ~nd rough surfacs, which i~ les~ appealing for use as clothing than the ~mooth suxfac~ o~ the ~abric provided ~y the present invention.
A~ can readily be appr~ciated fro~ tho foregoing, elastic a~sorbent~ o~ the present invention will hav~ ~
vari~ty of U5~S and ad~antages ln absorbent mat~ria~ 6uch as diapers, ~eminine napkin~ and incontinQnt articl~s~ In particular, by using high ~urf~ce energy collulo~ic ~lb~r~
such as wood fiber~, rayon, co~ton, etc., by ad~usting the hydrophobic ~la~tic ~iber sizes and a~ount~, by coatlng hydrophobic ~ibers with near-permanent or permanent hydro-philic finishes, and/or by eliminating the us~ o~ ~urfactants, a highly absorbent atructure can be made. ~oreover, when utilizQd in di posable incontinence articles or diapers, with such material constituting the absorbent ~at~rial (which would have elasticity), the absorbent would strat~gically conform against different body ~izes and shape~, which would improve ab~orbency and also h~lp hold the ab~orbent to th~ target load area for effectively containing urina and ~ecal excretion. Moreover, a loose ~itting cloth-like oute~ cover could be utilized ov~r the absorbent, which would act as a secondary container ~or mor~
ef~ectiv~ly accepting periods o~ hea~y loading dQmands o~
urine and ~or loose 6tool9. Furthermor~, utilizing an outer ~ ~2~

co~or in combination with th~ absorb~nt material of the^
pre3~nt in~ention, such outer cov~r could ba ~ade br2ath~blQ
and thQ ~idQ o~ th~ absorb~nt ~acing the outer cov~r could b~ d~sign~d to bQ ~luid imperviou~, thQreby allowing vapor ~rans~ission; such rluid i~p~rvtousn~s~ could b~ accom-plishsd ~y such m~hod3 a~ ch~mical troatm~nt and/or strategic p}acement of hydrophobic ela~tic or polyole~in, fibers.
Furth~r~ors, with the elastic incorporat~d in ~he absorbent rather than in the outer cover, red markings on the ~Xin would be expect~d to be less; 1QR8 ~lastic ~orce would be applied since only the absorbent, rather than both absorbent and outer cover, would ne~d to ba ~eld againet the body cavity. ~180, the force appli~d to hold tha absorbent would be more evenly distributed o~er the ~ntire body cavity, and thu~ ~in areas having a h$gh load~ng (e.g., th~
hips and the crotch) would be reducedO Thl~ would help resolve the perception o~ the eonsu~er t~at on~ was w~arlng a tight-fitklng girdle. Such an Qlastia ab orbent wo~ld also reduce the total amount of elastic ~iber neud~d to obtain the d~sired functional level: and, more~v~r, less c05tly thermopla~tic elastom~rs could b~ utilized because quality and per~or~anc~ levels would not need to b~ as ; stringent a compar~d to incor~orating ~lastics into the outer cover ~for exampl~ there would b~ a naed for less stretch, les~ need for hydrocarbon and halogen resistivity, le58 need for ultraviolet stability, less need ~or high aegth,e~tic re51uir~mentg, 13tC.) .
Furthsrmore, in view o~ th~ good structural lntagrity 30 and elasticity of the absorbents o~ th~ present invention, such ab~orbents have improved resistance to bunching and wet-compre~aion, whic~ enhanc~ the absor~ency and aesthetics. In addition, in view of th~ e~tangling pheno-~enon, wherein high surface energy cellulo~e ~iber~ can wrap clrcumfQrentially around the hydrophobic ~lastlc ~ibers, thereby masking and reducing the number o~ hydro-phobic ~ites, fluid capillarity and distribu~ion in the ~2~

Z-direction i~ lmprovad. In addition, by utilizing hydraulic ~ntangling, a controlled pore structure can b~
incorporatQd into th~ fibrous web, which zan provide desired ~luid c pillar~ty and dl~tribution ln aach o~ the ~a~hine-, cro~- and Z~direction~.
In order to ur~hQr improve the ab~orb~ncy of hydrauli-cally ~ntanglsd ~la~tic co~or~ materlal~ o~ the pr~s~nt lnvention, other types o~ ab~orbent~, e.g~, cellulo3ic fluff and/or ~uper absorb~nt ~atsrial~, can be incorporated in the co~orm prlor to hydraulic entangling, or can be 6andwiched between layer~ of such coform, with tho hydraulic ~n~ ngling then b~ing per~ormed so as to al~o hold tha c~llulosic ~luf~
and/or ~uper absorb~nt material in the w~b product. A~
discussod previoualy, in incorporating super ab~orb~nt mat~rial, such material can be initially incorporat~d in the c~for~ in an inactive ~orm, ~nd then aotiva~d, by Xnown techni~ue~, after the hydraulic ~ntangling. Alt~rnativa}y the c~llulo~Q fluff and/or super ab~orb~nt ~ata~ial can b~
sandwiched between a cofor~ layer and a lay~r o~ another structure (e.g., fibrous web, net, etc.) with which the coform can be hydraulically antangled, with th0 hydraulic entangling then being per~or~ad to provide ths absorbent productO
As discus~ed previou~ly, by adding spunbond ~ ments to the elastic coform material, prior to hydraulic ~ntangle-ment, the trength of t~e entangled product can b~ further increased (the spunbond filament~ act as reinforcement). In order to attain desired elasticity, th2 spunbond filaments incr~asing th~ strength should desirably be of elastomeric material. Alterna~ively, the spunbond ~ila~ents can be made o~ a material that i8 elongatabl2 but rolatively in~la~tic, and th~ wQb ~after hydraulic entanglement) i3 sub~ect2d to a itretching ~rèatment to elongate the spunbond ~ilamQnt~ and provids elasticlty to tha ~inal product. See U.S. Paten~
No. 4,aog,563 to Sisson.
Variou~ ~peci~ic exampls~ o~ th~ present inv~ntlon, showing properties o~ the formed product, are ~t ~orth in -~ 33 ~7~

the following. Of course, such example~ ara illu~trativQ
and ar~ not limitingO
In ~he ~ollowing exa~ple , tha sp~ci~i~d material~ were hydraulically ~ntangl~d under the spQcl~iad conditions. The s hydraulic entangling wa~ carr~d out u~ing hydraul~c entangl1ng equip~ent si~ilar to con~e~t$onal oquipment, having Honeycomb ~anifold~ with 0.905 inch orl~ice , 40 ori~lce per inch and with on~ row o~ oriPio~. The parcenta~Qs of materi~ls in th~ co~orm o~ th~s~ sxample~
lo are weight perc~ntages.

Ex~m~le 1 Cofor~ Materials: 40% In~ernation~l Pap~r Sup~r Sof~
(IPSS)/60% ~eltblown ~ib~r~ o~ Q
70 30 blend ~70% "Kraton" G1657 -30~ polyethylen~
Entangling Processing Lin~ Spe~d: 23 fpm Entanglement Treatment ~ps~ of each pass~; twir~ ~e~h employed ~or the co~orm support$ng me~ber):
Side One: 600, 600, 690; 100 x 92 Side Two: 1200, 1200; 20 x 20 Exam~le 2 Coform Materials: 35% polyethylene ter~phthalat~
staple ~iber/65% ~eltblown "Arnitel~
~ntangling Processing Line Speed; 40 fp~
Entangle~ent Treatment (psi of each pas~); (wire mesh):
Sida One: 1500, 1500, 1500; 100 x 92 Sida ~wo: lSOO, 1500, 1500; 100 x 92 ExamPLe 3 Co~orm Materials: 35~ poly~thylene terephthalat~
6taple fiber/65% ~elt~lown ~Arnitel"
35 Entangling Processing Llne Speed: 40 ~pm Entanglement Treat~ent ~psi of each pa~); (wir~ mesh);
Side One: 1500, 1500, 1500; 20 x 20 SidQ Two: 1500, 1500, 1500; 20 x 20 34 ~7~

Example_4 ~o~orm ~ateriale: 15% polyethylene terephthalate ~tapl~ fiber/ 85% meltblown "Arni~el"
Entangling Proce~ing ~in~ Speed: 40 ~pm Entanglement Treatment (psi of each pa55); ~wire mesh):
Side One 100, 1500, 1500, 1500; 100 x 92 Side Two: 1500, 1500, 1500; 100 x 92 ExamPle 5 Co~orm ~atQrials: 40% polyethyl~ne terephthalate staple fiber/60S ~eltblown "Arnital"
Entangling Processing Line Speed: 23 fpm Entanglsment Treatment (p~i o~ each pass); ~wir~ mesh)~
S.de C ~: 1500, 1500, 1500; 100 x 92.
Side Tws: 1500, 1500, 1500; 100 x 92 Exam~le 6 Coform Materials: 60% polyethylen~ terephthalate staple fiber/40% ~eltblown "Arnitel"
Entangling Processing Line 5peed- 23 ~pm 25 Entanglement Treatment ~psi of each pa s); (wire mesh):
Side One: 600, 900, 1200; 100 x 92 Slde Two: 1500, 1500, 1500; 100 x 92 Example 7 Co~orm Materials: 55% polyethylene terephthalate staple fiber/45% meltblown "Arnitel"
Entangling Processing Line Speed: 23 fpm Entanglement Treatment (psi o~ each pa5s~: ~wire mesh):
Sid2 One: 500, 500, 500: 20 x 20 Side Two: 1000, 1000, 1000; 100 x 92 ~27 ~mE2~

Cofo~m ~aterlal~: a staple fiber/staple elastic coform/staple fiber laminata, o~ polypropylene ~taple fiber (approx. 20 g/m2)/cofor~ of 70%
wool and 30~ "Estanal' 58887 (approx. 150 g/~2)/poly-propylene staple fiber ~approx.
20 g/m2) Entan~ling Proces~ing Line Speed: 23 fpm Entanglement Treatment (p~i o~ aach pass); twire mesh)~
Sld~ One: 1200, 1200, 1200: 100 x 92 Side Two: 1200: 1200, 1200: 100 x 92 Example 9 Coform Matarials: multiple elas~ic cofor~ laminate wherein one layer of the laminate i~ a cofowm o~ 40% pslyethylen~
terephthalats staple fiber and 6~%
"Es~ane" 58~87 tto~al o~ approx.
75 g/m2), that was ~andwiched between web~ of cofor~ o~ 60%
cotton and 40% "E~tan~" 58887 (total o~ approx. 30 g/~2) ~5 Entangling Processing Line Speed: 23 fpm Entanglement Treatment (psi of each pass); (wire mesh):
Side One: 1500, 1500, 1500: 20 x 20 Side Two: 1500, 1500, 1500: 20 x 20 Exam~le 10 Coform Materials: multiple elastic coform laminate o~ a coform of 25% polyethylene terephthalate staple fiber ancl 75%
meltblown "Arnitel" (total of approx. 100 g/m2~, sandwiched between web~ of a coform of 60%
cotton staple fiber and 43~
meltblown "Estane" 58887 ~total of approx. 30 g/m2 Entangling Processing - Line Speed: 23 fpm Entanglement Treatment (psi of each pass); (wire mesh):
Side One: 1500, 1500, 1500; 20 x 20 Side Two: 1500, 1500, 1500; 20 x 20 -~ ~27~

Physical properties o~ the materials of Examples 1 through 10 were ~easured ln the ~ollowing manner:
Th~ bulk wa~ mea~urQd using a bulk or thicknes~ tester available in the art. The bulX wa~ mea~red to the nearest o.oOl inch.
The MD and CD grab tensiles were measured in accordance with Federal Test Method Standard No. l91A (~ekhods 5041 and' 5100, respectively).
The abrasion resistanc2 was measured by the rotary plat~orm, double-head (Tabor) method in accordanca with Federal Test Method Standard No. 191A (Method 5306). Two type CS10 wheel~ (rubber ba~ed and of medium coarseness~
were used and loaded with sbo gram~. This test measured the number o~ cycles required to wear a hole in each material.
The sp~cimen is subjected to rotary rubbing action under controlled conditions of pres~ure and abrasive action.
: The absorben~y rate of the samples wae m~asured on the basis o~ the number o~ seconds to completQly wet out each sample in a constant temperature water bath and oil ~ath.
A "cup cru~h" test was conducted to determine the softness, i.e., hand and drape, of each of the sa~ples.
The lower the peak load of a sample in this te~t, the so~ter, or more flexible, the sample. Values of 100 to 150 grams, or lower, correspond to w~at is considered a "soft"
matsrial.
The elongation and recovery ~ests were conducted as follows. Threa inch wide by four inch long samples were stretched in ~our inch Instrom jaws to the elongation length, deqcri~ad as % Elongation. For example, a four inch length stretched to a 5-5/8" length would be elongated 40. 6% . The initial load (lbs.) was recorded, then a~ter 3 minutes was recorded before relaxing the sample. There-after, the length was measured, and initial percent recovery determined. This is recorded as initial percent recovery.
For example, i~ a material was stretched to 4-1/2~ ~12.5%
Elongation) and then after relaxation measured 4-1/16", the sampl~ recovery wa~ 87.5%. After thirty ~30) minute~, the 37 ~%~8~

length was again ~easured and a determination made ~and r~co~d~d) a~ percQnt recovery a~ter thirty t30) minutes.
T~is elongation test is not a measuxa o~ th~ elastlc limit, the ~longation being cho~n within tha elastic limit.
The re~ult of thess t~ts are ~hown in Table 1~ I~
this Table, for co~parative purpos~s, are ~et forth physical properties of two known hydraulically entangled nonwoven ~ibrou~ materials, "Sontar~' 8005, a spunlaced ~abric of 100% polyethylene terephth~late stapl~ ~ib~r~ (1.35 d.p.f. x 3/4") ~ro~ E.I. DuPont De Nemours and Comp~ny, and "Optima'~
a converted product o~ 55S red cedar pulp fiber~ and 45~
poly~thylene terephthalate ~taple ~ib~rs from hmerican Hospital Supply Corp.

38 ~2~

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Dl o 'D 3~ W ~ ~1~
_.
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__ _ 9.
O
~ J W 1~ W 1~ W ~ ~ 5 O O ~ O ~ O 1' O 0 _ C WW ~ - - ~

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8 ~ W ~ C"~ 3 g C ~ O ~ ~
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~7~
4~
AS can oe seen in ~he foregoing Table 1, nonwoven fibrous elastic coform material within the scope of tne present inven~ion has a superior combinatic)n or properties or strengtn, abrasion resistance and sortness. In particular, it is noted that use of elastic meltblown materiai provides outstandin~ abrasion resistance, whicn is attributed in part to the i~creased ability of the elastic meitblown ribers to hold the other material therewith. In addition, the rela-tively large coerficient or fric~ion or meltbiown elastic fibers add abrasion resistance to the web. The ~resent invention can be used to provide durable goods with good pilling resis~ance. Furthermore, the material or tne present invention has elastic recovery, which is one of ~he great de~iciencie~ or conventional hydraulically entangled nonwoven webs. Moreover, the present invention can pro~ide webs having good stretcn and recovery, but without a rubbery reellng. Also, because or the good elastic properties and drape, the webs according to the present invention feel alive. Furthermore, due to tne hydraulic entangling a terry-~0 cloth erfect can be achieved.
In additlon, by modirying the amount or staple fiberused, the "reel" of tne formed product can be desirably controlled; and, e.g., controlled to avoid a "rubbery" feel.
hor example, by using 60~ staple polyethylene terephthalate ribers with meltblown 'IArnitel", a rubbery reei is avoided.
Also, by the present invention the stretch properties or the ~ormed web can be controlled, by choice or tne backing used for hydraulic entanglement. E'or example, use or a more open mesh backing (e.g., 20 x 20 rather than 100 x g2) provided a web with increased stretch.
~ his application is one o~ a group or Canadian applications. There are additionally the following relatea ~anadian ~atent applicaclons, assigned to the assignee o~ the present case:
Serial No. 5g3,50~, ~iled March 13, lg~9, enti~led "Hydraulically Entan~led Nonwoven Elastomeric Web and ~ethod or Forming the ~ame", F. ~adwanski, et al.;

~2~
-4~-~ erial No. ~Y3,50~, Liled March 1~, 198Y, entitled "Nonwoven E7i~rous Entangled ~ydraulically ~on-Elastic ~oform ~aterial ~.etnod of ~orma~ion Ihereor, F. Radwanski, e~ al.;
Serial No~ 5g3,503, riled ~arch 1~ 89, enti~led "~onwoven ~ydraulically Entangled Non-Elastic Web and Method of Formation Thereof", F~ Radwanski, et al.; and Serial NO . 5g3,6~5, filed March l~, ~g~, entitled "Monwoven Material Subjected to Hydraulic Jet Treatmen~ in ~ots, and Me~hod and A~paratus for Producing the Same;l, F.
~adwanski.
while we have shown and described several embodiments in accordance with the present invention, it is understood that tne same is not limited thereto, but ls susceptible or numerous changes and modirications as are known to one naving ordinary skill in the art, and we thererore do not wish to be limited to the details shown and described herein, but intend ~o cover all sucn modifications as are encompassed by the scope of tne appended claims.

,-, .-:: ~

Claims (26)

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS

1. A nonwoven fibrous elastomeric web material comprising a hydraulically entangled admixture of (1) a first component of meltblown fibers and (2) a second component of at least one of pulp fibers, staple fibers, meltblown fibers and continuous filaments, at least one of the first component and the second component being elastic, said admixture having been subjected to high pressure liquid jets causing entanglement and intertwining of said first component and said second component so as to form an elastomeric web material.

2. A nonwoven fibrous elastomeric web material according to Claim 1, wherein said second component includes pulp fibers, whereby an absorbent web material is formed.

3. A nonwoven fibrous elastomeric web material according to Claim 2, wherein said pulp fibers include cellulosic pulp fibers.

4. A nonwoven fibrous elastomeric web material according to Claim 3, wherein said second component is selected from the group consisting of wood fibers, rayon fibers and cotton fibers.

5. A nonwoven fibrous elastomeric web material according to Claim 1, wherein the web material is an absorbent of a disposable diaper.

6. A nonwoven fibrous elastomeric web material according to Claim 2, wherein the admixture subjected to hydraulic entangling has particulate material incorporated therein.

7. A nonwoven fibrous elastomeric web material according to Claim 6, wherein the particulate material is particles of super absorbent materials.

8. A nonwoven fibrous elastomeric web material according to Claim 1, wherein said elastomeric web material is a web material formed by subjecting a laminate of a layer of said admixture and at least one other layer to hydraulic entangling.

9. A nonwoven fibrous elastomeric web material according to Claim 8, wherein said at least one other layer is a nonwoven fibrous layer.

10. A nonwoven fibrous elastomeric web material according to Claim 9, wherein, at the time of the hydraulic entangling, a layer of particulate material is positioned between said layer of said admixture and said at least one other layer.

11. A nonwoven fibrous elastomeric web material according to Claim 1, wherein said elastomeric web material has a smooth surface.

12. A nonwoven fibrous elastomeric web material according to Claim 1, wherein said admixture consists essentially of meltblown elastomeric fibers as the first component and said pulp.

13. A nonwoven fibrous elastomeric web material according to Claim 1, wherein said admixture consists essentially of meltblown elastomeric fibers as the first component and said staple fibers.

14. A nonwoven fibrous elastomeric web material according to Claim 13, wherein said staple fibers are synthetic staple fibers.

15. A nonwoven fibrous elastomeric web material according to Claim 13, wherein said staple fibers are natural staple fibers.

16. A nonwoven fibrous elastomeric web material according to Claim 1, wherein said admixture is an admixture formed by extruding material, for forming the first com-ponent through a meltblowing die, and intermingling said second component with the extruded material, and then codepositing the intermingled first component and second component on a collecting surface so as to form said admixture.

17. A nonwoven fibrous elastomeric web material according to Claim 1, wherein the admixture includes a reinforcing material.

18. A nonwoven fibrous elastomeric web material according to Claim 1, wherein the meltblown fibers of the first component are elastic meltblown fibers.

19. A nonwoven fibrous elastomeric web material according to Claim 1, wherein said elastomeric web material has isotropic stretch and recovery, in both machine- and cross-directions.

20. A process for forming a nonwoven fibrous elasto-meric web material, comprising providing an admixture including (1) a first component of meltblown fibers and (2) a second component of at least one material selected from the group consisting of pulp fibers, staple fibers, melt-blown fibers and continuous filaments, with at least one of the first and second components being elastic, on a support;
and jetting a plurality of high-pressure liquid streams toward at least one surface of said admixture, o as` to hydraulically entangle and intertwine said first component and said second component to thereby form an elastomeric material.

21. A process according to Claim 20, wherein at least one of said admixture on a support and plurality of high-pressure liquid streams are moved relative to one another so that said plurality of high-pressure liquid streams tranverses the length of said admixture on said support.

22. A process according to Claim 21, wherein said plurality of high-pressure liquid streams traverses said admixture on said support a plurality of times.

23. A process according to Claim 20, wherein the admixture has opposed major surfaces, and said plurality of high-pressure liquid streams are jetted toward each of the opposed major surfaces of said admixture.

24. A process according to Claim 20, wherein the admixture has been provided by extruding material of the first component through a meltblowing die, intermingling said second component with the extruded material, and then condepositing the first component and the second component on a collecting surface so as to form the admixture.

25. A process according to Claim 24, wherein the second component is intermingled with the extruded material just downstream of the meltblowing die.

26. A process according to Claim 20, wherein the meltblown fibers or the first component are elastic meltblown fibers.