Fibrous laminate floor underlayment with improved acoustical insulation and breathable barrier protection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10689863-B2
Application number	US-201515749407-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 31, 2015
Priority date	Jul 31, 2015
Publication date	Jun 23, 2020
Grant date	Jun 23, 2020

Abstract

The present invention relates to a floor underlayment that may be positioned directly in contact with the underside surface of a finished floor and comprise more than one layer such as a first layer pattern-unbonded nonwoven web and a second layer microporous film. Additional layers may comprise a meltblown nonwoven layer and a spunbond layer. The floor underlayment of the present invention may exhibit a sound pressure level (SPL in dB at 800 Hz or 1600 Hz) reduction IIC of about 30 to about 40.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A floor underlayment comprising at least two layers, said first layer comprising a pattern-unbonded nonwoven web, said pattern-unbonded nonwoven web having a first surface opposite a second surface, said first surface being flat and said second surface comprising a 3D surface, said 3D surface having thereof a pattern of from about 15 percent to about 60 percent of continuous bonded areas defining a plurality of discrete unbonded areas; and a second layer comprising a microporous film having a first surface opposite a second surface, said first surface of said film adhered to said first flat surface of said pattern-unbonded nonwoven web; wherein said floor underlayment is positioned directly in contact with the underside surface of a finished floor; and wherein the sound pressure level (SPL in dB at 800 Hz or 1600 Hz) reduction IIC of said finished floor and said floor underlayment conjointly exhibit a value of about 30 to about 40, wherein the continuous bonded areas are substantially fluid impermeable and the plurality of discrete unbonded areas are fluid permeable.

2. The floor underlayment of claim 1 wherein the underlayment is positioned atop a subfloor.

3. The floor underlayment of claim 2 wherein said second 3D surface of said pattern-unbonded nonwoven web is directly in contact with said subfloor.

4. The floor underlayment of claim 1 wherein the floor underlayment and finished floor conjointly exhibit a noise reduction of from about 50 dB to about 65 db in Delta IIC testing.

5. The floor underlayment of claim 1 wherein said pattern-unbonded nonwoven web comprises a spunbond web having a basis weight of from about 30 gsm to about 400 gsm.

6. The floor underlayment of claim 1 wherein said pattern-unbonded nonwoven web comprises fibers formed from a thermoplastic polymeric material, said thermoplastic material having been selected from the group consisting of poly(vinyl chloride)s, polyesters, polyamides, polyfluorocarbons, polyolefins, polyurethanes, polystyrenes, poly(vinyl alcohol)s, caprolactams, and copolymers thereof.

7. The floor underlayment of claim 1 wherein said microporous film has a water vapor transmission rate of at least about 200 grams per square meter per 24 hours to about 300 grams per square meter per 24 hours.

8. The floor underlayment of claim 7 wherein said microporous film has a weight per unit area after stretching and thinning from about 12 grams per square meter to about 30 grams per square meter.

9. The floor underlayment of claim 1 wherein the total basis weight of the floor underlayment is from about 80 gsm to about 850 gsm.

10. A floor underlayment comprising multiple layers, said first layer comprising a pattern-unbonded nonwoven web, said pattern-unbonded nonwoven web having a first surface opposite a second surface, said first surface being flat and said second surface comprising a 3D surface, said 3D surface having thereof a pattern of from about 15 percent to about 60 percent of continuous bonded areas defining a plurality of discrete unbonded areas; a second layer comprising a microporous film having a first surface opposite a second surface, said first surface of said film adhered to said first flat surface of said pattern-unbonded nonwoven web; and a third layer comprising a meltblown nonwoven layer having a first surface and an opposing second surface; wherein said floor underlayment is positioned directly in contact with the underside surface of a finished floor; and wherein the sound pressure level (SPL in dB at 800 Hz or 1600 Hz) reduction IIC of said finished floor and said floor underlayment conjointly exhibit a value of about 30 to about 40.

11. The floor underlayment of claim 10 wherein the underlayment is positioned atop a subfloor.

12. The floor underlayment of claim 11 wherein said second 3D surface of said pattern-unbonded nonwoven web is atop and directly in contact with said subfloor.

13. The floor underlayment of claim 10 comprising a fourth layer of spunbond wherein said spunbond has a first surface and an opposing second surface.

14. The floor underlayment of claim 13 wherein the layers are positioned such that the first surface of said spunbond layer is positioned to be available for direct contact with a first external surface, said first external surface selected from a finished floor and a subfloor, and said second opposing surface of said spunbond layer is adjacent to and in contact with said first surface of said meltblown layer, said second opposing surface of said meltblown layer is in adjacent to and in contact with said first surface of said film layer, said second opposing surface of said film layer is adhered to said first flat surface of said PUB spunbond layer, and said second opposing surface of said PUB spunbond layer is positioned to be available for direct contact with a second external surface, said second external surface selected from a finished floor and a subfloor.

15. The floor underlayment of claim 14 wherein the floor underlayment and finished floor conjointly exhibit a noise reduction of from about 50 dB to about 85 dB in Delta IIC testing.

16. The floor underlayment of claim 14 wherein said first external surface is a finished floor and said second external surface is a subfloor.

17. The floor underlayment of claim 10 wherein said microporous film has a water vapor transmission rate of at least about 200 grams per square meter per 24 hours to about 300 grams per square meter per 24 hours.

18. The floor underlayment of claim 10 wherein the meltblown nonwoven web comprises meltblown fibers with an average fiber diameter of less than about 7 microns.

19. The floor underlayment of claim 10 wherein the meltblown nonwoven web has a thickness of from about 0.2 mm to about 5 mm.

20. The floor underlayment of claim 10 wherein the total basis weight of the floor underlayment is from about 80 gsm to about 850 gsm.

21. The floor underlayment of claim 10 wherein the continuous bonded areas are substantially fluid impermeable and the plurality of discrete unbonded areas are fluid permeable.

22. A floor underlayment comprising at least two layers, said first layer comprising a pattern-unbonded nonwoven web, said pattern-unbonded nonwoven web having a first surface opposite a second surface, said first surface being flat and said second surface comprising a 3D surface, said 3D surface having thereof a pattern of from about 15 percent to about 60 percent of continuous bonded areas defining a plurality of discrete unbonded areas; and a second layer comprising a microporous film having a first surface opposite a second surface, said first surface of said film adhered to said first flat surface of said pattern-unbonded nonwoven web; wherein said floor underlayment is positioned directly in contact with the underside surface of a finished floor; and wherein the sound pressure level (SPL in dB at 800 Hz or 1600 Hz) reduction IIC of said finished floor and said floor underlayment conjointly exhibit a value of about 33 to about 37.

Assignees

• Kimberly Clark Co

Inventors

• Stopper Steven R
• Tucker John D

Classifications

• B32B2307/724

  Permeability to gases, adsorption · CPC title

• B32B3/30

  characterised by a layer formed with recesses or projections, e.g. {hollows, grooves, protuberances, ribs (apertured layer B32B3/266; layer with cavities or internal voids B32B3/26)} · CPC title

• B32B2307/102

  Insulating · CPC title

• B32B2305/026

  Porous · CPC title

• B32B5/022

  Non-woven fabric · CPC title