High loft nonwoven fabrics

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12247334-B2
Application number	US-202217968316-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 18, 2022
Priority date	Oct 18, 2021
Publication date	Mar 11, 2025
Grant date	Mar 11, 2025

Abstract

Nonwoven fabrics are provided that include a plurality of crimped bicomponent fibers having a first component comprising a first polymeric material comprising a first polymer or a first polymeric blend and a second component comprising a second polymeric material, in which the second polymeric material comprises a second polymeric blend of (i) at least one polypropylene polymer, (ii) at least one polyethylene polymer, and (iii) at least one compatibilizer comprising or consisting of at least one polypropylene-polyethylene copolymer.

First claim

That which is claimed:

1. A nonwoven fabric, comprising: a plurality of crimped bicomponent fibers having a first component comprising a first polymeric material comprising a first polymer or a first polymeric blend and a second component comprising a second polymeric material; wherein the second polymeric material comprises a second polymeric blend of (i) at least one polypropylene polymer, (ii) at least one polyethylene polymer having a melt flow rate (MFR) from about 1 to about 15 g/10 min as determined by ASTM D1238 (190° C./2.16 kg), and (iii) at least one compatibilizer comprising consisting of at least one polypropylene-polyethylene copolymer.

2. The nonwoven fabric of claim 1 , wherein the first polymeric material comprises a polyolefin.

3. The nonwoven fabric of claim 1 , wherein the first polymeric material comprises a first polypropylene having a first melt flow rate (MFR) and a second polypropylene having a second MFR; wherein the second MFR is the same as or is larger than the first MFR.

4. The nonwoven fabric of claim 3 , wherein a first MFR-ratio between the second MFR and the first MFR is from about 1:1 to about 60:1.

5. The nonwoven fabric of claim 3 , wherein the first polymeric material comprises from about 70 wt. % to about 99 wt. % of a first polypropylene.

6. The nonwoven fabric of claim 5 , wherein the first polymeric material comprises from about 1 wt. % to about 10 wt. % of a second polypropylene.

7. The nonwoven fabric of claim 1 , wherein the second polymeric blend comprises from about 60 to about 90 wt. % of the at least one polypropylene polymer, from about 5 to about 30 wt. % of the at least one polyethylene polymer, and from about 1 to about 10 wt. % of the at least one polypropylene-polyethylene copolymer.

8. The nonwoven fabric of claim 7 , wherein the at least one polypropylene polymer is a first polypropylene polymer and has a melt flow rate (MFR) of from about 10 to about 100 g/10 min as determined by ASTM D1238 (230° C./2.16 kg), the at least one polyethylene polymer is a first polyethylene polymer and has a MFR from about 1 to about 10 g/10 min as determined by ASTM D1238 (190° C./2.16 kg), and the at least one polypropylene-polyethylene copolymer is a first polypropylene-polyethylene copolymer and has a MFR of from about 0.5 to about 20 g/10 min as determined by ASTM D1238 (230° C./2.16 kg).

9. The nonwoven fabric of claim 8 , wherein the first polypropylene-polyethylene copolymer is a first block copolymer.

10. The nonwoven fabric of claim 9 , wherein the first block copolymer is an EP-iPP diblock polymer.

11. The nonwoven fabric of claim 9 , wherein the first polypropylene-polyethylene copolymer has an ethylene monomer content from about 5 to about 60% by weight.

12. The nonwoven fabric of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of crimped bicomponent fibers comprise continuous fibers, staple fibers, or a combination thereof.

13. The nonwoven fabric of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of crimped bicomponent fibers comprise a side-by-side configuration, a sheath-core configuration, a pie configuration, an islands-in-the-sea configuration, a multi-lobed configuration, or any combinations thereof.

14. The nonwoven fabric of claim 1 , wherein the first polymeric material comprises from about 20 wt. % to about 80 wt. % of the plurality of crimped bicomponent fibers, and wherein the second polymeric material comprises from about 80 wt. % to about 20 wt. % of the plurality of crimped bicomponent fibers.

15. The nonwoven fabric of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of crimped bicomponent fibers define a first nonwoven layer, and wherein the nonwoven fabric further comprises one or more additional nonwoven layers including at least a second nonwoven layer.

16. The nonwoven fabric of claim 15 , wherein the one or more additional layers comprises a spunbond layer, a meltblown layer, a carded layer, a hydroentangled layer, a cellulosic layer, or any combination thereof.

17. The nonwoven fabric of claim 16 , wherein the nonwoven fabric includes one or more cellulosic layers located directly or indirectly between the first nonwoven layer and the second nonwoven layer, wherein the second nonwoven layer comprises a spunbond layer or a spunbond-meltblown-spunbond layer.

18. The nonwoven fabric of claim 1 , wherein the nonwoven fabric has a basis weight from about 10 grams-per-square-meter (gsm) to about 100 gsm.

19. The nonwoven fabric of claim 1 , wherein the at least one compatibilizer consists of at least one polypropylene-polyethylene copolymer.

Assignees

• Berry Global Inc

Inventors

• Moody Ralph A
• Joijode Abhay
• Sinangìl Mehmet Selcuk

Classifications

• D10B2321/022

  polypropylene · CPC title

• D10B2321/021

  polyethylene · CPC title

• D04H3/147

  Composite yarns or filaments · CPC title

• D04H3/007

  Addition polymers · CPC title

• D04H1/4291

  Olefin series · CPC title