Nonwoven fabrics having improved softness

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12415012-B2
Application number	US-202217858258-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 6, 2022
Priority date	Jul 7, 2021
Publication date	Sep 16, 2025
Grant date	Sep 16, 2025

Abstract

Nonwoven fabrics are provided that include a plurality of mono-component spunbond fibers comprising a polymeric material including a polymeric blend of (i) a TS7 value of at most about 30 as determined by a Tissue Softness Analyzer (TSA) from Emtec Innovative Testing Solutions; (ii) a HF value of at least about 40 as determined by a Tissue Softness Analyzer (TSA) from Emtec Innovative Testing Solutions; (iii) a delta value of at least 20, wherein the delta value is determined by subtracting the TS7 value from the HF value; (iv) a TS7 value that is from about 5% to about 35% lower than that of an identically constructed nonwoven fabric formed from 100% polypropylene; and (v) a HF value that is from about 5% to about 35% larger than that of an identically constructed nonwoven fabric formed from 100% polypropylene.

First claim

That which is claimed:

1. A nonwoven fabric, comprising:
a plurality of mono-component spunbond fibers comprising a polymeric material including a polymeric blend of (i) at least one polypropylene polymer, (ii) at least one polyethylene polymer, and (iii) at least one compatibilizer comprising at least one polypropylene-polyethylene copolymer including a first polypropylene-polyethylene copolymer having an ethylene monomer content from about 5 to about 60% by weight and a melt flow rate (MFR) of from about 0.5 to about 20 g/10 min as determined by ASTM D1238 (230° C./2.16 kg);
wherein the nonwoven fabric has one or more of the following: (i) a TS7 value of at most about 30 as determined by a Tissue Softness Analyzer (TSA) from Emtec Innovative Testing Solutions; (ii) a HF value of at least about 40 as determined by a Tissue Softness Analyzer (TSA) from Emtec Innovative Testing Solutions; (iii) a delta value of at least 20, wherein the delta value is determined by subtracting the TS7 value from the HF value; (iv) a TS7 value that is from about 5% to about 35% lower than that of an identically constructed nonwoven fabric with the exception that the identically constructed nonwoven fabric is formed from 100% polypropylene; and (v) a HF value that is from about 5% to about 35% larger than that of an identically constructed nonwoven fabric with the exception that the identically constructed nonwoven fabric is formed from 100% polypropylene.

2. The nonwoven fabric of claim 1 , wherein the nonwoven fabric has one or more of a TS7 value is from about 2 to about 30, a HF value from 40 to 120, a delta value from about 20 to about 75.

3. The nonwoven fabric of claim 1 , wherein the 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.

4. The nonwoven fabric of claim 3 , wherein the at least one polypropylene-polyethylene copolymer is a first polypropylene-polyethylene copolymer, the first polypropylene-polyethylene copolymer is a first block copolymer or a first EP-iPP diblock polymer.

5. The nonwoven fabric of claim 1 , wherein a first MFR ratio between a first MFR of the at least one polypropylene polymer as determined by ASTM D1238 (230° C./2.16 kg) and a second MFR of the at least one polyethylene polymer as determined by ASTM D1238 (230° C./2.16 kg) is from about 5:1 to about 20:1.

6. The nonwoven fabric of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric material further comprises a second compatibilizer comprising an anhydride functionality, one or more fillers, one or more slip agents, or any combination thereof.

7. The nonwoven fabric of claim 6 , wherein the polymeric material includes one or more slip agents comprising a primary amide, a secondary amide, a tertiary amide, a bis-amide, or any combination thereof.

8. The nonwoven fabric of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of mono-component spunbond fibers comprise a round cross-section, non-round cross-section, or both.

9. The nonwoven fabric of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of mono-component spunbond 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.

10. The nonwoven fabric of claim 9 , 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.

11. The nonwoven fabric of claim 10 , wherein the nonwoven fabric comprises a SMS construct including a first spunbond layer, at least one meltblown layer, and at least a second spunbond layer, the at least one meltblown layer is located between the first spunbond layer and the second spunbond layer; wherein the first spunbond layer includes the plurality of mono-component spunbond fibers and defines a first outermost spunbond nonwoven layer of the SMS construct.

12. The nonwoven fabric of claim 11 , wherein the second spunbond layer includes a second plurality of mono-component spunbond fibers and defines a second outermost spunbond nonwoven layer of the SMS construct; wherein the second plurality of mono-component spunbond fibers are formed from an identical polymeric material or polymeric blend as the first spunbond layer.

13. The nonwoven fabric of claim 11 , wherein the at least one meltblown layer comprises a plurality of meltblown fibers comprising a meltblown polymeric composition including from 50% to 100% by weight of one or more polypropylenes.

14. An article, comprising: a topsheet comprising a nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 , wherein the article comprises an adult diaper, a baby diaper, a pull-up, of a feminine hygiene pad.

Assignees

• Berry Global Inc
• Magnera Corp

Inventors

• Moody Iii Ralph A
• Joijode Abhay
• Sinangil Mehmet Selcuk

Classifications

• D10B2509/026

  Absorbent pads; Tampons; Laundry; Towels · CPC title

• D10B2321/022

  polypropylene · CPC title

• D10B2321/021

  polyethylene · CPC title

• D04H1/56

  in association with fibre formation, e.g. immediately following extrusion of staple fibres · CPC title

• D04H1/4291

  Olefin series · CPC title