Recyclable, asymmetrical-faced composite nonwoven textile having silicone-coated fibers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12502867-B2
Application number	US-202117509945-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 25, 2021
Priority date	Oct 30, 2020
Publication date	Dec 23, 2025
Grant date	Dec 23, 2025

Abstract

Aspects herein are directed to a recyclable, asymmetrical-faced composite nonwoven textile suitable for use in apparel and other articles and methods of making the same. In example aspects, the asymmetrical-faced composite nonwoven textile includes a first face formed, at least in part from a first entangled web of fibers and an opposite second face formed, at least in part from a second entangled web of fibers. When incorporated into an article of apparel, the first face forms an outer-facing surface of the article of apparel, and the second face forms an inner-facing surface of the article of apparel. The first face includes features making it suitable to form the outer-facing surface such as resistance to abrasion, and the second face includes features making it suitable to form an inner-facing surface such as a soft hand.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A composite nonwoven textile comprising:
two or more entangled webs of fibers; and an elastomeric layer, wherein at least some of the fibers of the two or more entangled webs of fibers extend through the elastomeric layer, wherein from about 10% to about 25% by weight of the composite nonwoven textile in a unit area comprises silicone-coated fibers, wherein the composite nonwoven textile comprises a stiffness equal to or less than about 0.4 Kgf, and wherein at least a portion of the silicone-coated fibers have a first length that extends through one or more of the entangled webs and that is coated with silicone.

2 . The composite nonwoven textile of claim 1 , wherein the two or more entangled webs of fibers include a first entangled web of fibers that forms, at least in part, a first face of the composite nonwoven textile and a second entangled web of fibers that forms, at least in part, an opposite second face of the composite nonwoven textile.

3 . The composite nonwoven textile of claim 2 , wherein the elastomeric layer is positioned between the first entangled web of fibers and the second entangled web of fibers.

4 . The composite nonwoven textile of claim 3 , further comprising a third entangled web of fibers positioned between the first entangled web of fibers and the second entangled web of fibers, and wherein at least a portion of the first length that is coated with silicone extends through the third entangled web of fibers.

5 . The composite nonwoven textile of claim 4 , wherein the third entangled web of fibers is positioned between the second entangled web of fibers and the elastomeric layer.

6 . The composite nonwoven textile of claim 1 , wherein the composite nonwoven textile comprises a portion of an article of apparel, which includes one or more of an upper-body garment, a lower-body garment, and a footwear article.

7 . A composite nonwoven textile comprising:
two or more entangled webs of fibers, wherein any of the two or more entangled webs of fibers comprises a cross-lapped staple fiber web, and wherein at least a portion of the fibers of the two or more entangled webs of fibers comprise silicone-coated fibers; an elastomeric layer, wherein at least some of the fibers of the two or more entangled webs of fibers extend through the elastomeric layer, and wherein at least a portion of the silicone-coated fibers have a first length that extends through one or more of the entangled webs and that is coated with silicone; and a plurality of discrete thermal bond structures, each discrete thermal bond structure comprising at least a portion of the elastomeric layer that is melted and re-solidified into film form and a portion of one or more fibers of the two or more entangled webs of fibers that is coupled to the at least the portion of the elastomeric layer.

8 . The composite nonwoven textile of claim 7 , wherein at least a portion of the first length coated with silicone extends through the elastomeric layer.

9 . The composite nonwoven textile of claim 7 , wherein the composite nonwoven textile comprises a portion of an article of apparel, which includes one or more of an upper-body garment, a lower-body garment, and a footwear article.

10 . The composite nonwoven textile of claim 9 , wherein:
the two or more entangled webs of fibers comprises a first fiber web and a second fiber web; the elastomeric layer is positioned between the first fiber web and the second fiber web; and at least a portion of the first length coated with silicone extends from the first fiber web and through the elastomeric layer and is entangled with the second fiber web.

11 . The composite nonwoven textile of claim 10 , wherein:
the two or more entangled webs of fibers comprises a third fiber web positioned between the first fiber web and the second fiber web; and the least the portion of the first length coated with silicone extends through the third fiber web.

12 . The composite nonwoven textile of claim 11 , wherein the third fiber web comprises, as compared to the first fiber web, a larger amount, by weight, of silicone-coated fibers.

13 . The composite nonwoven textile of claim 12 , wherein the second entangled web of fibers, as compared to the third entangled web of fibers, a larger amount, by weight, of silicone-coated fibers.

14 . The composite nonwoven textile of claim 7 , wherein the composite nonwoven textile comprises, in both a machine direction and a cross direction, a recovery of within about 10% of a resting length and a resting width.

15 . The composite nonwoven textile of claim 2 , wherein a number of silicone-coated fiber per unit area on the first face of the nonwoven textile is greater than a number of silicone-coated fiber per unit area on the second face of the nonwoven textile.

Assignees

• Nike Inc

Inventors

• Connors Krista J
• Lund Dallas
• Ou yang-hua

Classifications

• D10B2401/20

  optical · CPC title

• D10B2331/04

  polyesters, e.g. polyethylene terephthalate [PET] · CPC title

• D04H1/74

  the fibres being orientated, e.g. in parallel {(anisotropic fleeces)} · CPC title

• D04H1/46

  by needling or like operations to cause entanglement of fibres (D04H1/45 takes precedence; needling machines D04H18/00) · CPC title

• D10B2401/061

  elastic · CPC title