Three-dimensional nonwoven materials and methods of manufacturing thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022015960-A1
Application number	US-201917295565-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 27, 2019
Priority date	Nov 30, 2018
Publication date	Jan 20, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

Three dimensional nonwoven materials and methods of manufacturing such materials are disclosed. In one embodiment, a nonwoven material may comprise a plurality of fibers and may further comprise an opposing first surface and a second surface, an apertured zone comprising a plurality of nodes extending away from a base plane on the first surface, a plurality of connecting ligaments interconnecting the plurality of nodes, and a plurality of openings providing a percent open area for the apertured zone that is greater than about 15%, as determined by the Material Sample Analysis Test Method. The material may further comprise a first and second side zones with the nonwoven material having a material width and the first and second side zones having first and second side zone widths, and wherein each of the first and second side zone widths are between about 5% and about 25% of the nonwoven material width.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A nonwoven material comprising a plurality of fibers and extending between a first end and a second end, the nonwoven material having a material width and comprising:
a first surface and a second surface, the first surface being opposite from the second surface; an apertured zone, the apertured zone comprising:
a plurality of nodes extending away from a base plane on the first surface,
a plurality of connecting ligaments interconnecting the plurality of nodes, wherein a majority of the plurality of nodes include at least three connecting ligaments connecting to adjacent nodes, and
a plurality of openings providing a percent open area for the apertured zone of the nonwoven material that is greater than about 15%, as determined by the Material Sample Analysis Test Method; and
a first side zone and a second side zone, the first side zone having a first side zone width and the second side zone having a second side zone width, and wherein each of the first side zone width and the second side zone width are between about 5% and about 25% of the nonwoven material width.

2 . The nonwoven material of claim 1 , wherein each of the first side zone width and the second side zone width are between about 5% and about 15% of the nonwoven material width.

3 . The nonwoven material of claim 1 , and wherein the value of the first side zone width is within about 25% of the value of the second side zone width.

4 . The nonwoven material of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of openings provide a percent open area for the apertured zone of the nonwoven material that is greater than about 20%, as determined by the Material Sample Analysis Test Method.

5 . The nonwoven material of claim 1 , wherein the first side zone and the second side zone each have a percent open area greater than about 0.5% and less about 10%, as determined by the Material Sample Analysis Test Method.

6 . The nonwoven material of claim 1 , wherein a Poisson's ratio of the apertured zone of the nonwoven material is less than about 3 at 1% strain, as determined by the Poisson's Ratio Test Method.

7 . The nonwoven material of claim 1 , wherein the first side zone and the second side zone each extend between the first end of the nonwoven material and the second end of the nonwoven material.

8 . A nonwoven material comprising a plurality of fibers and extending between a first end and a second end, the nonwoven material comprising:
an apertured zone, the apertured zone comprising a plurality of openings providing a percent open area for the apertured zone of the nonwoven material that is greater than about 15%, as determined by the Material Sample Analysis Test Method; and a first side zone and a second side zone, each of the first side zone and the second side zone having a percent open area greater than about 0.5% and less than the percent open area of the apertured zone, as determined by the Material Sample Analysis Test Method, wherein a ratio of a tensile strength of the first side zone plus a tensile strength of the second side zone divided by a tensile strength of the apertured zone is between about 0.8 and about 2.5.

9 . The nonwoven material of claim 8 , wherein the ratio of the tensile strength of the first side zone plus the second side zone divided by the apertured zone is between about 0.8 and about 1.75.

10 . The nonwoven material of claim 8 , wherein the apertured zone further comprises a plurality of nodes extending away from a base plane on the first surface and a plurality of connecting ligaments interconnecting the plurality of nodes, wherein a majority of the plurality of nodes include at least three connecting ligaments connecting to adjacent nodes.

11 . The nonwoven material of claim 10 , wherein each connecting ligament extends between only two adjacent nodes.

12 . The nonwoven material of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of openings provide a percent open area for the apertured zone of the nonwoven material that is greater than about 20%, as determined by the Material Sample Analysis Test Method.

13 . The nonwoven material of claim 8 , wherein the nonwoven material has a material width and the first side zone has a first side zone width and the second side zone has a second side zone width, and wherein each of the first side zone width and the second side zone width are between about 5% and about 25% of the nonwoven material width.

14 . The nonwoven material of claim 8 , wherein the first side zone has a first side zone width and the second side zone has a second side zone width, and wherein the value of the first side zone width is within about 50% of the value of the second side zone width.

15 . A nonwoven material comprising a plurality of fibers and extending between a first end and a second end, the nonwoven material comprising:
an apertured zone, the apertured zone comprising a plurality of openings providing a percent open area for the apertured zone of the nonwoven material that is greater than about 15%, as determined by the Material Sample Analysis Test Method; and a first side zone and a second side zone, each of the first side zone and the second side zone having a percent open area greater than about 0.5% and less than the percent open area of the apertured zone, as determined by the Material Sample Analysis Test Method, wherein a Poisson's ratio of the apertured zone of the nonwoven material is less than about 3 at 1% strain, as determined by the Poisson's Ratio Test Method.

16 . The nonwoven material of claim 15 , wherein the Poisson's ratio of the apertured zone of the nonwoven material is less than about 2 at 1% strain, as determined by the Poisson's Ratio Test Method.

17 . The nonwoven material of claim 15 , wherein the apertured zone further comprises a plurality of nodes extending away from a base plane on the first surface and a plurality of connecting ligaments interconnecting the plurality of nodes, wherein a majority of the plurality of nodes include at least three connecting ligaments connecting to adjacent nodes.

18 . The nonwoven material of claim 17 , wherein each connecting ligament extends between only two adjacent nodes

19 . The nonwoven material of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of openings provide a percent open area for the apertured zone of the nonwoven material that is greater than about 20%, as determined by the Material Sample Analysis Test Method.

20 . The nonwoven material of claim 15 , wherein the nonwoven material has a material width and the first side zone has a first side zone width and the second side zone has a second side zone width, and wherein each of the first side zone width and the second side zone width are between about 5% and about 25% of the nonwoven material width.

Assignees

• Kimberly Clark Co

Inventors

• Carrillo Ojeda Antonio J
• Nhan Davis Dang H
• Scholl Neil T
• Topolkaraev Vasily A
• Biggs David G
• Mleziva Mark M
• Roffers Steven J
• Smith Dustin J

Classifications

• Y10T428/24322

  Composite web or sheet · CPC title

• Y10T428/24298

  Noncircular aperture [e.g., slit, diamond, rectangular, etc.] · CPC title

• B32B5/24

  one layer being a fibrous or filamentary layer · CPC title

• B32B2555/02

  Diapers or napkins · CPC title

• Y10T428/24124

  Fibers · CPC title