Dispersible non-woven fabrics

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9873964-B2
Application number	US-201615348019-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 10, 2016
Priority date	Nov 9, 2011
Publication date	Jan 23, 2018
Grant date	Jan 23, 2018

Abstract

The present invention relates to a dispersible nonwoven fabric comprising pulp and solvent spun cellulosic fibers, characterized in that the solvent spun cellulosic fibers are fibrillated. Furthermore the invention concerns the use of the fabric in dry wipes and wet wipes.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A dispersible nonwoven fabric comprising pulp and solvent spun cellulosic fibers, wherein the solvent spun cellulosic fibers are fibrillated lyocell fibers and wherein the solvent spun fibers are present in the amount of 10 to 30% wt % based on the fabric and wherein the dispersible nonwoven fabric has a wet elongation in machine direction of about 1.3% to about 11%.

2. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 , wherein the fabric has a weight of 30 to 100 g/m 2 , and a thickness of 0.1 to 0.7 mm.

3. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 2 , wherein the fabric has a weight of 40 to 60 g/m 2 .

4. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 , wherein the fabric comprises a dispersing aid in an amount of 0.1 to 1% wt.-% based on the fabric.

5. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 4 , wherein the dispersing aid is in an amount of 0.5 to 1 wt.-% based on the fabric.

6. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 , wherein the fabric comprises a binder in an amount of 0.01 to 5 wt.-% based on the fabric.

7. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 6 , wherein an acrylic resin or epichlorhydrin based wet strength resin is used as the binder.

8. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 6 , wherein the binder is in an amount of 0.1 to 0.5 wt.-% based on the fabric.

9. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 , wherein the pulp is selected from the group consisting of a softwood pulp, a hardwood pulp and a pulp made from plants.

10. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 9 , wherein the pulp made from plants is selected from the group consisting of abaca and bamboo.

11. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 , wherein the fabric is impregnated with a liquid or a lotion.

12. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 , wherein the impregnated fabric has a wet tensile strength in machine direction of 2 to 20 N/5 cm, based on a basis weight of 60 g/m 2 and in cross direction 1 to 10 N/5 cm.

13. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 12 , wherein the impregnated fabric has a wet tensile strength in machine direction of 3 to 13 N/5 cm based on a basis weight of 60 g/m 2 and in cross direction 1 to 7 N/5 cm.

14. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 13 , wherein the impregnated fabric has a wet tensile strength in machine direction of 3 to 7 N/5 cm based on a basis weight of 60 g/m 2 and in cross direction 1 to 3 N/5 cm.

15. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 , wherein the fabric is disintegrating under agitation in water according to Tier 1 Test FG 511.2-Dispersability Tipping Tube Test of the “EDANA Guidance Document for Assessing the Flushability of Nonwoven Consumer Products” where at least 95% of the disintegrated size fractions pass a 12 mm screen.

16. A product comprising the fabric according to claim 1 .

17. The product according to claim 16 , wherein the product is for cleaning and densification.

18. The product according to claim 17 , wherein the product is selected from the group consisting of dry wipes, wet wipes and hygiene products.

19. The product according to claim 18 , wherein the wipes are selected from the group consisting of toilette wipes, facial wipes, cosmetic wipes, baby wipes and sanitary wipes.

20. The product according to claim 19 , wherein the hygiene products are selected from the group consisting of panty liners, sanitary napkins and incontinence pads.

21. A dispersible nonwoven fabric comprising fibrillated solvent spun cellulosic fibers, wherein the solvent spun fibers are lyocell fibers, wherein the fibrillated solvent spun cellulosic fibers are present in an amount of 10 to 30 wt.-% based on the fabric, wherein the dispersible nonwoven fabric has a wet elongation in machine direction of about 1.3% to about 11% and wherein the dispersible nonwoven fabric is obtained by a process which comprises the steps of:
a) Providing a dispersion of pulp and a dispersion of solvent spun cellulosic fiber in water either separately or together as a mixture,
b1) Refining these dispersions separately and mixing the resulting slurries to an intimate blend to form a slurry, or,
b2) Co-refining the mixture of pulp and solvent spun fiber to form a slurry
c) Wet laying the slurry to form a sheet, and
d)Hydroentanglement of the sheet to form a fabric
wherein the refining or co-refining energy is from 40 to 150 kWh/t, and wherein the solvent spun cellulosic fibers are short cut fibers with a cut length of 4 to 10 mm and a titer of 0.9 to 6.7 dtex.

22. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 21 , wherein a binder is added in step b1) or b2).

23. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 21 , wherein a dispersing agent is added to the dispersion in step a).

24. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 23 , wherein the fabric has a wet tensile strength in machine direction of 2 to 20 N/5 cm based on a basis weight of 60 g/m 2 and in cross direction 1 to 10 N/5 cm.

25. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 24 , wherein the fabric has a wet tensile strength in machine direction of 3 to 13 N/5 cm based on a basis weight of 60 g/m 2 and in cross direction 1 to 7 N/5 cm.

26. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 25 , wherein the fabric has a wet tensile strength in machine direction of 3 to 7 N/5 cm based on a basis weight of 60 g/m 2 and in cross direction 1 to 3 N/5 cm.

27. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 21 , wherein the solvent spun fibers are short cut fibers with a cut length of 2 to 20 mm and a titer of 0.9 to 6.7 dtex.

28. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 27 , wherein the solvent spun fibers are short cut fibers with a cut length of 3 to 12 mm and a titer of 0.9 to 1.3 to 1.7 dtex.

29. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 28 , wherein the solvent spun fibers are short cut fibers with a cut length of 4 to 10 mm.

30. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 21 , wherein the fabric disintegrates under agitation in water according to Tier 1 Text FG 511.2-Dispersability Tipping Tube Test of the “EDANA Guidance Document for Assessing the Flushability of Nonwoven Consumer Products” where at least 95% of the disintegrated size fractions pass a 12 mm screen.

31. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 21 , wherein the fabric has a weight of 30 to 100 g/m2 and a thickness of 0.1 to 0.7 mm.

32. The dispersible nonwoven fabric according to claim 31 , wherein the fabric has a weight of 40 to 60 g/m 2 .

Assignees

• Chemiefaser Lenzing Ag
• Lenzig Ag

Inventors

• Collins Geoffrey Williams
• Slater Andrew Peter
• Rahbaran Shayda

Classifications

• A61K8/0208

  Tissues; Wipes; Patches · CPC title

• D04H1/425 Primary

  Cellulose series · CPC title

• D04H1/492

  by fluid jet (D04H1/49 takes precedence) · CPC title

• D21H13/08

  from regenerated cellulose · CPC title

• A61Q19/00

  Preparations for care of the skin · CPC title