Kimberly-clark Corporation

Other

Cheryl A Perkins

Michael David Powers

David Charles Potts

John Gavin MacDonald

Ronald S Nohr

Ali Yahiaoui

Arthur Edward Garavaglia

John Joseph Sayovitz

Wanda Walton Jackson

William A Georger

Cheryl Ann Mocadlo

Jerald T Jascomb

Gregory A Zelazoski

Dawn Marie Huffman

Monica Signoret Diaz

Richard John Birtwell

Anthony Jobe

Wendy Louise Bush

Disclosed herein is a combination apertured film and lofty fibrous nonwoven web separation layer which is particularly well suited for use as, among other things, a body side liner for personal care absorbent articles such as sanitary napkins and the like. When used in such applications, the material of the present invention has excellent liquid penetration rates and it resists rewet of the surface of the material.

Apertured film/nonwoven composite for personal care absorbent articles

A polymeric fabric having enhanced wettability, a method for producing such wettable polymeric fabric, and a composition for use in the method. The polymeric fabric is preferably a nonwoven. In one embodiment, the fabric includes a succinate surfactant substantially uniformly distributed on the surface of the fabric. The succinate surfactant is applied with a co-wetting aid which reduces the surface tension of the surfactant composition. In another embodiment, the polymeric fabric comprises multiple surfactants on the surface of the polymeric fabric. The first surfactant has a cloud point less than 50.degree. C. and a low solubility in water and is dispersible in water. The second surfactant comprises a succinate surfactant. The first and second surfactants are applied to the fabric in an aqueous solution preferably with a co-wetting aid such as a primary or secondary alcohol. The co-wetting aid wets the polymeric fabric with the composition during application of the composition to the polymeric fabric and then evaporates.

Wettable polymeric fabrics with durable surfactant treatment

Conductive meltblown fabrics are disclosed which have improved strength and hand over conventional conductive meltblown fabrics. Also disclosed is a process for spraying a solution containing a conductive agent into a molten stream of meltblown fibers before they are deposited onto a forming wire. By applying the solution onto the fibers before they are deposited onto the forming wire, the heat of the molten stream vaporizes the solvent carrying the conductive agent and thereby eliminates the need to subsequently dry the formed material. By eliminating the drying step, degradation of the strength and hardening of the hand of the material normally resulting from the wetting and drying of meltblown fabrics are avoided. There is also disclosed a conductive SMS laminate having a conductive meltblown layer sandwiched between two untreated and nonconductive spunbond layers.

Conductive fabric and method of producing same

There is disclosed a porous non-woven absorbent structure formed from fibers. The porous structure has a basis weight within the range of at least about 0.25 osy to about 10.0 osy a density of at least about 0.01 g/cc to about 0.15 g/cc. The porous structure is adapted such that upon the application of at least 2 ml of fluid Bovine blood-oxalate to a surface thereof, substantially all of said fluid enters the bulk of the porous structure within about 45 seconds. The porous structure may be single layered or include multiple layers. The single layered structure is formed from spunbonded thermoplastic fibers which include a hydrophilic internal additive. The multiple layered structure is formed by laminating a spunbonded web to a second layer. The second may be formed from natural or synthetic fibers. When formed from synthetic fibers, the second layer is generally formed from meltblown fibers which may also include a hydrophobic internal additive. The fibers forming either the spunbond or the meltblown layers may be mono-component or bi-component. In some applications, a liquid impervious film may be secured to a surface of the second layer.

Porous non-woven bovine blood-oxalate absorbent structure

Disclosed herein is a quilted film laminate wherein a film having a plurality of generally parallel slits is laminated to a substrate layer such as a fibrous nonwoven web. Due to processing conditions, once the slit film layer and substrate layer have been laminated to one another, the composite is allowed to retract thereby giving the composite a puckered or quilted appearance with an undulating surface. The undulating surface also causes the slits to form a plurality of openings which are generally perpendicular to the central plane of the film. In addition, due to the undulating nature of the surface of the film, the apertures so created reside in, above and below the central plane of the film layer. The composite so produced has a wide variety of uses not the least of which include a cover material or body side liner for personal care absorbent products. The process for producing the composite is also disclosed.

Liquid permeable, quilted film laminates

A nonwoven composite structure is provided which has three melt-extruded nonwoven layers, each of which includes at least a portion of a nonwoven web. The first nonwoven web is adjacent to one surface of the second nonwoven web and the third nonwoven web is adjacent to the other surface of the second nonwoven web. The first and third nonwoven webs consist of continuous and randomly deposited filaments having an average filament diameter in excess of about 7 micrometers. The second nonwoven web consists of substantially continuous and randomly deposited microfibers having an average diameter of from about 0.1 to about 10 micrometers. The microfibers of the second nonwoven web are prepared from a mixture of an additive and a second thermoplastic polymer, which additive imparts alcohol repellency to the surfaces of the microfibers. The three nonwoven layers can be prepared independently from polyolefins, polyesters, polyetheresters, and polyamides. The boundary between at least two adjacent melt-extruded nonwoven layers is indistinct in that fibers at or near the surfaces of such adjacent layers are significantly intermingled. At least one of the first and third nonwoven webs has been treated by topical application of at least one agent to alter or enhance the surface characteristics of the filaments in the web, the topical treatment being carried out in a manner such that each topically applied agent is substantially restricted to the web to which it was applied. Finally, the composite structure has been pattern bonded by the application of heat and pressure.

Three-layer nonwoven composite structure

A nonwoven laminiferous structure is provided which has three melt-extruded nonwoven layers, each of which includes at least a portion of a nonwoven web. The first nonwoven web is adjacent to one surface of the second nonwoven web and the third nonwoven web is adjacent to the other surface of the second nonwoven web. The first and third nonwoven webs consist of continuous and randomly deposited filaments having an average filament diameter in excess of about 7 micrometers. The second nonwoven web consists of substantially continuous and randomly deposited microfibers having an average diameter of from about 0.1 to about 10 micrometers. The microfibers of the second nonwoven web are prepared from a mixture of an additive and a second thermoplastic polymer, which additive imparts alcohol repellency to the surfaces of the microfibers. The three nonwoven layers can be prepared independently from polyolefins, polyesters, polyetheresters, and polyamides. The boundary between any two adjacent melt-extruded nonwoven layer is distinct in that fibers at or near the surfaces of such adjacent layers are not significantly intermingled. At least one of the first and third nonwoven webs has been treated independently by topical application of at least one agent to alter or enhance the surface characteristics of the filaments in the web, the topical treatment being carried out in a manner such that each topically applied agent is substantially restricted to the web to which it was applied. Finally, the laminiferous structure has been pattern bonded by the application of heat and pressure.

Three-layer nonwoven laminiferous structure

A polymeric fabric having enhanced wettability, a method for producing such wettable polymeric fabric, and composition for us in the method are provided. The polymeric fabric comprises a primary surfactant on the surface of the polymeric fabric, the primary surfactant having a low solubility in water and dispersible in water. The primary surfactant is applied to the fabric in an aqueous solution. The primary surfactant is preferably applied to the fabric in a composiiton comprising the primary surfactant, water, and a co-surfactant functional to wet the polymeric fabric with the composition during application of the composition to the polymeric fabric. The co-surfactant is present in the composition in an amount sufficient to provide for substantially uniform distribution of the primary surfactant onto the polymeric fabric.

Growing community of inventors

Roswell, GA, United States of America

Cheryl A Perkins