Kimberly-clark Worldwide, Inc.

Other

Reifenhauser Gmbh & Co Kg Maschinenfabrik

John Herbert Conrad

Eric Edward Lennon

Kurtis Lee Brown

Douglas Jay Hulslander

Edward Jason White

James Russell Fitts, Jr

Vasily Aramovich Topolkaraev

Detlef Frey

Susan Elaine Shawver

Jayant Chakravarty

Stephen Avedis Baratian

Laura Elizabeth Keck

Robert James Gerndt

James Richard Neely

Jose Enrique Maldonado

Jared Lockwood Martin

David W Hall

Joerg Hendrix

Richard Wallace Hoefer

Sridhar Ranganathan

Richard Warren Tanzer

Lei Huang

Margaret Gwyn Latimer

Gabriel Hamman Adam

Jeffrey Jennings Krueger

Robert G Geer

Leon Eugene Chambers, Jr

Mark G Kupelian

Isabelle R Bouchard

Patrick Payne

Andrea S Clewley

Ray A Sterling

Jared L Martin

Matthew B Lake

Stephen A Baratian

A hollow fiber that extending along at least a portion of the fiber along a longitudinal axis thereof and is defined by an interior wall is provided. Through selective control over the manner in which it is formed, the present inventors have discovered that the hollow fiber can exhibit a unique combination of a high void fraction and small fiber size that makes it particularly suitable for use in certain applications, such as in nonwoven webs for absorbent articles.

Fine hollow fibers having a high void fraction

A nonwoven composite that has a dimension in a machine direction and a cross-machine direction is provided. The composite comprises a nonwoven facing positioned adjacent to an elastic film. The nonwoven facing contains a spunbond web that is formed by necking a base spunbond web. The base spunbond web includes a plurality of fibers generally oriented in the machine direction and exhibiting a machine direction tensile strength and cross-machine direction tensile strength. The ratio of the machine direction tensile strength to the cross-machine direction tensile strength is about 4:1 or more.

CD extensible nonwoven composite

A forming fabric having a first major outer surface including first land areas formed from entwined first filaments, an opposed second major outer surface distal to the first major outer surface, said second major outer surface including second land areas formed from entwined second filaments; and a foraminous interior area located between said first and second land areas, said interior area having third filaments extending downwardly from said first land areas to said second land areas.

Non-planar nonwoven fabrics and methods of making the same

A method of making nonwoven webs comprising providing a spinneret wherein the spinneret includes a pattern of conduits, the pattern of conduits forming an extrusion region; directing only a first stream of molten propylene polymer having a first temperature into a region adjacent of the first side of the spinneret, directing only a second stream of molten propylene polymer having a second temperature into a region distal to the first side of the spinneret, extruding only the first stream of molten propylene polymer through the exit openings in a first zone; extruding only the second stream of molten propylene polymer through the exit openings of a second zone; the second zone is distal to the first side with the first zone being between the second zone and the first side.

Method of making uniform spunbond filament nonwoven webs

Spunbond fiber nonwoven webs (and methods for making the same) comprising small diameter filaments at high rates of production and with high process stability.

Method of making fine spunbond fiber nonwoven fabrics at high through-puts

The present invention provides a method of making a nonwoven fabric of continuous fibers that includes forming a nonwoven web on a highly porous woven or knitted forming fabric that defines a pattern of recesses that are bordered by spaced apart filaments extending between the outer surfaces of the fabric and that allows air to pass both downwardly and sidewardly through the forming fabric. Bonded nonwoven webs are formed having protrusions with very low density and high surface area.

A nonwoven web that contains a plurality of fibers formed from a polyolefin composition is provided. The polyolefin composition contains a rigid propylene polymer that has a relatively high melting temperature and modulus of elasticity, which can provide good strength and durability to the nonwoven web. The polyolefin composition also contains a ductile propylene polymer that has a relatively high melt flow index, which can help achieve relatively fine fibers that minimize the stiffness of the web. In addition to a rigid and ductile polymer, the polyolefin composition also contains a slip additive (e.g., fatty acid derivative). Among other things, such an additive can even further enhance the overall softness of the composition.

Soft and durable nonwoven web

A unitary fabric structure for use within a personal care absorbent article includes a composite of at least two functional components for fluid intake. The two functional components include a fibrous, liner functional component and at least one fibrous, surge functional component. The functional components are positioned immediately adjacent one another within the composite and held together directly to one another.

Unitary fluid intake system for absorbent products and methods of making same

A method and associated apparatus for melt extruding a nonwoven web includes providing a plurality of fibers from an extrusion device. The fibers are conveyed through a diverging profile portion of a fiber drawing unit (FDU) that causes the fibers to spread and expand in the machine direction within the FDU. The fibers are then conveyed through a diverging diffusion chamber spaced from the outlet of the FDU to reduce the velocity of the fibers and further spread the fibers in the machine direction. The fibers may be subjected to an applied electrostatic charge in either the diffusion chamber or the FDU. From the outlet of the diffusion chamber, the fibers are laid onto a forming surface as a nonwoven web.

Method for enhanced fiber bundle dispersion with a divergent fiber draw unit

Method and apparatus for enhanced fiber bundle dispersion with a divergent fiber draw unit

A biodegradable nonwoven web comprising substantially continuous multicomponent filaments is provided. The filaments comprise a first component and a second component. The first component contains at least one high-melting point aliphatic polyester having a melting point of from about 160&#xb0; C. to about 250&#xb0; C. and the second component contains at least one low-melting point aliphatic polyester. The melting point of the low-melting point aliphatic polyester is at least about 30&#xb0; C. less than the melting point of the high-melting point aliphatic polyester. The low-melting point aliphatic polyester has a number average molecular weight of from about 30,000 to about 120,000 Daltons, a glass transition temperature of less than about 25&#xb0; C., and an apparent viscosity of from about 50 to about 215 Pascal-seconds, as determined at a temperature of 160&#xb0; C. and a shear rate of 1000 sec.

Biodegradable continuous filament web

An elastic laminate having fragrance releasing microcapsules embedded within a nonwoven web layer of the laminate is generally disclosed. The elastic laminate is configured to release the encapsulated fragrance upon stretching the laminate. The elastic laminate can continue to release fresh fragrance even after the first stretching force is applied, effectively extending the life of the elastic laminate. The resulting elastic laminate is useful for many applications, and is particularly useful in the construction of an absorbent article.

Elastic laminates having fragrance releasing properties and methods of making the same

Growing community of inventors

Alpharetta, GA, United States of America

John Herbert Conrad