Burlington Industries, Inc.

Marvin J Pinson, Jr

Kenneth Y Wang

Berlie R Hill

A method and apparatus provide the production of a non-woven fabric from a batt of random, loose, ultrasonically fusible fibers at high speed (e.g. greater than 50 meters/minute). A plurality of ultrasonic welding machines are spaced from each other in a batt feed direction, and produce a fabric having a predetermined number of primary bonding points per unit area. The batt is fed in the feed direction into operative engagement, in turn, with each of the ultrasonic welding machines, while energy is supplied to each of the machines. Each of the machines effects bonding of substantially less than all of the predetermined number of primary bonding points, but so that together the machines provide all of the predetermined number of bonding points. Each machine includes an anvil roller and a purality of horns, which may be disposed in-line with each other and spaced from each other in a dimension transverse to the feed direction. Each machine preferably bonds the same number of the bonding points per unit area, and each anvil roller may have a pattern identical to the patterns of the anvil rollers of the other machines, only offset in the dimension perpendicular to the feed direction.

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Greensboro, NC, United States of America

Marvin J Pinson, Jr