Bba Nonwovens Simpsonville, Inc.

Fiberweb North America, Inc.

William Fowells

Scott L Gessner

David Dudley Newkirk

Jared A Austin

J Darrell Gillespie

Harold Edward Thomas

Thomas E Quantrille

Barry DeWayne Meece

Nonwoven fabrics and fabric laminates are formed from continuous filaments or staple fibers of a select blend of specific grades of polyethylene and polypropylene which give improved fabric performance not heretofore recognized or described, such as high abrasion resistance, good tensile properties, excellent softness and the like. Furthermore, these blends have excellent melt spinning and processing properties which permit efficiently producing nonwoven fabrics at high productivity levels. The polymers are present as a lower-melting dominant continuous phase and at least one higher-melting noncontinuous phase dispersed therein. The lower-melting continuous phase forms at least 70 percent by weight of the fiber and comprises a linear low density polyethylene polymer of a melt index of greater than 10 and a density of less than 0.945 g/cc. At least one higher-melting noncontinuous phase comprises a polypropylene polymer with melt flow rate of greater than 20 g/10 min.

Nonwoven fabrics and fabric laminates from multiconstituent polyolefin fibers

The present invention provides a composite nonwoven fabric with a superior combination of extensibility, tensile properties and abrasion resistance. The composite nonwoven fabric ( ) comprises at least one layer containing multipolymer fibers, with a plurality of bonds bonding the fibers together to form a coherent extensible nonwoven web ( ). This coherent extensible nonwoven web ( ) has a Taber surface abrasion value (rubber wheel) of greater than 10 cycles and an elongation at peak load in at least one of the machine direction or the cross-machine direction of at least 70%. A second extensible layer ( ) is laminated to this coherent extensible nonwoven web ( ).

Extensible composite nonwoven fabrics

Nonwoven fabrics and fabric laminates are formed from continuous filaments or staple fibers of a select blend of specific grades of polyethylene and polypropylene which give improved fabric performance not heretofore recognized or described, such as high abrasion resistance, good tensile properties, excellent softness and the like. Furthermore, these blends have excellent melt spinning and processing properties which permit efficiently producing nonwoven fabrics at high productivity levels. The polymers are present as a lower-melting dominant continuous phase and at least one higher-melting noncontinuous phase dispersed therein The lower-melting continuous phase forms at least 70 percent by weight of the fiber and comprises a linear low density polyethylene polymer of a melt index of greater than 10 and a density of less than 0.945 g/cc. At least one higher-melting noncontinuous phase comprises a polypropylene polymer with melt flow rate of greater than 20 g/10 min.

Improved meltspinning productivity is achieved by employing polyolefin resins having key molecular weight distribution and rheological property parameters within predetermined ranges. These parameters include the molecular weight distribution breadth parameter, M.sub.z /M.sub.n ; and rheological property parameters of flow rate ratio, I.sub.10 /I.sub.2, and the power law index, n, of the regression analysis viscosity equation. These parameters additionally include one or both of the z-average molecular weight, M.sub.z, of the resin, or the second order constant, b.sub.2, of the regression analysis viscosity equation, and unless both of the latter two parameters are met, the parameters further include the die swell and the spinnability factor (determined from the relationship between die swell and MFR) of the resin.

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Washougal, WA, United States of America

William Fowells