Ultra resilient three-dimensional nonwoven fiber material and process for producing the same

US5906879A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Andrew Edsel Huntoon · Appleton, US
• Mary Garvie Weber · Tucson, US
• Gordon Allen Shaw · Greenville, US
• Marshall Kenneth Bryant · Lithonia, US
• Mark George Everson · Neenah, US
• Gerald L. Clark · Phoenix, US
• Wanda Jackson · Alpharetta, US
• Susan Marie Vanage · Centerville, US
• Mark Jacobs · Sacramento, US
• Pamela Jean Mayberry · Roswell, US
• James A. Davis · Roswell, US
• Douglas B. Cole · Hortonville, US
• Stanley Michael Gryskiewicz · Woodstock, US
• Ann Louise McCormack · Cumming, US
• Richard Daniel Pike · Norcross, US
• Leslie Warren Collier, IV · Roswell, US
• Frank Andrew Rosch, III · Harrison, US
• Scott Richard Lange · Appleton, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Apr 30, 1997
• Grant date: May 25, 1999
• Expiry date: Apr 30, 2017

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10T442/641
• WIPO field: Medical technology
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A 3-dimension thermoformed bicomponent fiber nonwoven material comprising a lofty bicomponent material layer forming a plurality of peaks separated from one another by channels and having a basis weight in the range of about 0.5 to 7.0 ounces per square yard. The bicomponent material layer comprises a structural component and a heat activatable adhesive component suitable for thermoforming. Also disclosed are various configurations of this material suitable for use in absorbent personal care articles such as sanitary napkins, disposable diapers, incontinent-care pads and the like.