FI57994B - FIBROEST ICKE VAEVT FILTAT BANFORMIGT MATERIAL SAMT FOERFARANDE FOER DESS FRAMSTAELLNING - Google Patents

Description

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Patent · och registerstyrelMn Ansöksi »utiigd och utl. * Krlft * n publfcend 31.07.80 (32) (33) (31) Privilege claimed — Begird priorftet 05.03.73 USA (US) 3U699 (71) The Dexter Corporation, One Elm Street , Windsor Locks, Connecticut, USA (72) Bernard William Conway, Holyoke, Massachusetts, James Moran,

Simsbury, Connecticut, USA (US) (Jk) Forssen & Salomaa Oy (5I +) Fibrous, non-woven felted web material and method of making it - Fibers, icke vävt filtrat banformigt material samt förfarande för dess framställning

The present invention relates to a fibrous nonwoven continuous web material which is highly flexible, fluffy, soft and absorbent and has a planar body portion and a large number of spaced apart fibrous pile formations integrally associated with the body portion and projecting freely from its surface and the pile formations consist of discrete fibers attached at one end only to the body.

The invention also relates to a method of making a fibrous nonwoven continuous web material of the invention having fluff formations perpendicular to the surface of a planar body portion, the method comprising the steps of using an aqueous fiber dispersing medium having a controlled viscosity substantially greater than water viscosity. and depositing fibers from the dispersing medium on the torn fiber collection member.

As is well known, conventional papermaking methods have produced compact, tightly formed sheets with a crunchy smooth surface, a property commonly associated with paper. In recent years, increasing emphasis has been placed on the manufacture of nonwoven fabrics for apparel, household and 2,599,44 industrial uses. Such preparations, although initially produced as dry fiber felts made on a textile carding machine, now include certain felted webs made on paper machines using techniques developed for the manufacture of nonwoven materials. The materials thus produced have textile-like properties such as softness, settlability and feel, and have been found to be of increasing use in the field of disposable fabrics.

Many nonwoven fabric articles fabricated to date have utilized a patterned configuration in one form or another to provide the material with the desired properties of the woven fabric. This patterned configuration is usually achieved by subjecting the preformed web to controlled disintegrating forces that rearrange and reorient the fibrous structure and produce a large number of small openings that improve the settling properties of the resulting nonwoven material. Typical examples of this fiber rearrangement technique can be found in U.S. Patent Nos. 2,862,251, 3,042,576 and 3,081,515.

Another technique for transferring some of the properties of woven fabrics to nonwoven fibrous materials is the use of a needling machine to form "fibrous spikes" that increase the integrity of the fabric while improving its flexibility and convenience. Still other techniques include light brushing of the surface to provide an elevated fluff-like surface with improved softness, e.g., in U.S. Patent No. 3,101,520, or the use of electrostatic fiber flocculation to obtain a relatively fluff-like surface. Another technique involves the use of a method of forming a crepe or loops, either alone or in combination with a needle machine. Nonwoven fabrics containing knitted fibers tend to resemble the loop configuration properties of a woven terry fabric and are reported to have improved softness and high flexibility.

In substantially all of the above methods, it is necessary to first form a web and then subject it to additional, structurally modifying treatment to achieve the desired properties. In addition, in many cases, the original nonwoven web materials are not made with an economical papermaking technique, thus increasing the cost of the final product. Some progress has been made in the manufacture of patterned webs using the papermaking process, and mention may be made of the two-wire technique disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3,322,717 and the technique found in U.S. Patent No. 2,940,891.

3 57994

Despite these previous attempts, it is believed that wet papermaking technology has not been used to produce a thick, nonwoven towel fabric that has the flexibility, softness, fluff, absorbent, and settling properties of a terry cloth. A key factor in the inability of previously known methods to provide such materials has been the inability of the wet process to provide high resilience materials with a high absorbent content, with relatively loose and stretchable but strong fibers extending outwardly from the web body.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a papermaking wet technique that provides high resilience, thick, nonwoven fibrous web materials having properties associated with woven, looped materials such as terry cloths such as softness, settability, feel, fluff, and absorbency. It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved felted material having these properties.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved papermaking-wet technique and product obtained thereby that uniquely combines the advantageous features of papermaking-wet technique in a new and adjustable manner to provide a product having a large number of fibrous logs or bundles projecting on at least one surface. a continuous, planar body part of the product in the form of multi-stranded bundles of fibers which are similar in appearance to a hair clip or a pig's tail.

It is a further object to provide a technique as described using a viscous fiber suspending medium and a coarse fiber papermaking unit. The aim is to provide a technology capable of using a variety of fibers, including the most common ones used in papermaking and textile fibers.

Other objects of the invention will be in part apparent and in part discussed in more detail below.

The nonwoven web material according to the invention is mainly characterized in that said fibers form tapered, corrugated fiber bundles.

The method of the invention, in turn, is characterized in that a perforated fiber collector having an average hole area of about twice the area of the fourdrinier wire openings is dispersed in 57994 viscous media with sufficient water-dispersible fibers at least about 0.02% by weight. to obtain a fiber concentration of and depositing fibers from said dispersion on a fiber collecting member to form a thick, nonwoven fibrous web in which the fluff formations are formed by bundles of closely spaced interconnected fibers extending through holes in said member.

The objects, advantages, features, features and relationships of the invention will be better understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, in which an illustrative embodiment is shown and in which the principles of the invention are utilized.

Figure 1 shows a few steps used in making the new and improved web material of the present invention; Figure 2 illustrates the progressive manner in which a thick web material is formed.

Figure 3 is a photograph of the surface of a web material according to the present invention at 10x magnification; and Figure k is a photograph of a portion of the web material of Figure 2 at approximately the same magnification.

The new and improved thick, nonwoven web material of the present invention is produced according to the present invention by a papermaking process characterized by the use of a coarse web-forming means together with a viscosity-adjustable fiber dispersing medium. This technique results in a nonwoven material having a high concentration of discrete bundles or logs that, when formed, extend from the surface of the web material at a substantially right angle thereto. A better picture of this thick, nonwoven material can be obtained by first showing the structural configurations of both the woven towel fabric and the nonwoven looped and fluffed web materials.

5 57994

The terry cloth is a loosely woven fabric characterized by a pile of a large number of private yarn loops protruding from the fabric body. These private loops provide a flexible or repulsive soft effect and bend or deflect easily during use, not only to provide a soft feel due to high fluff or flexibility, but also to reveal a larger yarn surface with the desired absorbent and wiping effect.

Nonwoven high elasticity, looped fabrics are similar, but have a flexible adhesive body from which the fibers extend as individual loops and to which the loops are attached. The fabric can be formed by first providing a dry-formed grooved, substantially parallel fiber formed by approximately parallel fibers having a length of about 5-7.6 cm. The fabric is then stamped with a lattice-like adhesive pattern and tensioned to maintain a parallel fiber order. The glue is cured and the fibers in the fabric are looped by feeding the fabric to the assembly blade.

To date, improved softness has been provided to textile fabrics by lightly brushing their surface to elevate the fiber pile or pile of private fibers. This technique has also been applied to nonwoven web material, but this has often resulted in a significant loss of strength. It has been shown that a suitable binder maintains the strength of the material while allowing the brushed fibers to extend a single extent from the body of the material to provide the desired softness.

The thick, highly flexible material of this invention has a characteristic surface that differs substantially from both the looped material and conventional brushes having a brushed or fluffed surface. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, this is characterized by a large number and high concentration of discrete bundles or blocks of fiber projecting from the fibrous body of the web. The diverse fibers in each bundle terminate at free ends of the fibers spaced at arbitrary distances from the fibrous body. Despite the random location of the free ends of the fibers, the logs have a somewhat tapered, largely hair-like appearance, so that they are firmly attached to the body of the web and taper toward their greatest length, close to the center of the bundle or block. As best seen in Figure 3, the long bundles tend to be wavy and rest loosely on the surface of the web material. Because each bundle is composed of a large number of closely assembled or bundled fibers, although each fiber is substantially parallel to the other fibers and relatively independent of the other fibers in the bundle, the bundles exhibit considerable flexibility, flexibility, and softness while providing high flexibility in web material. and absorbency. Unlike the "spikes" obtained when using needling machines, the fibers in the bundles are not very bent or broken and the bundle does not provide any obvious opening or hole. From the following description, it is to be understood that the number of fibers in each bundle as well as the density of the bundles will vary considerably depending on the operating conditions used to make the web material.

The fibers that make up the bundles acquire their orientation during sheet formation by adjusting a number of factors associated with the wet papermaking technique. However, a key factor in this technique is to provide suitable fluid dynamics to the system at a time when the fibers are initially adhering to the fiber collecting structure and forming a nonwoven web.

Although not all factors related to the fluid dynamics of the system are fully understood, due to their complex internal relationships, it has been found that the best results are obtained by laminar flow through the paper forming unit under controlled fluid flow conditions. The laminar flow apparently tends to place the fibers in their perpendicular, substantially parallel positions with respect to the web, without simultaneously causing the fibers to pass entirely through the assembly structure.

Two factors considered essential in achieving the optimum fluid flow properties required for the thick, nonwoven product of this invention are (1) a relatively coarse paper forming unit, such as a wire screen or perforated sheet, with thicker solid areas and larger open areas than in a conventional Fourdrinier papermaking wire, use, and (2) a controlled liquid viscosity in the fiber dispersion used to form the nonwoven material. As can be seen, other factors associated with the two factors mentioned above also affect the formation of the desired thick nonwoven material. These include e.g. the fiber consistency or content of the dispersion, the vacuum used to remove the dispersing medium, the type and composition of the fibers used and their diameter and length, and the basis weight of the product obtained.

As mentioned, one of the main and necessary features of the new and improved technique of this invention is the use of fiber assembly or papermaking units that are significantly rougher than those normally used in the manufacture of papers having the same basis weights as the products of this invention.

As is known, conventional Fourdrinier wires are typically fine wires and have about 60-100 threads per 2.5 cm in each direction, with a thread thickness or diameter of about 0.014 cm. The wire units used in accordance with this invention significantly exceed the typical 0.195 mm of Fourdrinier wires and are in fact about 0.35 mm or more, and preferably about 1.41-0.71 mm. In addition, the thickness of the solid areas is at least twice that of the Fourdrinier wire and can be four or five times thicker or wider. In this way, suitably made plates or screens can be used with good results.

Coarse papermaking screens or wires, such as so-called "cable" or "twisted cable" type or newer plastic screens, are generally preferred. These have a filament thickness of at least 0.030 cm and preferably in the range 0.045-0.089 cm, giving drainage openings with an average opening area generally about 2-60 times larger than the approximate -4 2 area of the Fourdrinier sieve openings 5.9 x 10 cm. It should be noted that the type and size of particular screen used depends on the desired product, the type, thickness and length of fiber used in the manufacture, the consistency of the stock and the viscosity of the suspending liquid and the amount of vacuum used during web formation.

Quite naturally, and in fact advantageously, open or coarse screens result in a wavy web configuration and fluff ripple, which also adds to the inherent fluff and flexibility of the nonwoven material and is believed to give the resulting product an improved feel, descent and appearance. The open, coarse configuration of the screen or plate allows for greater laminar flow of dispersing fluid through the holes in the perforated fiber assembly during web formation to bring the fibers into the order required to achieve the desired fluffed configuration. On the other hand, the size of the openings in the screen or sheet should not be so large that the fibers in the fiber suspension do not retain or "hang" on the screen during the web formation process, and the size of the solid areas should not be so large as to interfere with fiber flow. The exact size required is one large enough to provide the required fluid flow during flow, but small enough to provide the required fiber assembly as the fiber dispersing medium passes rapidly through the screen.

8 57994 An advantage of the present invention is that a nonwoven web can be used as the primary fiber assembly unit. In this case, the screen and openings in the web would facilitate fluff formation, while enclosing the web in the nonwoven web attached thereto. Such an arrangement would greatly strengthen the web without causing unnecessary loss to the softness of the thick material.

As previously mentioned, the web forming unit is preferably a screen constructed of plastic strands or twisted cable wires having a size of 0.35 mm or more. In accordance with the present invention, it has been found that screens with as few as 8 strands per 2.5 cm and containing openings with an average aperture area as large as 60 times larger than conventional web forming units have been used effectively. Although the wires vary from one source to another, Table I presents a few typical examples of wire sizes along with a few physical properties. In general, the size of the aperture area is proportional to the diameter of the fiber because the thicker fibers form the pile more efficiently with coarser, lower loop number screens. For most applications, an average aperture of -A -4 2 is preferred.

an area of about 18.75 x 10 to 125 x 10 cm, although the exact value of the area of the holes or the exact size of the screen used can vary considerably depending on numerous other process considerations.

Another essential feature of the papermaking technique of this invention is the use of a viscous, fiber-dispersing liquid. This means a dispersing liquid with a higher viscosity than water. The high viscosity preferably allows the use of innumerable fibers and mixtures thereof that have not heretofore been used in papermaking-wet processes, including mixtures of textile fibers with significantly shorter fibers. The viscous liquid used to disperse the fibers prevents the formation of fiber clumps in the dispersion and reduces the tendency of the dispersed fibers to become entangled. In addition, the dispersing medium keeps the fibers in a dispersed state during flow and provides a more even distribution of fibers in the resulting web material, thus contributing to the softness, flexibility, and settling properties of the resulting material.

9 57994

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In fact, the medium of the present invention greatly expands the number and type of fibers used. At present, dispersions in which all the fibers are very short, hard wood fibers are inefficient to form a very thick web. However, this is primarily due to the openness of the screen used for short fibers and is not fully compatible with the viscosity of the dispersing medium. On the other hand, the dispersing medium allows the use of 100% natural or synthetic paper or textile fibers or suitable mixtures thereof.

As a general rule, the viscosity of the dispersing medium should be greater than about three centipoise. Although even at this low viscosity level, some fluffing can be achieved by appropriately adjusting other operating properties, a viscosity greater than 10 centipoise is required to obtain good results. For best results, viscosities of 30 centipoise and higher are preferably used. In practice, the viscosity used varies and can be as high as 250-300 centipoise. As can be seen, certain practical limitations are imposed by the upper limit due to the extremely high viscosity. tit tend to interfere with the flow characteristics of the system. Other practical limitations related to the usability of the paper machine include the available vacuum to remove the dispersing medium without breaking the fabric, the extractability of the medium and the effect of its residual content on the fabric, and the economic issues associated with the system.

The viscosity adjusting material may be a natural or synthetic material or mixtures thereof. However, preferred viscosity adjusting materials are high molecular weight resins, such as water-soluble polymers obtained from the polymerization of acrylamide. These polymers are preferably used because their dilute aqueous solutions can be easily adjusted to obtain the desired viscosity in the flow zone of the system. The preferred acrylamide polymer used is under the trade name Separan AP-30, sold by Dow Chemical Company. Other materials such as polyethylene oxide sold by Union Carbide Corporation under the tradename Polyox WSR 301 and carboxymethylcellulose solutions that provide selective viscosity may also be used. In addition, other commonly used materials that provide adjustable viscosity to aqueous solutions include water-soluble synthetic polymeric electrolytes of methacrylic acid and its copolymers, as well as natural viscosity-enhancing materials such as degradable enzymes, mixtures of natural and synthetic gums and inorganic salts. However, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the viscosity adjusting material should be shear resistant, should be able to be added to the headbox, and should retain its viscosity up to and through the flow area of the system.

As mentioned, the specific type of web-forming unit used as well as the specific viscosity used for the dispersing medium depend on other intrinsic factors such as the type, thickness and length of the fibers used in the fiber suspension. One particularly advantageous feature of the invention is that thick webs can be made from a wide variety of natural and synthetic paper and textile fibers. For example, synthetic or artificial paper or textile raw fibers such as rayon, nylon, polyesters or vinyl polymers or copolymers may be used either alone or in combination with natural fibers such as bleached or unbleached sulphate cellulose, manila fiber, jute and the like. In addition, inorganic fibers such as glass, quartz, ceramic fibers, mineral wool, asbestos and the like can also be used in accordance with the present invention.

Synthetic fibers can vary in both thickness and length, although low thickness fibers are generally preferred. Fibers with a thickness of about 1 or 1.5 denier per thread (dpf) to about 15 dpf and more have been used successfully and with excellent results. However, in the case of a material with a higher denier, it is necessary to use a lower fiber content and a more viscous dispersing medium. As can be seen, the minimum and maximum thicknesses used depend on many other related factors, such as product requirements, machine operating conditions, consistency, screen size, etc.

The length of the synthetic fibers used depends greatly on the wire or screen used and ranges from about 0.31 cm or more to several centimeters, and may be of the straight cut type or of the shirred or straight textile fiber type used in papermaking. As mentioned, it is preferred to use a finer denier material having a length of about 1.25 to 1.90 cm or more to provide improved softness to the material while maintaining the desired flexibility and absorbency. However, mixtures of natural and synthetic paper fibers with a fiber length of 0.16 cm or less may be used, depending on the specific properties and characteristics required of the final product.

12 5 7 9 9 4 In addition to the length and thickness of the fibers used, the fiber consistency or concentration in the dispersion prior to web formation requires appropriate adjustment to facilitate the formation of a thick configuration. As a general rule, it is most desirable for the best fluff formation to have the lowest fiber consistency or content, along with the good release of the product obtained from the fabric forming the fabric. Thus, a fiber content of about 0.02 to about 1.0% can be used, with a preferred fiber content range of about 0.05 to 0.5%. Correspondingly, standard laboratory methods have been found to give good results at a fiber content of about 0.1%. On large paper machines, the consistency will, of course, vary according to the machine conditions.

The fiber content and the viscosity of the dispersant also affect the amount of vacuum that must be applied below the papermaking unit during fabric formation to achieve the desired fluff effect. Although a good pile can be obtained under suitable conditions even without a vacuum, it is generally preferred to use a vacuum below the web-forming wire as the fibers adhere to it, to ensure proper flow dynamics of the system. However, these variations depend not only on the fiber content and viscosity of the dispersing medium, but also on other factors associated with these systems, such as the roughness of the wire and the type and length of fiber used.

Another noteworthy aspect when using the technique of this invention is the weight of the material produced. The technique described herein gives thick products as low as about 17 g / m or even as low as 8.5 g / m. However, such lightweight materials are obtained only with very fine control of the factors involved in the technology and most materials .... 2 have a basis weight of at least 34 g / m or more.

It can be seen that the bushy configuration originates at the beginning of the web formation process and in fact it is believed that the pile is the first forming part when the fibers "hang" over the fixed part of the web forming unit and are drawn through the gap due to system flow dynamics. This is illustrated in Figure 2. When the web reaches thickness, more fibers adhere to both the dolls or bundles and the fabric body until it reaches the desired basis weight and strength. If the attachment of the fibers ceased immediately after the formation of the original pile, it would be found that even if a pile net was obtained, the fibrous material had low strength, essentially no sheet structure and could not be removed from the web forming the web.

π 57994 2

In addition, it has been found that when the basis weight exceeds about 204 g / m 2, the adhering fibers then participate in the formation of the pile, but only form a mat on the pile base, with little or no fiber attachment to the pile.

Although the many factors mentioned earlier are all interrelated, it has been found that certain generalizations can be made. In this regard, it has been found that the best results are obtained by using the highest possible fluid viscosity allowed by the machine, the lowest fiber consistency allowing good release from the web forming unit, and the lowest denier acceptable within the product requirements. In addition, it has been found that longer fibers not only produce longer dolls, but also facilitate detachment due to the stronger web produced from the wire. In addition, it has been found that coarser wires give better fluff than fine wire configurations and that fibers of lower thickness give a better fluffed product than fibers of greater thickness, regardless of the length of fibers used. In this context, and as previously mentioned, fibers of greater thickness generally require a coarser wire and also require higher viscosity and lower consistency than fibers of lower thickness. For example, a fiber of 1.5 dpf produces an acceptable fluffed product with a viscosity of 50 cps and a fiber content of about 0.2%, while comparable products can be obtained with only 15 dpf of fiber with a viscosity of 150 cps and a consistency of 0.1%. As can also be seen, the lower basis weight of the fluffed product varies according to the roughness of the wire used, so that a finer forming wire can produce a material with a lower basis weight than a coarser wire.

As shown, the lint should only be on one side of the material and products fluffed on both sides can be easily obtained by arranging the fluffed web materials back to back. The joining of the layers and the introduction of reinforcing or binders can be used conventionally either during or after web formation. Web post-softening or other treatments may also be used.

In order that this invention may be more readily understood, it will be further described with reference to the following specific examples, which are given by way of illustration only and are not intended to limit the invention.

and 5 7 9 9 4

Example I

A fiber dispersing medium having a viscosity of 150 cps was prepared as a 0.15% aqueous solution of water-soluble polyacrylamide (Separan AP-30). Sufficient 1.9 cm, 15 dpf rayon fibers were added to the viscous medium to make a 0.1% fiber dispersion. The fiber dispersion was poured into a sheet test machine equipped with a 0.71 x 1.19 mm twisted bronze wire screen with an average area of 50.8 x 10 cm openings and sucked dry under reduced pressure. The fibrous product obtained was an excellent fluffed fabric with a basis weight of 86.7 g / m 2.

Example II

Following the general procedure of Example I, a 0.1% fiber suspension was prepared from 1.9 cm, 1.5 denier rayon fibers dispersed in a polyacrylamide solution (Separan AP-30) having a viscosity of 50 cps. The fiber dispersion was poured into a sheet machine equipped with a 1.19 x 1.19 mm polyester, uniformly corrugated wire with an average aperture area of about -4 2 76.25 x 10 cm. A vacuum was created under the wire and a nonwoven web was obtained

material with excellent lint properties and a basis weight of about 86 g / m 2. Example III

The procedure of Example II was repeated using a 0.05% fiber dispersion comprising 70% 0.15 cm, 1.5 denier rayon fibers in 30% Weyerhauser Kraft in a polyacrylamide solution (Separan AP-30) having a viscosity of 25 cps. Saa- 2

The web material had excellent lint properties at a basis weight of 81.6 g / m 2. Example IV

A 0.12% dispersion was prepared from 1.12 cm, 1.5 denier rayon fibers dispersed in a karaya gum solution having a viscosity of 40 cps. The fiber dispersion was poured into a sheet apparatus equipped with the 1.19 x 1.19 mm polyester wire of Example II and a vacuum was applied below the wire to facilitate removal of the dispersing medium. An excellent nonwoven, thick web with a basis weight of 224.4 g / m 2 was obtained.

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Example V

A dispersion of 1.9 cm, 1.5 denier rayon fibers in an aqueous solution of polyacrylamide (Separan AP-30) having a viscosity of 50 cps was prepared and fed to a paper machine headbox with a fiber consistency of 0.2%. The machine was equipped with a bent 0.71 x 1.00 mm bronze twisted wire with an opening of 2 2. ...

houses with an average aperture area of approximately 44.37 x 10 cm. The dispersion was fed into the headbox of the paper machine without changing the viscosity, and the flow was facilitated under reduced pressure. The product obtained was an excellent thick web with a basis weight of 96.9 g / cm.

The example was repeated using a uniformly corrugated wire of Example II of 1.19 x 1.19 mm polyester, thereby also obtaining an excellent thick, nonwoven web material.

Example VI

As an example of the increased viscosity required to provide fluffed products using fibers of greater thickness and less elasticity, the fibers defined below were dispersed in a solution of the indicated viscosity. In each case, a fluffed product was obtained which had excellent flexibility and settling properties compared to textile products.

Fiber Thickness Length (cm) Consistency Viscosity

Glass 9X 2.54 0.03% 250 cps

Rayon 15.0 dpf 1.9 0.05% 150 cps

Rayon 5.5 dpf 1.25 0.1% 100 cps

Rayon 3.0 dpf 1.25 0.1% 50 cps

Rayon 1.5 dpf 1.25 0.25% 12 cps

Rayon 1.5 dpf 1.9 0.1% 3 cps X «♦

Diameter in microns Example VII

The procedure of Example I was repeated using rayon fibers 1.5 denier and 0.48 cm long and nylon fibers 3 denier and 3.81 cm thick. In both cases, the material obtained had excellent lint properties of 16,579,994, with longer nylon fibers producing significantly longer lint than shorter rayon fibers.

Example VIII

The procedure of Example I was repeated using 1.5 denier, 1.9 cm rayon fibers and a dispersion viscosity of 100 cps. The fiber consistency was 0.1% and sheets were made with excellent lint properties and basis weights of 20.3, 37.3, 57.8, 75, 88.5, 112.5, 129.5, 153, 235 and 306 g / cm 2.

As previously mentioned, the thick nonwoven web material of this invention is particularly well suited for the manufacture of disposable articles. They can be used, not only as washcloths, wipes, towels, cosmetic wipes, as a surface layer for diapers, sanitary napkins and the like, as sheets, dishcloths, bandages, bandages and other accessories for medical purposes, as hairdressers, headdresses, but also as accessories such as disposable swimsuits and bathrobes, surgical masks, disposable hats, and industrial and home clothing such as dresses and fitting models, as well as clothing lining. It is contemplated that the web material of this invention may also be advantageously used as disposable jaw pads, tray cloths, tablecloths, facial tissue, disposable curtains, and semi-durable carpets, wall coverings, insulation materials, as a coating for the composition. The fabric material could also be used as a filter material for either air or liquid, such as coffee filters or tea bags, and when appropriately treated, could be used as a coating substrate for imitation leather or to replace padding in seals. As will be appreciated, the nonwoven material of this invention can be formed into diluted structures, including laminates for reinforced layers of plastic film, laminated or molded papers, lamp shades, or decorative sliding door paper, or the material could be used as ropes, stretch bags, or sacks. as covers for furniture or cars. As will be seen, the above list is not intended to be too long, but is given as an example of the usefulness of the product obtained according to the present invention.

As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, various modifications, applications, and variations may be made to the foregoing without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims (12)

1. Non-woven continuous nonwoven fibrous web material which is particularly elastic, porous, soft and absorbent and exhibits a planar body portion and a plurality of spaced-apart fibrous web formations which uniformly adhere to the body portion and extend freely from its surface; wherein the pile formations are composed of separate fibers, which are attached only at one end to the body part, characterized in that said fibers form tapered, wavy fiber bundles. 2. Non-woven web material according to claim 1, characterized in that the bundles are located on one surface of the flat body part of the web material. Non-woven web material according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the web consists of water-dispersible fibers which are randomly dispersed through the body part and which are substantially parallel in the individual bundles. Nonwoven web material according to claim 1, characterized in that the fibers in the web include synthetic fibers of at least 1.0 dpf and having a length of about 0.32-2.54 cm or longer. 5. Non-woven web material according to claim 4, characterized in that the fibers are a mixture of paper and textile fibers. A method of producing a fibrous nonwoven continuous web material having perpendicular to the surface of a pie body portion perpendicular pile formations as claimed in any one of claims 1-5, in which process which step involves the use of an aqueous fiber dispersing medium having a controlled viscosity. which is substantially greater than the viscosity of the water, and the deposition of fibers from the dispersing medium on a perforated fiber collection means, characterized in that a perforated fiber collection means is used where the average opening area of the tail is about two times greater than the opening area of a fourdrinier wire. in the viscous medium, water dispersible fibers are dispersed sufficiently to obtain a fiber concentration of at least about 0.02% by weight and fibers are deposited from said dispersion on the fiber collection means to form a dense, nonwoven fibrous web, where pile formations are formed. of closely connected separate fiber bundles, so m extends through the heel of said organs.