JPH08109563A - Thin, lightweight, reinforced, and water jet-interlaced nonwoven fabric and its production - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain the subject nonwoven fabric with drapability and flexibility, and improved in balance between longitudinal and lateral mechanical strengths. CONSTITUTION: This nonwoven fabric 9 is obtained by monolithically interlacing the fibers of a web layer 1 with a reinforcing substrate 2 by using high-pressure water jets 5a, 5c. In this case, the reinforcing substrate 2 is characterized by consisting of a unidirectionally oriented nonwoven fabric produced by unidirectionally drawing a long-fiber nonwoven fabric made by spinning from a thermoplastic resin, where the fibers comprising the nonwoven fabric are arranged virtually unidirectionally, or an oriented and crosswise laminated nonwoven fabric using the nonwoven fabric.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention has a thin and lightweight draping property and flexibility, and a reinforced hydroentangled nonwoven fabric having an improved longitudinal and transverse strength balance and a web forming process and a hydroentanglement process. The present invention relates to a method for producing the above-mentioned non-woven fabric which does not reduce high-speed productivity. For more details,
Cloth products such as interlining, industrial materials such as filters and industrial wipers, and thin and lightweight reinforced hydroentangled nonwoven fabrics widely used for medical disposable products such as surgical clothes, sheets, towels, masks, etc. Is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art By injecting a high-pressure fluid onto a short fiber web, the fibers forming the web are intertwined with each other,
A method of imparting a proper entanglement structure and specific physical properties to a web is widely practiced as a hydroentanglement method. The non-woven fabric produced by the hydroentanglement method has more flexibility to move each fiber than other non-woven fabrics because there are no bonding points between fibers, so it is highly flexible, lint-free, and has drapeability. It has a soft texture. However, since the fibers are not bonded to each other, they are weak in strength, unstable and easily deformed. In addition, since the injection traces of high-pressure fluid remain continuously in the vertical direction (flow direction) of the web, the strength balance between the vertical and horizontal directions is poor, and in order to improve the strength balance, additional processes such as cross layers should be added. There is a drawback in that it becomes necessary and thicker than necessary, and productivity decreases. As a method of improving such a defect, a method of using a nonwoven fabric made of staple fibers as a reinforcing base material (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 54-82481).
Method) using a reinforcing material composed of a woven fabric, a knitted fabric, or a non-woven fabric (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 54-101981, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-19811).
No. 1-225361), a method of using wood pulp as a reinforcing base material (JP-A-59-94659), and a method of intertwining a short fiber web with a mesh (JP-A-1-32196).
No. 0, JP-A-4-263660), a method of intertwining a spunbonded nonwoven fabric with a short fiber web (JP-A-4).
-333652, JP-A-4-153351) and the like are disclosed.

[0003]

However, in any of the methods of improvement by a reinforced support found in these disclosed techniques, the object of reinforcement can be achieved, but the flexibility and lint which are the characteristics of the hydroentangled nonwoven fabric are further improved. A technique for manufacturing a non-woven fabric that retains freeness, drapeability, soft texture, and the like, is thin, lightweight, and has improved strength balance by a simple and economical method has not yet been known. In addition, if the web is subjected to a cross layer treatment or the like for the purpose of improving the strength balance of the nonwoven fabric, the production rate of the web layer formation is generally 1 /
It decreases to 2 to 1/50, and the productivity of the subsequent hydroentanglement process also decreases. A similar reduction in productivity also occurs when similar treatment is performed during or after hydroentanglement. There is also no known technique for producing a non-woven fabric having an excellent strength balance without lowering the high-speed productivity inherent in the web layer forming step and the hydroentangling step.

[0004]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION As a result of intensive studies to solve the above problems, the present inventors have reinforced a specific substrate in a web layer made of natural fibers, recycled fibers or synthetic fibers. As a result of injecting a high-pressure water stream into the laminated multilayer body as the fibers, the fibers are entangled with the reinforced support to improve the strength balance in the longitudinal and transverse directions, and the flexibility,
It has been found that a thin, lightweight reinforced hydroentangled nonwoven fabric having lint-free property, drape property, soft texture, etc. can be produced without lowering the high-speed productivity originally possessed by the web forming process and the hydroentanglement process. The present invention has been completed. That is, the first invention of the present application integrates the web layer and the reinforced support by intertwining the fibers of the web layer made of natural fibers, regenerated fibers or synthetic fibers with the reinforced support by high-pressure water flow. In a thin lightweight lightweight reinforced hydroentangled nonwoven fabric, the reinforced support is a stretched unidirectional array in which a long-fiber nonwoven fabric spun from a thermoplastic resin is stretched in one direction, and the fibers of the nonwoven fabric are aligned in almost one direction. The present invention provides a thin lightweight reinforced hydroentangled nonwoven fabric comprising a nonwoven fabric or a stretched cross-laminated nonwoven fabric laminated such that their arrangement axes intersect. A second invention of the present application is that the reinforced support according to the first invention has a draw ratio of 5 to 5.
The present invention provides a thin lightweight reinforced hydroentangled nonwoven fabric, which is a nonwoven fabric having 20 times the average fineness of 0.01 to 10 denier and a basis weight of 1 to 80 g / m ² . Furthermore,
A third invention of the present application, when producing the thin lightweight lightweight reinforced hydroentangled nonwoven fabric of the first invention, while stacking and transporting a reinforced support and a web layer, conveys a high-pressure water flow of 10 to 300 kg / cm ^2. A method for producing a thin lightweight reinforced hydroentangled nonwoven fabric, characterized in that the web layer and the reinforced support are integrated by spraying and entanglement processing at a processing speed of 2 to 200 m / min. Is.

The present invention will be described in more detail below. The natural fiber used in the present invention, a web layer composed of regenerated fiber or synthetic fiber, natural fiber such as cotton, linter, pulp, rayon, regenerated cellulose fiber such as cupra, semi-synthetic cellulose fiber such as acetate, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester. , Synthetic fiber such as polyamide, polyacrylonitrile, acryl, polyvinyl alcohol or the like, polyurethane-based and polyester-based elastomer fiber, conjugate fiber, split-type composite fiber that is divided into ultrafine fibers by high-pressure water flow, or the like. The mixture is used as a raw material. To form a web layer, wet-spun recycled fibers or melt-spun synthetic fibers are cut and the fibers are aligned by a card machine to form a web, or natural fibers are used. A method of making a web by aligning them with a card machine or beating to make paper is used.

The single yarn fineness of the fibers of the web layer is preferably 0.01 to 15 denier, and more preferably 0.03 to 5 denier.
Is denier and the fiber length is preferably 1-100 m
m, more preferably 10 to 60 mm. If the single yarn fineness is less than 0.01 denier, the lint-free property is inferior.
When it exceeds denier, the texture is inferior. The length of the fiber is 1
If it is less than mm, the entanglement is insufficient and the strength is low,
If it exceeds, the dispersibility is deteriorated, which is not preferable. The basis weight of the web is preferably 10 to 150 g / m ² , more preferably 20 to 50 g / m ² . When the basis weight is less than 10 g / m ² , the density of the fibers becomes uneven during the high-pressure water treatment, and also 150 g / m ²
If it exceeds m ² , the thinness and lightness will be deteriorated, and thus both are not preferable.

The long fiber used in the present invention may be previously drawn, but it is necessary that it can be further drawn twice or more. Various methods are used as the method for forming the long-fiber nonwoven fabric of the present invention, and the spinning filaments of the thermoplastic resin are swirled or vibrated by hot air to be aligned longitudinally or laterally, and almost all of the fibers are unidirectionally arranged. A method of forming an arrayed non-woven fabric, a method of spinning a thermoplastic resin and performing stretching, opening, collection and entanglement to form a non-woven fabric (for example, the spunbond method), and injecting a thermoplastic resin with high temperature and high pressure air A method of forming a nonwoven fabric by spreading and arranging the fibers (for example, a melt blown method), a method of stretching and crimping a long fiber bundle of a thermoplastic resin, and performing opening and widening to form a nonwoven fabric (for example, a tow opening method. ), Foaming extrusion of a thermoplastic resin, foaming bursting, lamination and spreading to form a nonwoven fabric (for example, burst fiber method).

In the present invention, a reinforced unidirectionally arranged nonwoven fabric in which long fiber nonwoven fabric spun from a thermoplastic resin is stretched in one direction as a reinforced support, and long fibers are arranged in substantially one direction, or those A stretched cross-laminated non-woven fabric is used that is laminated so that the array axes intersect. The stretching of the present invention includes rolling treatment. As the stretching means, a longitudinal stretching means used for stretching a conventional film or nonwoven fabric,
A transverse stretching means and a biaxial stretching means can be used. That is, as the longitudinal stretching means, roll-to-roll proximity stretching is preferable because stretching can be performed without reducing the width. In addition, roll rolling, hot air drawing, hot water drawing, steam drawing and the like can be used. As the transverse stretching means,
Although a tenter method used for biaxial stretching of a film can also be used, a pulley type lateral stretching method exemplified in the above Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-36948 and a lateral stretching method in which groove rolls are combined (groove roll method) ) Is simple. As the biaxial stretching means, a tenter type simultaneous biaxial stretching method used for biaxial stretching of a film can be used, but it can also be achieved by combining the longitudinal stretching means and the transverse stretching means. The stretched unidirectionally arranged nonwoven fabric has a stretch ratio of 5 to 20 times, preferably 8 to 12 times. The average fineness of the stretched nonwoven fabric is 0.01 to 10 denier, preferably 0.03 to 5 denier.
The basis weight of the single-layer or laminated nonwoven fabric is 1 to 80 g / m ² , preferably 5 to 30 g / m ² . As the reinforced support in the present invention, a nonwoven fabric formed by stretching and arranging long fibers spun from a thermoplastic resin in the longitudinal direction, a nonwoven fabric formed by stretching and arranging the long fibers in the transverse direction, and their arrangement. A non-woven fabric in which the axial direction is aligned and laminated, a cross-laminated non-woven fabric thereof, and a long fiber non-woven fabric biaxially stretched can be used.

Examples of the thermoplastic resin used as the raw material of the long fiber nonwoven fabric used in the present invention include high density, medium density and low density polyethylene, linear low density polyethylene, ultra low density polyethylene, polypropylene and propylene-ethylene copolymer. The propylene-based polymer, the α-olefin polymer, the polyamide, the polyester, the polycarbonate, the polyvinyl alcohol and the like are listed, but polypropylene and polyester are particularly preferable. It is also possible to add an antioxidant, an ultraviolet absorber, a lubricant, etc. to the resin for use.

The combination of the web layer made of natural fibers, regenerated fibers or synthetic fibers and the reinforcing support in the present invention is a two-layer structure in which the fiber web layers (A) and the reinforcing support (B) are alternately laminated. The above can be used.
For example, any combination of A / B, A / B / A, B / A / B, A / B / A / B, etc. is possible.

Next, the method for producing the thin and lightweight reinforced hydroentangled nonwoven fabric of the present invention will be described in detail. The manufacturing method is
(1) Web layer forming step, (2) Laminating and supplying step of supplying the web layer and the reinforced support while superimposing them, (3) High pressure water entanglement step of performing water jet treatment, (4) Drying step,
And (5) product winding process.

First, in the web layer forming step (1), various forms are used as a method for arranging and forming webs depending on the kinds of raw materials and the final use. As a characteristic of the web, it is required that the dispersion of fibers is uniform and regular in the plane and in the thickness direction.・ Parallel method, semi-random method by a semi-random machine with two-dimensional and three-dimensional intermediate arrangement, random method in which fibers are placed on an air blow and blown and accumulated on a mesh screen, resin is dry or wet spun and stretched, Examples thereof include a spunbond method in which a continuous web is formed by performing opening, collecting, and entanglement, and a wet web forming method in which natural fibers, recycled fibers, and the like are beaten to make paper. It should be noted that, although the production speed is somewhat lowered, a card cross layer method by a mechanical cross web forming method in which diagonally crossed arrangements are made in order to obtain strength balance in three directions can be mentioned.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an example of the steps (2) and the subsequent steps of the stacking and supplying step among the above steps. In the laminating and feeding step, the pre-wound web layer 1 and the reinforced support 2 are fed to the feeding rolls 1a and 2 in accordance with the product structure.
Get out of a. This method is an off-machine method,
(1) By an on-machine method in which a web layer and a reinforced support are superposed (not shown) according to the structure of the product in the fiber collecting part of the web layer forming step and continuously fed to the subsequent high pressure hydroentangling step. It can also be manufactured.

In the next (3) high-pressure hydroentangling step, a fed web layer and a reinforced support are laminated on a screen or a roll as the treated water-permeable or impermeable transfer support 3. A thin water stream 5a is jetted from the high-pressure water stream small-diameter nozzle row 5 to the body 4. It should be noted that before the water stream is jetted, the laminated body is previously dipped in the water 6a in the water immersion device 6, and after the water jet is jetted, a moisture suction device 7 provided with a depressurizing suction means or the like.
Therefore, it is preferable to remove the water in order to improve the work efficiency. In order to effectively perform hydroentanglement, it is desirable to apply high-pressure hydroentanglement from both sides of the web layer laminate. That is, the laminated body 4 of the web layers separated from the first transfer support body 3 is guided onto the second transfer support body 3a, and the thin water flow 5c is jetted from the high-pressure water flow small-diameter nozzle row 5b. High-pressure water entanglement is performed from the surface opposite to the surface entangled by the water flow 5a.

In the high pressure water flow entanglement process, when the high pressure water flow treatment is performed on the screen, the screen is not particularly limited, but in order to facilitate the treatment of discharging the treated water, the material and mesh size are adjusted according to the purpose and application. It is preferable to select the wire diameter and the like. The mesh size is usually 20-200 mesh. In the method using the treated water-permeable transfer support, the treated water is easily discharged, so that the jetting of the water stream avoids scattering of the web and impairing the uniformity. However, a considerable amount of energy still remains in the treated water that has once passed through the web, and the energy efficiency is not high. On the other hand, in the method of using the treated water-impermeable transfer support, the jet water flow that has permeated the web collides with the transfer support and becomes a repulsive flow, which acts on the web again. Entanglement is efficiently performed by the interaction. However, since the high-pressure water stream is jetted to the web floating in the water, there is a drawback that the entanglement stability becomes low. Of these, the method of performing the injection treatment of the high-pressure water stream on the treated water-permeable transfer support is preferable.

The jet of water is jetted from a row of small-diameter nozzles arranged in a row at a pitch of 0.2 mm or more in a direction perpendicular to the transfer direction. Orifice diameter of small diameter nozzle is 1
mm or less, and preferably 0.1 to 0.5 mm. The sprayed liquid is preferably water, and hot water or ultrapure water may be used if hygiene is required. The pressure of the jet water flow is 10 to 300
a kg / cm ^2, preferably from 20 to 200 kg / cm ^2.
If the pressure is less than 10 kg / cm ² , the entanglement effect is insufficient, and if it exceeds 300 kg / cm ² , the cost of the high-pressure water stream increases and the handling is difficult. The injection is performed once or more, but a method of arranging several small-diameter nozzle rows and increasing the water pressure of the injection step by step to entangle is preferable. That is, in the first stage, the surface layer is entangled at a low pressure, and while increasing the water pressure in the next small diameter nozzle row, the entanglement is advanced from the intermediate layer to the lower layer, thereby efficiently obtaining a hydroentangled nonwoven fabric without disturbance. be able to. In addition, depending on the material and shape of the web layer, the basis weight, the number of treatments, etc., the low pressure method (20
˜55 kg / cm ² ), medium pressure method (55 to 90 kg / cm ² ) and high pressure method (90 to 200 kg / cm ² ) can be freely selected. The shape of the high-pressure fluid is not particularly limited, but a columnar flow is preferable from the viewpoint of energy efficiency. The cross-sectional shape of the columnar flow is determined by the cross-sectional shape of the small diameter nozzle or the internal structure, but can be freely selected according to the material of the web, the purpose, the application, and the like. The processing speed of the hydroentanglement process is 2
~ 200 m / min, preferably 50-150 m / min
Is. If the processing speed is less than 2 m / min, the productivity is low, and if the processing speed exceeds 200 m / min, the entanglement effect is insufficient.

A laminate comprising a web layer entangled by jetting a high-pressure water stream and a reinforced support is subjected to (4) a drying step using, for example, an oven 8, a hot air oven or a hot cylinder, and (5) product winding. In the process, it is wound as a thin lightweight reinforced hydroentangled nonwoven fabric 9.

[0018]

The thin and lightweight reinforced hydroentangled nonwoven fabric of the present invention comprises a reinforced support made of a stretched nonwoven fabric obtained by stretching a long-fiber nonwoven fabric in one direction and arranging the fibers in substantially the same direction or a cross-laminated nonwoven fabric. Since it is reinforced, it has high strength in spite of being thin and lightweight, which is an excellent advantage that cannot be achieved by the conventional hydroentangled nonwoven fabric. Further, as the reinforcing support, it is possible to freely select a non-woven fabric having a high strength only in the longitudinal direction, a non-woven fabric having a high strength only in the transverse direction, and a non-woven fabric having an excellent strength balance in the longitudinal and lateral directions, which is suitable for the application. A strength balance can be imparted to the final product. As can be seen in many conventional nonwoven fabrics, the strength balance in the vertical and horizontal directions does not become unreasonable and the vertical strength does not become excessive, and a product in which the vertical and horizontal strength balance is arbitrarily adjusted can be provided.

[0019]

The present invention will be described below with reference to examples. <Example 1, Comparative Example 1> Fineness 2 denier, length 50 mm
And rayon short fibers having an average basis weight of 20 g / m ² were two-dimensionally arranged by a card parallel method to form a web layer (W ₁ ). Using a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin (trade name: MA 2100, manufactured by Unitika Ltd.) as a raw material, the melt-spun filaments ejected from the spinneret are circulated and run in a longitudinal direction by swirling them with hot air and arranging in a longitudinal direction. By accumulating on a belt conveyor, a long fiber non-woven fabric in which unstretched filaments having a fineness of 2 denier were arranged in the longitudinal direction was obtained.
Then, this non-woven fabric was stretched 10 times in the longitudinal direction by roll-to-roll proximity stretching to obtain a fineness of 0.2 denier, and was temporarily bonded with polyvinyl alcohol to give a longitudinally stretched unidirectionally arranged long fiber non-woven fabric having a basis weight of 8 g / m ^2. (A ₁ ) was obtained. Further, the same resin is spun in the same manner to prepare a long-fiber nonwoven fabric arranged in the transverse direction, which is stretched 10 times in the transverse direction by a pulley-type transverse stretching method to have a fineness of 0.2 denier and temporarily bonded with polyvinyl alcohol. Thus, a laterally stretched unidirectionally arranged long fiber nonwoven fabric (B ₁ ) having a basis weight of 8 g / m ² was obtained. Nonwoven fabric A ₁ and nonwoven fabric B ₁ were laminated in a direction orthogonal to each other, and temporarily bonded with polyvinyl alcohol to obtain a stretched cross-laminated nonwoven fabric (C ₁ ) having a basis weight of 15 g / m ² . Further, the non-woven fabric A ₁ and the non-woven fabric B ₁ were laminated orthogonally to each other and subjected to heat embossing to obtain a stretched cross-laminated non-woven fabric (D ₁ ) having a basis weight of 14 g / m ² . These nonwovens were used as a reinforced support. The layer structure of the web layer and the reinforced support is W ₁ / A ₁ / W ₁ , W ₁ / B ₁ / W ₁ , W ₁ / B ₁ / B ₁ / W ₁ , W ₁ / C ₁
/ W ₁ and W ₁ / D ₁ / W ₁ overlap so that 10
It is fed onto an endless belt conveyor consisting of a screen that is permeable to treated water with a wire mesh of 0 mesh, and has three rows of nozzle rows from the top with an orifice diameter of 0.15 mm and a pitch of 1.0 mm and a large number of small diameter nozzles. Through the first row 70kg / c
After performing entanglement treatment once from the front side and once from the back side at a speed of 100 m / min while injecting a high-pressure water stream at a pressure of m ² , second row 90 kg / cm ² and third row 110 kg / cm ^2. Then, it was dried to obtain a thin and lightweight reinforced hydroentangled nonwoven fabric. As Comparative Example 1, only the rayon short fiber web (W ₁ ) having the same basis weight as in this example was used, and hydroentangling treatment was performed under the same conditions. Table 1 shows these physical properties.

[0020]

[Table 1]

<Example 2, Comparative Example 2> Fineness of 2 denier,
Polypropylene having a length of 50 mm and an average basis weight of 20 g / m ² (trade name: Nisseki Polypro J120, Nippon Petrochemical Co., Ltd.)
The short fibers of (made by) were two-dimensionally arranged by a card parallel method to form a web layer (W ₂ ). Polypropylene resin (density 0.90g / cm ³ , melt flow rate 700g / 10mi
n) is used as a raw material in the same manner as in Example 1 to obtain a long-fiber non-woven fabric having a fineness of 2 denier and arranged in the machine direction, and the non-woven fabric is longitudinally prepared in the same manner as in Example 1. By stretching, the fineness was set to 0.2 denier, and temporary adhesion was performed with polyvinyl alcohol to obtain a longitudinally stretched unidirectionally aligned long fiber nonwoven fabric (A ₂ ) having a basis weight of 6 g / cm ² . Also, a long-fiber nonwoven fabric arranged in the transverse direction obtained from the above raw material in the same manner as in Example 1 was similarly stretched in the transverse direction to have a fineness of 0.2 denier, and was temporarily adhered with polyvinyl alcohol to give a basis weight of 6 g / g. cm ² laterally stretched unidirectionally arranged long fiber non-woven fabric (B ₂ ).
I got Nonwoven fabric A ₂ and nonwoven fabric B ₂ are laminated in a direction orthogonal to each other, and temporarily bonded with polyvinyl alcohol to make a basis weight 1
A stretched cross-laminated nonwoven fabric (C ₂ ) of 1 g / m ² was obtained. Further, the non-woven fabric A ₂ and the non-woven fabric B ₂ were laminated orthogonally to each other and heat embossed to obtain a stretched cross-laminated non-woven fabric (D ₂ ) having a basis weight of 10 g / m ² . These nonwovens were used as a reinforced support. A reinforced support is fed to the collecting part of the card parallel web forming process, and the layer structure is W ₂ / A ₂ / W ₂ and W ₂ / B ₂ /
W ₂ , W ₂ / B ₂ / B ₂ / W ₂ , W ₂ / C ₂ / W ₂ and W ₂ / D ₂ / W ₂
Are stacked on top of each other and fed onto an endless belt conveyor consisting of a screen of permeable to treated water equipped with a 100 mesh wire mesh. From above, the orifice diameter is 0.15 mm,
First row 70kg / cm ² , second row 90kg / c through 3 rows of nozzle rows with 1.0mm pitch and many small diameter nozzles
While spraying a high-pressure water stream at a pressure of m ² and 110 kg / cm ^{2 in} the third row, entanglement treatment was performed once at the speed of 100 m / min from the front side and once more from the back side, and then dried to produce a thin lightweight reinforcement water stream. An entangled nonwoven fabric was obtained. As Comparative Example 2, only the polypropylene short fiber web (W ₂ ) having the same basis weight as in this example was used, and the hydroentangling treatment was performed under the same conditions. Table 2 shows these physical properties.

[0022]

[Table 2]

<Example 3, Comparative Example 3> The reinforcement used in Example 1 was applied to the web collecting portion of a polyurethane-based stretchable meltblown nonwoven fabric (trade name: Espancine, manufactured by Kanebo Co., Ltd.) (W ₃ ). Endless consisting of treated water permeable screens with 100 mesh wire nets, feeding supports A ₁ and B ₁ respectively, layered so as to have a layer structure of W ₃ / A ₁ and W ₃ / B _1. It is fed onto a belt conveyor, and from the top, it passes through a three-row nozzle row equipped with a large number of small-diameter nozzles with an orifice diameter of 0.15 mm and a pitch of 1.0 mm.
70 kg / cm ² row, 90 kg / cm ² row ² and 110 kg row 3
Entangling treatment was performed once from the front side and once from the back side at a speed of 100 m / min while jetting a high-pressure water stream at a pressure of / cm ² , and then dried to obtain a thin lightweight reinforced hydro-entangled nonwoven fabric. As Comparative Example 3, only the polyurethane-based stretchable meltblown nonwoven fabric (W ₃ ) used in this example was used and subjected to hydroentangling treatment under the same conditions. Table 3 shows these physical properties.

[0024]

[Table 3]

<Example 4, Comparative Example 4> Fineness of 2 denier,
Nylon short fibers having a length of 50 mm and an average basis weight of 25 g / m ² were two-dimensionally arranged by a card parallel method to form a web layer (W ₄ ). A polypropylene resin as a raw material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 2 to obtain a longitudinally stretched unidirectionally arranged long fiber nonwoven fabric (A ₂ ) and a laterally stretched unidirectionally arranged long fiber nonwoven fabric (B ₂ ). Nonwoven fabric A ₂ and nonwoven fabric B ₂ are laminated in a direction orthogonal to each other, and temporarily bonded with polyvinyl alcohol to obtain a basis weight of 13
A stretched cross-laminated nonwoven fabric (C ₄ ) of g / m ² was obtained. Further, the nonwoven fabric A ₂ and the nonwoven fabric B ₂ are laminated in a direction orthogonal to each other and subjected to heat embossing, and a stretched cross-laminated nonwoven fabric having a basis weight of 12 g / m ² (D
₄ ) got These nonwovens were used as a reinforced support. It consists of a treated water-permeable screen with a 100-mesh wire mesh, superposed so that the layer structure of the web layer and the reinforced support is C ₄ / W ₄ / C ₄ and D ₄ / W ₄ / D _4. It is fed onto an endless belt conveyor and passed through three rows of nozzles from the top, with orifice diameters of 0.15 mm and pitch of 1.0 mm, and a large number of small diameter nozzles. First row 70 kg / cm ² , second row 90 kg / 1 from the front side at a speed of 100 m / min while injecting a high-pressure water stream at a pressure of cm ² and 110 kg / cm ^{2 in} the third row.
Twisting and entanglement treatment was performed once more from the back side, followed by drying to obtain a thin lightweight reinforced hydroentangled nonwoven fabric. As Comparative Example 4, a nylon short fiber web (W ₄ ) having substantially the same basis weight as this Example
Water entanglement treatment was performed under the same conditions using only Table 4 shows these physical properties.

[0026]

[Table 4]

[0027]

The thin and lightweight reinforced hydroentangled nonwoven fabric obtained by the present invention is excellent in tensile strength, peeling strength, soft texture, drape property, formation and the like, and the strength balance in vertical and horizontal directions is used as a characteristic of application. It can be freely designed, and it is economical without impairing the high-speed productivity originally possessed by the web forming process and hydroentangling process. Clothes products, industrial materials such as filters and industrial wipers, and medical disposable products such as surgical clothes, sheets, towels and masks.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an example of a manufacturing process of the present invention.

[Explanation of Codes] 1 web layer 1a web layer supply roll 2 reinforced support 2a reinforced support supply roll 3, 3a transfer support 4 laminated body 5, 5b high pressure water flow small diameter nozzle row 5a, 5c high pressure water flow 6 water immersion device 6a Water 7 Moisture suction device 8 Oven 9 Thin and lightweight reinforced hydroentangled nonwoven fabric

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A thin and lightweight reinforcement obtained by entanglement of fibers of a web layer made of natural fibers, regenerated fibers or synthetic fibers with a reinforced support by a high-pressure water stream to integrate the web layer and the reinforced support. In a hydroentangled nonwoven fabric, the reinforced support is a stretched unidirectionally arranged nonwoven fabric in which long-fiber nonwoven fabric spun from a thermoplastic resin is stretched in one direction, and the fibers of the nonwoven fabric are arranged in substantially one direction. A thin, lightweight, reinforced hydroentangled nonwoven fabric, which is made of a stretched cross-laminated nonwoven fabric laminated such that the alignment axes of the two intersect. 2. The stretch ratio of the reinforced support is 5 to 20.
^2. A non-woven fabric having a doubleness, an average fineness of 0.01 to 10 denier, and a basis weight of 1 to 80 g / m ^2.
The thin, lightweight reinforced hydroentangled nonwoven fabric described in. 3. A long-fiber nonwoven fabric spun from a thermoplastic resin is unidirectionally stretched with fibers of a web layer made of natural fibers, recycled fibers or synthetic fibers, and the fibers of the nonwoven fabric are unidirectionally oriented. In a method for producing a thin lightweight lightweight reinforced hydroentangled nonwoven fabric, which comprises entangled by a high-pressure water flow, to a reinforced support made of an aligned stretched unidirectionally aligned nonwoven fabric or stretched cross-laminated nonwoven fabric laminated such that their alignment axes intersect. While stacking and transporting the reinforced support and the web layer, by injecting a high-pressure water stream of 10 to 300 kg / cm ² and performing an entanglement process at a processing speed of 2 to 200 m / min,
A method for producing a thin lightweight reinforced hydroentangled nonwoven fabric, characterized in that the web layer and the reinforced support are integrated.