Classifications

• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
  • D04H—MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; FABRICS MADE BY SUCH PROCESSES OR APPARATUS, e.g. FELTS, NON-WOVEN FABRICS; COTTON-WOOL; WADDING ; NON-WOVEN FABRICS FROM STAPLE FIBRES, FILAMENTS OR YARNS, BONDED WITH AT LEAST ONE WEB-LIKE MATERIAL DURING THEIR CONSOLIDATION
  • D04H1/00—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres
  • D04H1/40—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties
  • D04H1/44—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties the fleeces or layers being consolidated by mechanical means, e.g. by rolling
  • D04H1/46—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties the fleeces or layers being consolidated by mechanical means, e.g. by rolling by needling or like operations to cause entanglement of fibres
  • D04H1/492—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties the fleeces or layers being consolidated by mechanical means, e.g. by rolling by needling or like operations to cause entanglement of fibres by fluid jet
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
  • D04H—MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; FABRICS MADE BY SUCH PROCESSES OR APPARATUS, e.g. FELTS, NON-WOVEN FABRICS; COTTON-WOOL; WADDING ; NON-WOVEN FABRICS FROM STAPLE FIBRES, FILAMENTS OR YARNS, BONDED WITH AT LEAST ONE WEB-LIKE MATERIAL DURING THEIR CONSOLIDATION
  • D04H1/00—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres
  • D04H1/40—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties
  • D04H1/42—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties characterised by the use of certain kinds of fibres insofar as this use has no preponderant influence on the consolidation of the fleece
  • D04H1/425—Cellulose series
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
  • D04H—MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; FABRICS MADE BY SUCH PROCESSES OR APPARATUS, e.g. FELTS, NON-WOVEN FABRICS; COTTON-WOOL; WADDING ; NON-WOVEN FABRICS FROM STAPLE FIBRES, FILAMENTS OR YARNS, BONDED WITH AT LEAST ONE WEB-LIKE MATERIAL DURING THEIR CONSOLIDATION
  • D04H1/00—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres
  • D04H1/40—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties
  • D04H1/42—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties characterised by the use of certain kinds of fibres insofar as this use has no preponderant influence on the consolidation of the fleece
  • D04H1/4282—Addition polymers
  • D04H1/4309—Polyvinyl alcohol
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
  • D04H—MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; FABRICS MADE BY SUCH PROCESSES OR APPARATUS, e.g. FELTS, NON-WOVEN FABRICS; COTTON-WOOL; WADDING ; NON-WOVEN FABRICS FROM STAPLE FIBRES, FILAMENTS OR YARNS, BONDED WITH AT LEAST ONE WEB-LIKE MATERIAL DURING THEIR CONSOLIDATION
  • D04H1/00—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres
  • D04H1/40—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties
  • D04H1/58—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties by applying, incorporating or activating chemical or thermoplastic bonding agents, e.g. adhesives
  • D04H1/593—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties by applying, incorporating or activating chemical or thermoplastic bonding agents, e.g. adhesives to layered webs
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
  • D04H—MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; FABRICS MADE BY SUCH PROCESSES OR APPARATUS, e.g. FELTS, NON-WOVEN FABRICS; COTTON-WOOL; WADDING ; NON-WOVEN FABRICS FROM STAPLE FIBRES, FILAMENTS OR YARNS, BONDED WITH AT LEAST ONE WEB-LIKE MATERIAL DURING THEIR CONSOLIDATION
  • D04H1/00—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres
  • D04H1/40—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties
  • D04H1/58—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties by applying, incorporating or activating chemical or thermoplastic bonding agents, e.g. adhesives
  • D04H1/60—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties by applying, incorporating or activating chemical or thermoplastic bonding agents, e.g. adhesives the bonding agent being applied in dry state, e.g. thermo-activatable agents in solid or molten state, and heat being applied subsequently

Definitions

• the present invention generally relates to a fabric for various uses, such as a garment, that can be disposed of using a liquid or aqueous solution. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a fabric having a hot water soluble component and a non-soluble component that is dispersible.
• one garment made by Isolyser Company, Inc.
• this garment which is described in more detail in U.S. Patent 5,268,222 to Honevcutt, contains a reusable component that is substantially insoluble in aqueous solutions such that it can be repeatedly relaundered and disinfected while a second component within the garment dissolves when contacted with hot water and washes down the drain.
• These fabrics can have increased strength over completely soluble fabrics.
• a fabric having a reusable component is not always desired.
• a fabric is required that can be completely disposed of using waste water disposal techniques, but that also has strength characteristics of a fabric containing a reusable component.
• a fabric of the present invention includes non-soluble, but generally dispersible pulp fibers and polyvinyl alcohol fibers that are soluble in hot water such that the resulting fabric can be disposed of using waste water treatment techniques, i.e. disposal of fabrics with hot water. It should be noted that any given range presented herein is intended to include any and all lesser included ranges.
• a range of from 45-90 would also include 50-90; 45-80; 46-89 and the like.
• the range of 95% to 99.999% also includes, for example, the ranges of 96% to 99.1 %, 96.3% to 99.7%, and 99.91 to 99.999%.
• any material known in the art to dissolve in aqueous solutions at high temperatures can generally be used as a hot water soluble component of the present invention.
• fibers that dissolve in aqueous solutions at temperatures above about 37°C can generally be used as the hot water soluble component of the present invention.
• fibers that dissolve in water at temperatures between about 80°C and about 95°C are employed.
• polyvinyl alcohol fibers that dissolve at the above temperature ranges are utilized as a hot water soluble component of the present invention.
• a fabric of the present invention also includes a dispersible non-soluble component.
• a dispersible component of the present invention can be made from any material that is capable of dispersing in an aqueous solution.
• the dispersible component is made from pulp fibers either alone or in combination with other fibers. It has been discovered that the addition of a dispersible component, such as pulp fibers can provide strength and dimensional stability to the fabric and can also allow the fabric to be completely disposed of by waste water treatment techniques
• a dispersible component of the present invention typically comprises less than about 55% by weight of the total content of the fabric. In one embodiment, the dispersible component comprises less than about 40%, and in particular, less than about 20% of the total content of the fabric.
• any material that does not affect the solubility and/or dispersability of the fabric components can be added.
• dyes can be applied to the fabric to impart color.
• surface chemicals can be applied to impart water or alcohol repellancy to the fabric surface.
• the dispersible component can also be entangled with the hot water soluble component to further increase the strength of a fabric formed therefrom.
• Any known method of entangling fibers such as air entangling or hydraulic (hydro) entangling, can be used. Hydraulic entangling may be accomplished utilizing conventional hydraulic entangling equipment such as may be found in, for example, in U.S.
• the hydraulic entangling of the present invention may be carried out with any appropriate working fluid such as, for example, water.
• the working fluid flows through a manifold which evenly distributes the fluid to a series of individual holes or orifices. These holes or orifices may be from about 0.003 to about 0.015 inch in diameter.
• the invention may be practiced utilizing a manifold produced by Honeycomb Systems Incorporated of Biddeford, Maine, containing a strip having 0.007 inch diameter orifices, 30 holes per inch, and 1 row of holes.
• Many other manifold configurations and combinations may be used.
• a single manifold may be used or several manifolds may be arranged in succession.
• the dispersible component e.g. pulp fibers
• the hot water soluble component e.g. polyvinyl alcohol fibers
• each component can be mixed with cold water to form a liquid suspension of fibrous material which is thereafter formed into a web and hydraulically entangled.
• any other method of forming and/or entangling a fabric that is known in the art can be used to produce a fabric of the present invention.
• the hot water soluble and dispersible components can also be formed into a multi-ply structure.
• a multi- component structure of the present invention can have two or more layers.
• the hot water soluble component can be adhered to the dispersible component with a dispersible adhesive.
• the adhesive is a hot melt adhesive that disperses in a pH greater than about 8.
• the adhesive disperses in a pH greater than about 9.
• Such a pH sensitive adhesive can enhance the ability of a fabric to be disposed of in alkaline-aqueous solutions sometimes used in medical applications.
• Fabrics having a multi-component structure can also be entangled as described above. Specifically, one or more components, or the entire fabric, can be hydroentangled to enhance strength characteristics of the fabric.
• one of the layers of the multi-component structure is made from pulp fibers that have been hydroentangled.
• the multi- component structure includes a web of polyvinyl alcohol fibers adhered to a web of pulp fibers. The entire multi-component structure, in this embodiment, can be entangled such that the pulp fibers sufficiently entangle with the polyvinyl alcohol fibers to increase the strength of the fabric.
• the present invention is directed to a fabric for various uses, such as a garment, that is dispersible when contacted with an aqueous solution.
• an aqueous solution can include any liquid or solution, such as water or solutions thereof.
• a fabric of the present invention contains at least one component that is soluble in hot water and at least one component that is dispersible, but not completely soluble. It has been discovered that a fabric of the present invention can partially dissolve in hot water to aid in waste management. Moreover, it has also been discovered that a fabric of the present invention can retain enhanced strength characteristics and dimensional integrity during everyday use.
• polyvinyl alcohol fibers and pulp fibers are incorporated into a fabric such that the polyvinyl alcohol fibers can dissolve when the fabric is contacted with hot water, whereas the pulp fibers only disperse into individual fibers.
• a fabric of the present invention includes at least one hot water soluble component.
• hot water generally refers to liquids having a temperature sufficient to dissolve a component
• cold water generally refers to liquids having any other temperature.
• the hot water soluble fibers of the present invention are normally dissolvable at temperatures above about 37°C. In one embodiment, the fibers dissolve in water at temperatures above about 80°C, and in particular, between about
• the hot water soluble component is made from polyvinyl alcohol fibers.
• polyvinyl alcohol fibers are those that dissolve in water at a temperature between about 80°C to about 95°C.
• polyvinyl alcohol fibers are provided that dissolve in water at 92°C.
• polyvinyl alcohol fibers are provided that dissolve in water at 80°C.
• Commercially available polyvinyl alcohol fibers that are suitable for use in the present invention are VPB 201 or 304 staple fibers made by Kuraray Company, Ltd. (Japan).
• Other examples of suitable polyvinyl alcohol fibers are disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 5,268,222 to Honevcutt, which is herein incorporated by reference.
• a fabric of the present invention also includes at least one component that is dispersible. It has been discovered that a fabric of the present invention can have increased dimensional stability and strength by utilizing dispersible fibers in conjunction with hot water soluble fibers, as described above. Moreover, although a fabric of the present invention is not completely hydrolytically degradable, it can nevertheless be substantially disposed of when the hot water soluble fibers dissolve in a hot liquid. Any material that is dispersible in water can generally be used as a dispersible component of the present invention. In particular, components that are dispersible and do not significantly affect the solubility of other components within the fabric can be utilized in accordance with the present invention.
• the hot water dispersible component is made from pulp fibers either alone or in combination with other fibers.
• the pulp fibers can be softwood fibers having an average fiber length of greater than 1 mm and particularly from about 2 to 5 mm based on a length-weighted average.
• Such fibers can include Northern softwood kraft fibers, redwood fibers, pine fibers, spruce fibers, or a combination thereof. Secondary fibers obtained from recycled materials may also be used.
• a dispersible component of the present invention is made from about 50%-70% black spruce fibers and about 25%-50% jack pine fibers.
• anionic or cationic dyes can be used to impart a particular color to the resulting fabric.
• An example of an anionic dye suitable for use in the present invention is Pergasol Blue 2R made by Ciba Specialty
• a dye can generally be applied to a fabric of the present invention by any manner known in the art, such as by saturating the fabric in the dye or utilizing a weir device installed onto a hydroentangling line.
• surface chemicals can also be added to the fabric to provide water or alcohol repellancy.
• the fabric is made from polyvinyl alcohol and pulp fibers. It should be understood, however, that various other components and/or materials may be used in accordance with the present invention and that the following description is for exemplary purposes only. In particular, it should be understood that the following concentration ranges and parameters can widely vary depending upon the particular application.
• a fabric of the present invention typically contains a hot water soluble component.
• the hot water soluble component is made from polyvinyl alcohol fibers.
• the hot water soluble component can be formed into a web using any technique known in the art for making nonwoven webs. Such nonwoven techniques useful for making polymer sheets include spun bonding, melt blowing, wet laying, hydroentangling with cold water, and/or thermally bonding.
• the hot water soluble component is carded into a carded web as is well-known in the art.
• a web of polyvinyl alcohol fibers is formed by carding the fibers into a carded web.
• the fibers can also be cross-layed (cross-lapped) in the machine direction and/or cross machine direction and thereafter thermally bonded to achieve further strength.
• the web of polyvinyl alcohol fibers has a basis weight above about 40 grams per square meter.
• one embodiment of a fabric of the present invention also includes a generally non-soluble, dispersible component that includes pulp fibers either alone or in combination with other fibers.
• the strength of the fabric can often increase proportionately.
• the pulp fibers typically comprise up to about 55% of the fabric by weight.
• the pulp fibers comprise up to about 40% by weight of the fabric, and even more preferably, up to about 20%.
• the pulp fibers comprise 37% by weight of the fabric.
• the pulp fibers comprise 17% by weight of the fabric.
• dispersible fibers When adding dispersible fibers, it is typically desired to entangle the fibers with the hot water soluble fibers to form a stronger web.
• any method known in the art such as air entangling or hydraulic entangling, can be used in the present invention to entangle different fibers together.
• dispersible fibers are entangled into a web of hot water soluble fibers.
• dispersible fibers are combined with hot water soluble fibers in a liquid suspension to form a web that is thereafter entangled.
• a sheet of dispersible fibers is adhered to a sheet of hot water soluble fibers by an adhesive to form a multi-component structure that is thereafter entangled.
• other methods of entangling dispersible fibers with hot water soluble fibers are equally suitable and can be used in the present invention.
• pulp fibers are hydraulically entangled into a carded web of polyvinyl alcohol fibers to form a fabric having increased strength.
• Hydroentangled webs which are also known as spunlace webs, refer to webs that have been subjected to columnar jets of a fluid that cause the fibers in the web to entangle.
• hydroentangling can increase the strength of the web by entangling the shorter fibers around the longer fibers.
• the strength of the fabric can be increased by hydraulically entangling the dispersible fibers into a web of hot water soluble fibers.
• Another embodiment of a fabric made according to the present invention can include the use of hot water soluble fibers, dispersible fibers, and an adhesive that is dispersible in an aqueous environment.
• Suitable hot melt adhesives for example, are described in U.S. Patent
• Strelow No. 5,527,845 to Strelow et al.. which is incorporated herein by reference.
• One such adhesive disclosed in Strelow includes about 10% to about 80%, by weight, of an alkali soluble polymer; about 0 to about 30%, by weight, of a poly (vinyl methyl ether); about 30% to about 70%, by weight, of a tackifying resin; and about 5% to about
• suitable plasticizer 30%, by weight, of a suitable plasticizer.
• suitable adhesives include HX 9236-01 or HX 9237-01 hot melt adhesives, which are obtainable from ATO Findley, Inc..
• the hot melt adhesive is also capable of dispersing in an alkaline aqueous solution.
• a pH sensitive adhesive can result in a fabric that is compatible with dispersion techniques and conditions used by hospitals. For instance, hospitals typically prefer to dispose of fabrics using an aqueous-alkali bath containing detergent and bleach (or other suitable caustics). Many of these baths have a pH of about 8 or greater.
• a fabric of the present invention can include an adhesive that disperses in an aqueous environment having a pH greater than about 8, and in other embodiments, greater than about 9. It should be understood, however, that adhesives which disperse at pH levels less than about 8 can also be utilized in the present invention, particularly when used in applications that employ an aqueous solution having a pH less than about 8 to dispose of a fabric.
• a multi-component fabric of the present invention can be formed as follows. It should be understood, however, that a multi-component fabric of the present invention is not limited to the particular embodiment described below.
• hot water soluble polyvinyl alcohol fibers can be formed into a web of carded staple fibers and thermally point bonded into a fabric. Thereafter, a hot melt adhesive, such as meltblown fibers of HX 9236-01 or HX 9237-01 hot melt adhesives, can be attached to the web of polyvinyl alcohol fibers.
• Various plies can then be applied to the carded web of polyvinyl alcohol fibers by the adhesive.
• a dispersible low strength tissue can be attached to the hot water soluble carded web of polyvinyl alcohol fibers by the hot melt adhesive.
• a low strength tissue can be made from pulp fibers.
• One commercially available example of such a water dispersible low strength tissue is Owensboro bath tissue base, type
• a second carded web or film of hot water soluble polyvinyl alcohol fibers can be attached onto the first carded web of polyvinyl alcohol fibers by the hot melt adhesive.
• either one or more layers of the structure can be entangled.
• the resulting multi- component structure can be hydraulically entangled as described above to provide further strength to the fabric.
• pulp fibers are adhered to polyvinyl alcohol fibers as described above, the resulting multi-component structure can also be hydraulically entangled to form a stronger fabric.
• EXAMPLE The ability of a fabric of the present invention to provide increased strength was demonstrated.
• Two types of polyvinyl alcohol fibers were used as the hot water soluble component for the samples, i.e. one being soluble in water at 80°C (VPB 201), the other being soluble in water at 92°C (VPB 304).
• Samples A & B contained VPB 201 fibers bonded at temperatures of 386°F and 390°F, respectively.
• Samples C, D, and E contained VPB 304 fibers bonded at temperatures of 390°F, 440°F, and 440°F, respectively.
• the bonding of the polyvinyl alcohol fibers above was achieved using thermal point bonding without the addition of any additives.
• Various characteristics of Samples A - E are shown below.
• pulp fibers were wet formed onto a forming wire and then transferred onto the various samples.
• a pulp stock (12 lbs of 50%-70% black spruce fibers and 25%-50% jack pine fibers, per 3000 gallons of water) was used as the dispersible component for each sample.
• the conditions and equipment utilized were similar to that of U.S. Patent No. 5,587,225 to Griesbach et al.. which is incorporated herein by reference.
• pilot line equipment which includes 103 A-M PET hydroentangling wire, 6/40/1 strips in each manifold, and three manifolds, was used for the appropriate hydroentangling.
• the tensile strength was determined using modified ASTM methods E4-83a and E74-93. In particular, this test used a 3" x 6" specimen with the long direction corresponding to the orthogonal direction, having the least amount of fibers orientation (cross direction or CD) after fabrication. The entire width of the specimen is held between 1" x 3" jaws spaced 3 inches apart. As the specimen was extended at 300 mm/min, the resisting force was measured with respect to the amount of extension. The tensile strength was the maximum load before the specimen ruptures. For each sample and set of conditions, multiple specimens were tested to determine tensile strength. The average of these tensile strength values was calculated for each set of conditions and reported in
• Tables 2-6 The data for each of Tables 2-6 are arranged in ascending order based on the ratio of normalized strength values as compared to the normalized strength of the sample with 100% polyvinyl alcohol fibers as indicated in Table 1.
• the normalized strength values generally measure strength increases or decreases based on hydroentangling and pulp content conditions, taking into account that the fabric will inevitably have some increase in strength due to increases in other parameters such as basis weight. The results are shown below in Tables 2-6. TABLE 2: Impact of Pulp and Hydroentangling on Strength of
• Tables 2-6 clearly demonstrate that hydroentangling and pulp content can increase the strength of a fabric.
• a fabric containing only underbonded polyvinyl alcohol fibers generally increased in strength after hydroentangling.
• pulp was added to the fabric and hydroentangling was utilized, the normalized strength values increased dramatically.
• Tables 4-6 also demonstrated the ability of pulp content and hydroentangling to increase strength.
• the normalized strengths for the hydroentangled fabrics increased in almost every instance.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Nonwoven Fabrics (AREA)
• Paper (AREA)
• Treatments For Attaching Organic Compounds To Fibrous Goods (AREA)

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Citations (5)

• 2000
  • 2000-10-23 CA CA002389223A patent/CA2389223A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-10-23 AU AU29170/01A patent/AU2917001A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-10-23 WO PCT/US2000/041456 patent/WO2001031103A2/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2000-10-23 EP EP00992741A patent/EP1240374A2/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2000-10-23 JP JP2001533234A patent/JP2003513175A/ja active Pending
  • 2000-10-23 MX MXPA02004206A patent/MXPA02004206A/es not_active Application Discontinuation

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