Nonwoven fabric and method and apparatus for manufacturing same

Abstract

An apparatus for fabricating a unique nonwoven fabric which has the appearance of a woven fabric includes a supply station for parallel warp yarns, a support structure for orienting the parallel warp yarns into a cylindrical orientation, a weft yarn applicator for wrapping weft yarns around the cylindrically oriented warp yarns after an adhesive scrim has been overlaid onto the warp yarns, a heating station for activating the adhesive and a cooling station for setting the adhesive, and a cutter for severing the cylindrically formed fabric laminate so that it can be flattened and wrapped onto a take-up roller. The weft yarn applicator including a rotating drum wherein a plurality of spools of weft yarn material are mounted in circumferentially spaced relationship and a tensioner is provided for applying the weft yarn material around the warp yarns in a predetermined tension which may be the same as, greater than, or less than the tension in the warp yarns.

1 . A non-woven fabric wherein the fabric consists essentially of substantially parallel warp-direction yarns without any weft-direction yarns, said warp-direction yarns being supported and bonded on only one side by an adhesive coating, said adhesive coating being non-continuous and having a thickness of from about 0.25 mil to about 1 mil.  
     
     
         2 . A non-woven fabric wherein the fabric consists essentially of substantially parallel warp-direction yarns without any weft-direction yarns, said warp-direction yarns being supported and bonded on only one side by an adhesive coating, said adhesive being non-continuous and having been coated on one side of said fibers at a level of from about 5 weight percent to about 25 weight percent, based upon the weight of the fabric.  
     
     
         3 . The non-woven fabric of  claim 2 , wherein the fabric weight is about 50 g/m 2  and the adhesive coating has weight of about 2 to 15 g/m 2 .  
     
     
         4 . The non-woven fabric of  claim 2 , wherein the fabric weight is about 50 g/m 2  and the adhesive coating has weight of about 5 to 10 g/m 2 .  
     
     
         5 . The non-woven fabric of  claim 1  or  2 , wherein the yarns are selected from the group consisting of polymer fibers, natural fibers, synthetic fibers, composite fibers, carbon fibers, glass fibers and metallic fibers.  
     
     
         6 . The non-woven fabric of  claim 5 , wherein the polymer fibers are selected from the group consisting of polyester, polyethylene, polypropylene, and nylon fibers.  
     
     
         7 . The non-woven fabric of  claim 5 , wherein the natural fibers are selected from the group consisting of cotton fibers, rayon fibers, and wool fibers.  
     
     
         8 . The non-woven fabric of  claim 5 , wherein the fibers are glass fibers.  
     
     
         9 . The non-woven fabric of  claim 5 , wherein the fibers are metal fibers, selected from the group consisting of copper, gold, aluminum, silver, and platinum.  
     
     
         10 . The non-woven fabric of  claim 1  or  2 , wherein the adhesive coating is applied to the yarns by dip/nip saturation, spraying, gravure coating, or kiss coating.  
     
     
         11 . A method of forming a non-woven fibrous web, said method comprising the steps of: 
 a. forming a substantially parallel array of yarns consisting essentially of substantially parallel warp-direction yarns without any weft-direction yarns, said array of yarns having two sides, a top side and a bottom side;    b. contacting only one side of said parallel array of yarns with a thin coating of wet or molten adhesive; and    c. drying the wet or molten adhesive coating to form a cohesive web of non-woven parallel yarns.    
     
     
         12 . A non-woven fibrous web made according to the method of  claim 11 .  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the adhesive coating is applied to the fibrous web by dip/nip saturation, spraying, gravure coating, or kiss coating.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the yarns are selected from the group consisting of polymer fibers, natural fibers, synthetic fibers, composite fibers, carbon fibers, glass fibers and metallic fibers.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the polymer fibers are selected from the group consisting of polyester, polyethylene, polypropylene, and nylon fibers.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the natural fibers are selected from the group consisting of cotton fibers, rayon fibers, and wool fibers.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the fibers are glass fibers.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the fibers are metal fibers, selected from the group consisting of copper, gold, aluminum, silver, and platinum.  
     
     
         19 . The non-woven fabric of  claim 2 , wherein the substantially parallel yarns are uniformly spaced.  
     
     
         20 . The non-woven fabric of  claim 11 , wherein the substantially parallel array of yarns are uniformly spaced.  
     
     
         21 . A non-woven fabric comprising substantially parallel yarns held together by bridges of an adhesive which is substantially only on one side of the yarns and is discontinuous but prevents twisting of the individual yarns.  
     
     
         22 . The non-woven fabric of  claim 21  which consists essentially of substantially parallel warp-direction yarns that are supported and bonded on the one side by the adhesive and wherein the adhesive is on the one side of the yarns at a level of from about 5 weight percent to about 25 weight percent, based upon the weight of the fabric.  
     
     
         23 . The non-woven fabric of  claim 22  wherein the fabric weight is about 50 g/m 2  and the adhesive weight is about 2 to 15 g/m 2 .  
     
     
         24 . The non-woven fabric of  claim 23  wherein the fabric weight is about 50 g/m 2  and the adhesive weight is about 5 to 10 g/m 2 .  
     
     
         25 . The non-woven fabric of any one of claims  21 - 24  wherein the yarns are selected from the group consisting of polymer fibers, natural fibers, synthetic fibers, composite fibers, carbon fibers, glass fibers, metallic fibers and graphite.  
     
     
         26 . The non-woven fabric of  claim 25  wherein the yarns are polymer fibers selected from the group consisting of polyester, polyethylene, polypropylene and nylon fibers.  
     
     
         27 . The non-woven fabric of  claim 25  wherein the yarns are natural fibers selected from the group consisting of cotton fibers, rayon fibers and wool fibers.  
     
     
         28 . The non-woven fabric of  claim 25  wherein the yarns are metal fibers selected from the group consisting of copper, gold, aluminum, silver and platinum.  
     
     
         29 . The non-woven fabric of  claim 25  wherein the yarns are glass fibers.  
     
     
         30 . The non-woven fabric of any one of claims  21 - 24  wherein the adhesive has been applied to the first yarns by dip/nip saturation, spraying, gravure coating or kiss coating.  
     
     
         31 . The non-woven fabric of any one of claims  21 - 24  wherein the adhesive has a thickness of from about 0.25 mil to about 1 mil.  
     
     
         32 . The non-woven fabric of any one of claims  21 - 24  wherein the adhesive is a heat activatable adhesive.  
     
     
         33 . The non-woven fabric of  claim 32  wherein the adhesive is a hot melt adhesive.  
     
     
         34 . The non-woven fabric of  claim 33  wherein the adhesive is a hot melt copolyester polymer.  
     
     
         35 . The non-woven fabric of  claim 32  wherein the adhesive is a scrim or lace web of adhesive or a meltblown adhesive.