Process for making fibrous structures
Processes for making fibrous structures and more particularly processes for making fibrous structures comprising filaments are provided.
1. A process for making a fibrous structure, the process comprising the steps of:
a. providing a die comprising one or more filament-forming holes, wherein one or more fluid-releasing holes are associated with one filament-forming hole such that a fluid exiting the fluid-releasing hole contacts an exterior surface of a filament exiting the filament-forming hole at an angle of less than 10°;
b. supplying at least a first polymer to the die;
c. producing a plurality of filaments comprising the first polymer from the die;
d. supplying a fluid to the die such that the fluid exits the one or more fluid-releasing holes parallel or substantially parallel to the exterior surface of at least one of the filaments;
e. combining the filaments with solid additives to form a mixture; and
f. collecting the mixture on a collection device to produce a fibrous structure.
2. The process according to claim 1 wherein the die comprises two or more rows of filament-forming holes.
3. The process according to claim 2 wherein at least one row of filament-forming holes comprises two or more filament-forming holes.
4. The process according to claim 1 wherein more than one fluid-releasing hole are associated with a filament-forming hole.
5. The process according to claim 1 wherein one fluid-releasing hole is concentrically positioned around one filament-forming hole.
6. The process according to claim 1 wherein the first polymer comprises a synthetic polymer.
7. The process according to claim 6 wherein the synthetic polymer is selected from the group consisting of: polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl alcohol derivatives, polyesters, nylons, polyolefins, polylactic acids, polyhydroxyalkanoates, polycaprolactones and mixtures thereof.
8. The process according to claim 7 wherein the synthetic polymer comprises a polyolefin.
9. The process according to claim 8 wherein the polyolefin comprises polypropylene.
10. The process according to claim 1 wherein the first polymer comprises a natural polymer.
11. The process according to claim 10 wherein the natural polymer is selected from the group consisting of: starch, starch derivatives, cellulose, cellulose derivatives, hemicellulose, hemicellulose derivatives and mixtures thereof.
12. The process according to claim 1 wherein the first polymer comprises a compostable polymer.
13. The process according to claim 12 wherein the compostable polymer is selected from the group consisting of: polylactic acids, polyhydroxyalkanoates, polycaprolactones and mixtures thereof.
14. The process according to claim 1 wherein the solid additives comprise fibers.
15. The process according to claim 14 wherein the fibers comprise wood pulp fibers.
16. The process according to claim 1 wherein the solid additives are combined with the plurality of filaments by a solid additive spreader.
17. The process according to claim 1 wherein the process further comprises the step of:
g. contacting a surface of the fibrous structure with a plurality of filaments comprising a second polymer.
18. The process according to claim 17 wherein the plurality of filaments comprising the second polymer are in the form of a second fibrous structure.
19. The process according to claim 17 wherein the second polymer is the same as the first polymer.
20. The process according to claim 1 wherein the fluid released by the fluid-releasing holes comprises air.
21. The process according to claim 1 wherein the fibrous structure exhibits a pore volume distribution such that greater than about 40% of the total pore volume present in the fibrous structure exists in pores of radii of from about 121 μm to about 200 μm.
22. The process according to claim 1 wherein the process further comprises the step of subjecting the fibrous structure to a thermal bonding operation.
23. The process according to claim 1 wherein the process is directly coupled to a post-processing operation.
24. The process according to claim 1 wherein the process is closely coupled to a post-processing operation.
25. A process for making a fibrous structure, the process comprising the steps of:
a. providing a die comprising one or more filament-forming holes, wherein one or more fluid-releasing holes are associated with one filament-forming hole such that a fluid exiting the fluid-releasing hole contacts an exterior surface of a filament exiting the filament-forming hole at an angle of less than 10°;
b. supplying a polyolefin polymer to the die;
c. producing a plurality of filaments comprising the polyolefin polymer from the die;
d. combining the filaments with wood pulp fibers to form a mixture; and
e. collecting the mixture on a collection device to produce a fibrous structure.