Granted Patent B2

US 10,800,073 · App. 15/794,167 · Granted Oct 13, 2020

Inventor: Mehdi Afshari (Midlothian, VA)

Assignee: Fiberweb, LLC

B29C43/28B29C48/0018B29C48/08B29C48/154B29C48/16B29C48/30B29C48/305B29C48/914B29C48/9155B29C48/92B29C55/08B29C59/04B32B5/24B32B5/26B32B27/12B32B27/205B32B27/32B32B37/153B82Y30/00D04H13/00B29C55/18B29C2948/92209B29C2948/92704B29K2023/00B29K2105/04B29K2105/162B32B2038/0028B32B2262/0253B32B2264/102B32B2264/104B32B2264/12B32B2270/00B32B2274/00B32B2307/3065B32B2307/516B32B2307/518B32B2307/54B32B2307/718B32B2307/724B32B2307/7265B32B2309/02B32B2323/04B32B2419/06Y10T428/24612Y10T442/678

Abstract

Claims (21)

1. A method of making an article, comprising:

forming a laminate comprising (i) a nonwoven substrate comprising a plurality of intermittent bonds defining a bonded area from about 6% to about 40%, and (ii) a film supported by the nonwoven substrate, the film comprising a polyolefin, a nanoclay, and a pore-forming filler; and

stretching the laminate to form pores in the film and to provide the article;

wherein the article has a moisture vapor transmission rate of at least about 35 g/m 2 /day to at most about 140 g/m 2 /day when measured at 23° C. and 50 RH % and the article has an elongation of at least about 5% to about 100% as measured according to ASTM D5034.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the laminate comprises extruding the film onto the nonwoven substrate.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of stretching the laminate is performed at an elevated temperature that is at least about 30° C.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the laminate is stretched in the machine direction.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the laminate is stretched in the cross-machine direction.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the laminate is stretched by a method selected from the group consisting of ring rolling, tentering, embossing, creping, and button-breaking.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising embossing the laminate before or after stretching the laminate.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising bonding randomly disposed polymeric fibers to produce the nonwoven substrate before forming the laminate.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nanoclay comprises particles having an average aspect ratio of from 200 to about 500.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nanoclay has an average thickness of from about 0.5 nm to about 2 nm.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the film comprises from about 0.1% by weight to about 20% by weight of the nanoclay.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polyolefin comprises a polyethylene, a polypropylene, or a copolymer thereof.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the film further comprises a functionalized polyolefin.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pore-forming filler comprises from about 30% by weight to about 70% by weight of a plurality of calcium carbonate particles.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the film further comprises an elastomer.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the elastomer is a thermoplastic olefin elastomer.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the film comprises from about 5% by weight to about 30% by weight of the elastomer.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nonwoven substrate comprises randomly disposed polymeric fibers, at least some of the fibers being bonded to one another.

Assignments (39)

Continuity (3)