Process for making three-dimensional foam-laid nonwovens

• Main Authors: Eslinger, Lori A, Qin, Jian, Colman, Charles W, Nhan, Davis Dang H, Scholl, Neil T, Carrillo Ojeda, Antonio J, Uttecht, Cathleen M, Calewarts, Deborah J, Topolkaraev, Vasily A
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 26.04.2022
• Subjects: BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; BRAIDING; COTTON-WOOL; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF,TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, E.G. STENTS; FABRICS MADE BY SUCH PROCESSES OR APPARATUS, e.g. FELTS,NON-WOVEN FABRICS; FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; FIRST-AID KITS; FOMENTATION; HUMAN NECESSITIES; HYGIENE; IMPREGNATING OR COATING OF PAPER; KNITTING; LACE-MAKING; MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARYMATERIAL; MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; NON-WOVEN FABRICS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; PAPER NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; PAPER-MAKING; PREPARATION THEREOF NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES D21C OR D21D; PRODUCTION OF CELLULOSE; PROSTHESES; PULP COMPOSITIONS; TEXTILES; TREATMENT OF FINISHED PAPER NOT COVERED BY CLASS B31 OR SUBCLASS D21G; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; TRIMMINGS; WADDING

A method for making a high topography nonwoven substrate includes generating a foam including water and synthetic binder fibers; depositing the foam on a planar surface; disposing a template form on the foam opposite the planar surface to create a foam/form assembly; heating the foam/form assembly to dry the foam and bind the synthetic binder fibers; and removing the template from the substrate after heating the foam/form assembly, wherein the substrate includes a planar base layer having an X-Y surface and a backside surface opposite the X-Y surface; and a plurality of projection elements integral with and protruding in a Z-direction from the X-Y surface, wherein the projection elements are distributed in both the X- and Y-directions, and wherein the density of a projection element is the same as the density of the base layer.