WIPE AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a wipe, and more particularly to a wipe with abrasion resistance and anti-fuzzing surfaces for personal hygiene and baby care. A manufacturing method for the wipe is also disclosed.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Wipes are often used in our daily life when, for example, parents change babies' diapers, people have meals in restaurants, or people do skincare. Since wipes are convenient to carry, store and use, they are popular among consumers. It can be seen that wipes have increasingly extensive use in particularly personal hygiene and baby care.

A wipe may be a spunlace non-woven product or spunbond non-woven product. Compared with a conventional cloth wipe, its manufacturing method is easy, the price is low, and the wipe can be used in a dry or wet manner. For improving wipes in terms of moisture absorption and water absorption, a common solution is to add wood pulp during production of wipe products in order to make wipes more effective in moisture absorption and cleaning. However, the wood pulp fibers are natural short fibers. The fibers are short and are not affected by temperature, and are not easy to be bound together. They are only retained by performing a spunbonding or spunlace processes. When in use, the wood pulp short fibers are easy to fall off after repeated friction, causing linting to affect the service life.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to overcome the defects of the conventional product and its manufacturing method, the objective of the present invention is to provide a wipe that can prevent its surface from fuzzing and pilling.

For achieving the foregoing objective, the present invention implements the following technical schemes.

A wipe comprises upper and lower layers of melt-blown fiber webs and an intermediate layer of a wood pulp fiber web, wherein an adhesive is attached to surfaces of the melt-blows fiber webs and to interiors of the melt-blows fiber webs that are adjacent to the surfaces, and melt-blown fibers of the melt-blown fiber webs are woven into the wood pulp fiber web.

The melt-blown fiber webs contain one-component melt-blown fibers each having a high-melting-point resin at its surface, fibers each having a low-melting-point resin at its surface, or blend fibers of the two.

The high-melting-point resin and the low-melting-point resin have a melting-point difference therebetween of ≥20° C.

The fibers each having the low-melting-point resin at its surface are one-component melt-blown fibers, two-component melt-blown fibers, or a blend of the two.

The two-component melt-blown fibers are two-component skin-core melt-blown fibers, two-component segmented-pie melt-blown fibers, or two-component side-by-side melt-blown fibers.

The adhesive is hot-melt adhesive or solvent adhesive.

A weight percentage of the wood pulp fiber web in the wipe is greater than 50 wt %.

A weight percentage of the wood pulp fiber web in the wipe is 65 wt %-80 wt %.

The wood pulp fiber web contains a hot-melt adhesive substance.

The hot-melt adhesive substance is polyester fibers having a low-melting-point, ES short fibers, two-component spunbond long fibers or a blend thereof.

A manufacturing method for the foregoing wipe comprises steps of:

• • (1) opening and scattering wood pulp using an opening roller, and forming the wood pulp fiber web using a blowing nozzle in the presence of an auxiliary air stream;
  • (2) performing a melt blowing process involving heating and melting a thermoplastic resin; dispersing melt streams of the thermoplastic resin that have been extruded from spinneret plates into fiber bundles having a diameter of ≤10 μm using a high-temperature, high-speed hot air stream, thereby forming the melt-blown fiber webs in the presence of the hot air stream; and joining the melt-blown fiber webs with two side surfaces of the wood pulp fiber web, so as to form a multi-layer fiber web having the melt-blown fiber webs at its two sides and having the wood pulp fiber web in its middle;
  • (3) performing an adhesive spraying process using blowing nozzles in the presence of a high-pressure hot air flow to spray an adhesive on two side surfaces of the multi-layer fiber web having the melt-blown fiber webs at its two sides and having the wood pulp fiber web in its middle; and
  • (4) binding the fiber webs in the multi-layer fiber web after the adhesive spraying process together using a heating device, so as to form the wipe having the upper and lower layers of the melt-blown fiber webs and having the intermediate layer of the wood pulp fiber web and having the adhesive attached to the surfaces of the melt-blown fiber webs and to the interiors of the melt-blows fiber webs that are adjacent to the surfaces.

In the step (2), heating and melting two thermoplastic resins having a melting-point difference therebetween of ≥20° C.; dispersing melt streams of the thermoplastic resins that have been extruded from the spinneret plates into the fiber bundles having a diameter of ≤10 μm using the high-temperature, high-speed hot air stream, in which the melt-blown fiber webs contain fibers each having a high-melting-point resin at its surface, fibers each having a low-melting-point resin at its surface, or blend fibers of the two.

The spinneret plates have two-component spinneret orifices.

The two-component spinneret orifices are arranged in a skin-core form, a segmented-pie form, or a side-by-side form.

The heating device is a hot air oven, a hot rolling roller or a combination thereof.

In the step (1), mixing the wood pulp that has been opened and scattered by the opening roller with a hot-melt adhesive substance into a mixture, and blowing the mixture using the blowing nozzle in the presence of the auxiliary air stream to form the wood pulp fiber web containing the hot-melt adhesive substance.

By adopting the aforementioned technical schemes, the present invention provides a wipe made using the manufacturing method. Since the fibers of the melt-blown fiber webs of the wipe of the present invention are densely arranged, it effectively prevents the wood pulp short fibers in the intermediate layer from falling. Besides, the adhesive is attached to the surfaces of the melt-blown fiber webs and to the interiors of the melt-blows fiber webs that are adjacent to the surfaces, and an adhesive film is formed on each of the surfaces of the melt-blown fiber webs, such that when in use, fuzz and pilling of the melt-blown fibers on the surfaces caused by friction are prevented, and the wood pulp short fibers in the intermediate layer is also further prevented from falling out to cause “linting” during use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing illustrating manufacturing of a wipe according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the wipe according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing illustrating manufacturing of a wipe according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a wipe according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 5A is a cut-away view of a skin-core melt-blown fiber according to the present invention;

FIG. 5B is a cut-away view of a two-component side-by-side melt-blown fiber according to the present invention; and

FIG. 5C is a cut-away view of a two-component segmented-pie melt-blown fiber according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

For further illustrating the technical schemes of the present invention, the following detailed description of the present invention will be made with reference to particular embodiments.

Embodiment 1

As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention discloses a manufacturing method for a wipe, comprising the following steps:

• • (1) opening and scattering wood pulp 11 using an opening roller A1, and forming a wood pulp fiber web 12 using a blowing nozzle B1 in the presence of an auxiliary air stream;
  • (2) performing a melt blowing process involving heating and melting a thermoplastic resin; dispersing melt streams of the thermoplastic resin that have been extruded from spinneret plates C1, C1′ into fiber bundles having a diameter of ≤10 μm using a high-temperature, high-speed hot air stream, thereby forming melt-blown fiber webs 13, 14 in the presence of the hot air stream; and joining the melt-blown fiber webs 13, 14 with two side surfaces of the wood pulp fiber web 12, so as to form a multi-layer fiber web 15 having the melt-blown fiber webs 13, 14 at its two sides and having the wood pulp fiber web 12 in its middle. The melt-blown fiber webs 13, 14 may contain one-component melt-blown fibers each having a high-melting-point resin at its surface;
  • (3) performing an adhesive spraying process using blowing nozzles D1, D1′ in the presence of a high-pressure hot air flow to spray an adhesive on two side surfaces of the multi-layer fiber web 15 having the melt-blown fiber webs 13, 14 at its two sides and having the wood pulp fiber web 12 in its middle; and
  • (4) binding the fiber webs in the multi-layer fiber web 15 after the adhesive spraying process together using a pair of hot rolling rollers E1 that engage with each other, so as to form a wipe 16 having the upper and lower layers of the melt-blown fiber webs 13, 14 and having the intermediate layer of the wood pulp fiber web 12 and having the adhesive attached to the surfaces of the melt-blown fiber webs 13, 14 and to the interiors of the melt-blows fiber webs 13, 14 that are adjacent to the surfaces. A weight percentage of the wood pulp fiber web 12 in the wipe 16 is 70 wt %.

As shown in FIG. 2, the present invention further discloses a wipe made using the foregoing manufacturing method. The wipe has a laminated structure. The wipe 16 comprises upper and lower layers of melt-blown fiber webs 13, 14 and an intermediate layer of a wood pulp fiber web 12. An adhesive is attached to the surfaces of the melt-blows fiber webs 13, 14 and to the interiors of the melt-blows fiber webs 13, 14 that are adjacent to the surfaces. Melt-blown fibers of the melt-blown fiber webs 13, 14 are woven into the wood pulp fiber web 12. The adhesive is hot-melt adhesive or solvent adhesive.

Therefore, since the adhesive spraying process is performed before the melt-blown fiber webs 13, 14 are not bound, during the adhesive spraying process, the adhesive will not only adhere to the surfaces of the melt-blown fiber webs 13, 14 but also penetrate into the interiors of the melt-blows fiber webs 13, 14 that are adjacent to the surfaces, so that the adhesive is attached to the surfaces of the melt-blown fiber webs 13, 14 and to the interiors of the melt-blows fiber webs 13, 14 that are adjacent to the surfaces. An adhesive film 18, 19 is formed on each of the surfaces of the melt-blown fiber webs 13, 14, such that when in use, fuzz and pilling of the melt-blown fibers on the surfaces caused by friction are prevented, and the wood pulp short fibers in the intermediate layer is also further prevented from falling out to cause “linting” during use.

Embodiment 2

As shown in FIG. 3, the present invention discloses a manufacturing method for a wipe, comprising the following steps:

• • (1) mixing wood pulp 21 that has been opened and scattered by an opening roller A2 with a hot-melt adhesive substance 22 into a mixture, and blowing the mixture using a blowing nozzle B2 in the presence of an auxiliary air stream to form a wood pulp fiber web 23 containing the hot-melt adhesive substance 22;
  • (2) performing a melt blowing process involving heating and melting two thermoplastic resins to flow into a spinning box; in the spinning box, dispersing melt streams of the thermoplastic resins that have been extruded from spinneret plates C2, C2′ into fiber bundles having a diameter of ≤10 μm using a high-temperature, high-speed hot air stream, thereby forming melt-blown fiber webs 24, 25 in the presence of the hot air stream. Wherein, the melt-blown fiber webs 24, 25 are composed of blend fibers of one-component melt-blown fibers 20 each having a high-melting-point resin at its surface and melt-blown fibers 20′ each having a low-melting-point resin at its surface. The melt-blown fiber webs 24, 25 may only contain one-component melt-blown fibers 20 each having a high-melting-point resin at its surface, or may only contain melt-blown fibers 20′ each having a low-melting-point resin at its surface. The melt-blown fibers 20′ each having a low-melting-point resin at its surface may be one-component melt-blown fibers, two-component melt-blown fibers, or a blend of the two. As shown in FIG. 5A through FIG. 5C, the two-component melt-blown fibers may be skin-core melt-blown fibers 31, two-component segmented-pie melt-blown fibers 33, or two-component side-by-side melt-blown fibers 32. Besides, for the skin-core melt-blown fiber 31, its skin layer resin 31b has a melting point lower than a melting point of its core layer resin 31a. For the two-component segmented-pie melt-blown fiber 33 and two-component side-by-side melt-blown fiber 32, one of their constituent resin 32b, 33b has a melting point lower than a melting point of the other constituent resin 32a, 33a. The two-component melt-blown fibers are made by heating and melting two thermoplastic resins having a melting-point difference therebetween of ≥20° C., and blowing into fibers through two-component spinneret orifices provided on the spinneret plates. The two-component spinneret orifices are arranged in a skin-core form, a segmented-pie form, or a side-by-side form. Then, the melt-blown fiber webs 24, 25 are joined with two side surfaces of the wood pulp fiber web 23 containing the hot-melt adhesive substance 22, so as to form a multi-layer fiber web 26 having the melt-blown fiber webs 24, 25 containing two-component melt-blown fibers at its two sides and having the wood pulp fiber web 23 containing the hot-melt adhesive substance 22 in its middle;
  • (3) performing an adhesive spraying process using blowing nozzles D2, D2′ in the presence of a high-pressure hot air flow to spray an adhesive on two side surfaces of the multi-layer fiber web 26 having the melt-blown fiber webs 24, 25 at its two sides and having the wood pulp fiber web 23 containing the hot-melt adhesive substance 22 in its middle in its middle; and
  • (4) binding the fiber webs in the multi-layer fiber web 26 after the adhesive spraying process together using a hot air oven E2 and a pair of hot rolling rollers F2 that engage with each other, so as to form a wipe 27 having the upper and lower layers of the melt-blown fiber webs 24, 25 and having the intermediate layer of the wood pulp fiber web 23 containing the hot-melt adhesive substance 22 and having the adhesive attached to the surfaces of the melt-blown fiber webs 24, 25 and to the interiors of the melt-blows fiber webs 24, 25 that are adjacent to the surfaces.

As shown in FIG. 4, the present invention further discloses a wipe made using the foregoing manufacturing method. The wipe has a laminated structure. The wipe 27 comprises upper and lower layers of melt-blown fiber webs 24, 25 and an intermediate layer of a wood pulp fiber web 23 containing the hot-melt adhesive substance 22. An adhesive is attached to the surfaces of the melt-blown fiber webs 24, 25 and to the interiors of the melt-blows fiber webs 24, 25 that are adjacent to the surfaces. Melt-blown fibers of the melt-blown fiber webs 24, 25 are woven into the wood pulp fiber web 12. The melt-blown fiber webs 24, 25 are composed of blend fibers of one-component melt-blown fibers 20 each having a high-melting-point resin at its surface and melt-blown fibers 20′ each having a low-melting-point resin at its surface. The hot-melt adhesive substance 22 may be polyester fibers having a low-melting-point, ES short fibers, two-component spunbond long fibers or a blend thereof. The blend refers to a blend of two or all of polyester fibers having a low-melting-point, ES short fibers and two-component spunbond long fibers.

Therefore, since the adhesive spraying process is performed before the melt-blown fiber webs 24, 25 are not bound, during the adhesive spraying process, the adhesive will not only adhere to the surfaces of the melt-blown fiber webs 24, 25 but also penetrate into the interiors of the melt-blows fiber webs 24, 25 that are adjacent to the surfaces, so that the adhesive is attached to the surfaces of the melt-blown fiber webs 24, 25 and to the interiors of the melt-blows fiber webs 24, 25 that are adjacent to the surfaces. An adhesive film 28, 29 is formed on each of the surfaces of the melt-blown fiber webs 24, 25, such that when in use, fuzz and pilling of the melt-blown fibers on the surfaces caused by friction are prevented, and the wood pulp short fibers in the intermediate layer is also further prevented from falling out to cause “linting” during use. Since the melt-blown fiber webs 24, 25 contains the melt-blown fibers 20′ each having a low-melting-point resin at its surface, when the low-melting-point resin in the melt-blown fibers 20′ is melted in a hot air oven, the fibers are bound together. This not only enhances the overall strength of the resulting wipe, but also leads to a dense arrangement of the melt-blown fibers, while endowing the adhesive attached to the surfaces of the melt-blown fiber webs 24, 25 with improved adhesion. Besides, the intermediate layer of the wood pulp fiber web 23 contains the hot-melt adhesive substance 22. The surface of the hot-melt adhesive substance 22 will melt in the hot air oven. In a certain extent, the wood pulp short fibers of the intermediate layer are retained, making it difficult for the wood pulp short fibers to move. The wood pulp short fibers in the intermediate layer are also further prevented from falling out to cause “linting” during use, so as to increase the abrasion resistance of the wipe.