Patent Application
20130052402
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air permeable laminate having a fastening structure, which is served as a loop element of a hook-and-loop fastener.
2. The Prior Arts
In the disposable product market, the needs for better-fitting and more comfortable disposable hygiene products, such as disposable diapers, and infant learning pants, have increased. As such, a laminate having high elastic recovery rate, and high air permeability can satisfy these needs. Generally, the elastic laminate is also expected to be elastically stretchable in dual directions. Disposable personal care products and health care products usually have enough air permeability and strength to be used for general purposes. The air permeability refers to the rate of passage of air or water vapor through fabric. The strength is relative to the tensile strength. In theory, the extensibility properties of the polymer films of the laminate can be individually enhanced, but for carrying out the theoretical property, a material having better extensibility has to be used, the material cost is therefore increased. Consequently, there is always a need for fabricating personal care products or health care products using the elastic laminates having good air permeability and strength.
When the air permeable laminate is used for manufacturing an intimate product or personal hygiene product, a fastening structure has to be installed for allowing the user to fasten the intimate product or personal hygiene product on his/her body, for example the hook-and-loop fastener (such as Velcro® brand hook-and-loop fastener) is often installed on a baby diaper, so that the diaper can be easily fastened to an infant's body by the users. The sanitary napkins for females or the general gauze masks can also have the fastening structure. Because the conventional hook-and-loop fastener includes a hook element and a loop felt, the intimate product or personal hygiene product can be easily fastened to or released from the human body.
Furthermore, because the hook-and-loop fastener includes a hook element and a loop felt, the production cost of a finished product depends on the cost of the hook element and the loop felt.
The objective of the present invention is to provide an air permeable laminate having a fastening structure. When the air permeable laminate which has the fuzzy surfaces is manufactured into a product, only a hook element is needed to be installed on the product for forming a hook-and-loop fastener without a loop felt, so that the production cost can be reduced.
In the present invention, a laminate including a fiber web layer is processed in order to form a plurality of holes in the fiber web layer so that the laminate becomes air permeable, and meanwhile the fibers contained in the fiber web layer are pulled out and protrude from the peripheries of the holes when the holes are formed. Therefore, the air permeable laminate of the present invention instead of the conventional loop felt can be used in the hook-and-loop fastener.
To achieve the above objective, the present invention provides an air permeable laminate having a fastening structure, comprising: a fiber web layer having a plurality of holes formed therein, a plurality of fibers of the fiber web layer protruding from peripheries of the holes, wherein the fiber web layer is served as the fastening structure; and a substrate, at least one surface of the substrate being attached to the fiber web layer, wherein the fibers protruding from peripheries of the holes are formed by pulling out the fibers contained in the fiber web layer while the holes are formed in the fiber web layer. The air permeable laminate of the present invention instead of the conventional loop felt can be used in the hook-and-loop fastener.
In the present invention, the substrate can be an elastic or inelastic fabric.
In the present invention, the fiber web layer can be a monolayer of non-woven fabric, or a non-woven fabric combined with another fabric made of different material.
In the present invention, the non-woven fabric used in the air permeable laminate can be an elastic non-woven fabric or an inelastic non-woven fabric.
The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
As shown in
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.
