An apparatus for making spunbond from continuous thermoplastic filaments has a spinneret for spinning the continuous filaments and advancing them in a filament-travel direction, a cooler for cooling the filaments, a stretcher for stretching the filaments, a depositing device including a foraminous belt extending in a machine direction transverse to the filament-travel direction for deposition of the filaments as a nonwoven web and conveyance away from the stretcher, a diffusor between the stretcher and the foraminous belt so that filaments and primary air from the stretcher enter into the diffusor, and a suction device for extracting air through the foraminous belt at an unobstructed extraction region underneath the diffusor outlet and having a width b in a machine direction that is greater than a width B of the diffusor outlet. The diffusor forms upstream and downstream secondary air-inlet gaps at opposite ends through which secondary air is aspirated into the diffusor.

An apparatus for making spunbonded nonwoven has a spinneret for emitting the continuous filaments in a filament-travel direction, a cooling chamber downstream in the direction from the spinneret and receiving the filaments, and two air-supply manifolds flanking the chamber for feeding cooling air thereinto transverse to the direction. A flow straightener for equalizing flow of the cooling air on the filaments is provided in at least one of the air-supply manifolds and has passage walls forming a plurality of flow passages that extend transversely to a filament-travel direction. A flow cross section of the flow straightener is greater than 85% (preferably more than 90%) of a cross-sectional size of the straightener, a ratio of a length L of the flow passages to an inner diameter D.sub.i of the flow passages L/D.sub.i is 1 to 15.

An apparatus for making spunbonded nonwoven has a spinneret for emitting the continuous filaments in a filament-travel direction, a cooling chamber downstream in the direction from the spinneret and receiving the filaments, and two air-supply manifolds flanking the chamber for feeding cooling air thereinto transverse to the direction. A flow straightener for equalizing flow of the cooling air on the filaments is provided in at least one of the air-supply manifolds and has passage walls forming a plurality of flow passages that extend transversely to a filament-travel direction. A flow cross section of the flow straightener is greater than 85% (preferably more than 90%) of a cross-sectional size of the straightener, a ratio of a length L of the flow passages to an inner diameter D.sub.i of the flow passages L/D.sub.i is 1 to 15.

Apparatus for manufacturing a non-woven fabric includes a diffusing shaft, which includes a first shaft portion in a defined location and provided with a slit-shaped air guide, wherein filaments are supplied together with air from an inlet side of the air guide to an outlet side of the air guide; a second shaft portion in a defined location, having an inlet side that is communicated with an outlet side of the first shaft portion and an outlet side that is disposed to face a filament collecting unit, wherein an opening width along a machine direction of the inlet side of the second shaft portion is larger than an opening width along a machine direction of the first shaft portion; and a stepped portion provided at a connecting portion between the outlet side of the first shaft portion and the inlet side of the second shaft portion and connecting the same.

Apparatus for manufacturing a non-woven fabric includes a diffusing shaft, which includes a first shaft portion in a defined location and provided with a slit-shaped air guide, wherein filaments are supplied together with air from an inlet side of the air guide to an outlet side of the air guide; a second shaft portion in a defined location, having an inlet side that is communicated with an outlet side of the first shaft portion and an outlet side that is disposed to face a filament collecting unit, wherein an opening width along a machine direction of the inlet side of the second shaft portion is larger than an opening width along a machine direction of the first shaft portion; and a stepped portion provided at a connecting portion between the outlet side of the first shaft portion and the inlet side of the second shaft portion and connecting the same.

A spinning apparatus includes a spinning cabinet extending in a vertical direction, a spinneret that includes a plurality of spinneret holes, is disposed on an upper end side of the spinning cabinet, and is configured to extrude a spinning dope from the plurality of spinneret holes into an interior space of the spinning cabinet, a first gas supply path connected to the spinning cabinet is configured to supply a first gas from above the spinneret to the interior space, allowing the first gas to come into contact with the spinning dope extruded from the plurality of spinneret holes, and a second gas supply path connected to the spinning cabinet is configured to supply a second gas having a higher temperature than that of the first gas from below the spinneret to the interior space, allowing the second gas to come into contact with the spinning dope extruded from the plurality of spinneret holes.

A spinning apparatus includes a spinning cabinet extending in a vertical direction, a spinneret that includes a plurality of spinneret holes, is disposed on an upper end side of the spinning cabinet, and is configured to extrude a spinning dope from the plurality of spinneret holes into an interior space of the spinning cabinet, a first gas supply path connected to the spinning cabinet is configured to supply a first gas from above the spinneret to the interior space, allowing the first gas to come into contact with the spinning dope extruded from the plurality of spinneret holes, and a second gas supply path connected to the spinning cabinet is configured to supply a second gas having a higher temperature than that of the first gas from below the spinneret to the interior space, allowing the second gas to come into contact with the spinning dope extruded from the plurality of spinneret holes.

Techniques for melt spinning and cooling of multifilament polyamide threads are described. The process involves multiple filament bundles spun alongside one another and cooled down separately by streams of cooling air flowing radially from the outside to the inside. Streams of cooling air are produced from a blowing chamber connected to a pressure source. Exhaust gases that occur during the spinning are removed through exhaust openings before the cooling of the filament bundles. An air pressure is set within the blowing chamber in such a way that the exhaust gases in the vicinity of the filament bundles are blown out through the exhaust openings from the inside outwards. A blowing box is assigned a pressure setting means for setting an air pressure within the blowing chamber, by which an air pressure for blowing out the exhaust gases can be set at the exhaust openings of a connection adapter.

Techniques for melt spinning and cooling of multifilament polyamide threads are described. The process involves multiple filament bundles spun alongside one another and cooled down separately by streams of cooling air flowing radially from the outside to the inside. Streams of cooling air are produced from a blowing chamber connected to a pressure source. Exhaust gases that occur during the spinning are removed through exhaust openings before the cooling of the filament bundles. An air pressure is set within the blowing chamber in such a way that the exhaust gases in the vicinity of the filament bundles are blown out through the exhaust openings from the inside outwards. A blowing box is assigned a pressure setting means for setting an air pressure within the blowing chamber, by which an air pressure for blowing out the exhaust gases can be set at the exhaust openings of a connection adapter.

Provided are a melt blown (MB) nonwoven fabric, a laminate using the same, a method of producing a melt blown nonwoven fabric as well as a melt blowing apparatus. A melt blowing apparatus 100 includes a die 10 configured to discharge a resin melt 42 with an accompanying jet to give fiber materials, a hollow cover 20, and a collector 60. The fiber materials 50 from the die 10 are heated to a temperature equal to or higher than a crystallization temperature of crystalline thermoplastic resin inside the hollow cover 20 and collected on a collecting surface 62 of the collector 60. The hollow cover 20 and the collector 60 are separated by a distance of 5 cm or longer between a lower edge 28 of the hollow cover 20 and the collecting surface 62 in a line extending downwardly from the nozzle holes 12 in a vertical direction.