An absorbent article such as a baby diaper comprising a three-dimensional laminate 30 having a first layer 1 intermittently bonded to a second layer 2 by a heterophase polymer. The topsheet comprises three-dimensional protrusions 9 in the first layer 1 which are not bonded to the second layer 2. The heterophase polymer has an enthalpy of fusion of at least 10 J/g. The laminate may be used on the wearer-facing side of the article as topsheet 24 and/or on the garment-facing side as part of the backsheet 26. The first layer may comprise natural fibers.

The invention is directed to a joint tape for finishing a joint between boards comprising a nonwoven substrate that does not swell substantially in the presence of water. The invention further provides a method of finishing a joint between boards comprising (i) applying a joint tape of the invention to a joint between boards by embedding the joint tape in a first coat of joint compound, (ii) applying a second coat of joint compound over the tape, wherein step (ii) is carried out before the joint tape and joint compound applied in step (i) have substantially dried, and optionally (iii) applying a third fill or finish coat of joint compound over the tape, wherein step (iii) is carried out before the joint tape and second coat have substantially dried.

The present invention provides a mounting mat for mounting a pollution control element or monolith in a pollution control device, said mounting mat comprising a layer having a mixture of long and short fibers wherein said short fibers have a length of not more than about 13 mm and wherein said long fibers have a length of at least about 20 mm and wherein the amount of said short fibers is at least about 3% by weight based on the total weight of said mixture of long and short fibers.

This disclosure provides a fiber filling nonwoven, consisting essentially of at least one fiber web and first fiber balls. Parts of the first fiber balls are directly fixed on the at least one fiber web, and another parts of the first fiber balls are indirectly fixed on the at least one fiber through being fixed on the parts of the first fiber balls. The first fiber ball includes first hollow polyester fibers having a first crimp number and second hollow polyester fibers having a second crimp number, and the first polyester hollow fibers and the second polyester hollow fibers are inelastic hollow polyester fibers with an elastic elongation rate equal to less than 50%. A difference of the first and the second crimp number is in a range from 4 to 10. A compression resilience ratio of the fiber filling nonwoven is equal to or greater than 80%.

Disclosed is a multilayer nonwoven fabric for foam molding containing a dense layer and a reinforcing layer provided on at least one side of the dense layer, the reinforcing layer is a staple fiber nonwoven fabric containing thermoplastic resin staple fibers (A) having a fiber diameter of more than 20 m, in an amount of 5% by mass to 50% by mass, and hermoplastic resin staple fibers (B) having a fiber diameter of 20 m or less, in an amount of 95% by mass to 50% by mass, and conjugate polyester-based staple fibers (C) are contained in an amount of 10% by mass to 40% by mass, the dense layer is a nonwoven fabric having bulk density in a range of from 0.05 g/cm.sup.3 to 0.3 g/cm.sup.3, and the dense layer and the reinforcing layer are entangled with each other by needle punching.

The disclosure relates to composite nonwoven fibrous web including an embedded phase having a population of particulates forming a substantially continuous three-dimensional network, and a matrix phase comprising a population of fibers forming a three-dimensional network around the particulates. The disclosure also relates to methods of making a composite nonwoven fibrous web including forming an embedded phase having a population of particulates in a substantially continuous three-dimensional network, and forming a matrix phase comprising a population of fibers forming a three-dimensional network around the particulates. Articles made from a composite nonwoven fibrous web prepared according to the methods as described above are also disclosed. In exemplary embodiments, the articles may include gas filtration articles, liquid filtration articles, sound absorption articles, surface cleaning articles, cellular growth support articles, drug delivery articles, personal hygiene articles, and wound dressing articles.

Thermally stable absorbable fiber populations, i.e. fiber populations that do not undergo thermally induced crystallization, can be intermixed to yield a stabilizing effect without altering morphological properties of a first fiber system. By addition of a stabilizing fiber population one may minimize thermally induced shrinkage and maintain physical properties of electrospun materials in the as-formed state. In one particular abstract, medical barrier materials may be formed from the electrospun materials to provide improved medical barriers for treatments.

If a thickness of a sound absorber arranged in a vehicle and clearances in the vehicle do not match and gaps are formed between the sound absorber and the respective members in the vehicle, abnormal noise due to the mutual contact of the members and noise outside the vehicle enter the vehicle interior to impair vehicle interior quietness. This is solved by a sound absorber which includes a nonwoven fabric containing 5 to 50 mass % of second fibers having a lower melting point than that of first fibers and can cause the first and second fibers to be more loosely interfaced and increase a volume of the nonwoven fabric by heating the nonwoven fabric to about the melting point of the second fibers and softening or melting the second fibers even after production.

Soft and strong nonwoven web materials and methods of formation are described. In one embodiment, a nonwoven web material may comprise meltblown polymer fibers comprising bicomponent fibers formed of a first polymer component and a second polymer component, and monocomponent fibers formed only of the first polymer component, or a third polymer component that is different than either of the first polymer component and the second polymer component, and absorbent fibers, wherein the nonwoven web material has a TS7 Softness value of less than or equal to 3.9, according to the TS7 Softness Test Method.

A filling material and method for reducing the amount of filling material required for filling a soft casing to a pre-selected specification, the filling material comprising a blend of polyester fibers having two or more different deniers and providing at least a 6% reduction in the amount of filling material required as compared to an alternative fill material consisting solely of polyester fibers of a single denier wherein the soft casing filled with the filling material meets pre-selected specifications comprising a pre-selected height measurement for the filled soft casing and is substantially the same in appearance as a soft casing filled with the alternative fill material consisting solely of polyester fibers of a single denier.