A spunbond nonwoven laminate has a plurality of stacked spunbond nonwoven layers, namely at least two and at most four spunbond nonwoven layers that have crimped continuous filaments or consist of crimped continuous filaments. The degree of crimping of the filaments is different in each of these spunbond nonwoven layers, and each of the crimped filaments of the spunbond nonwoven layers has a crimp with at least two, preferably at least three, and more preferably with at least four loops per centimeter of length. The crimped filaments of the spunbond nonwoven layers are multicomponent filaments, particularly bicomponent filaments, with a first plastic component and a second plastic component present in the respective filament in a proportion of at least 10 wt %.

An article of apparel including insulation material is discussed. The insulation material includes an insulating layer formed of waterfowl fibers and synthetic fibers. The waterfowl fibers are present in an amount of at least 20% by weight of the insulating layer. The insulating layer is generally free of waterfowl plumage.

Provided is batting that includes a bonded nonwoven web made from a fiber mixture containing: (a) 20 to 55 wt % of siliconized fibers having a denier of 1.5 to 10.0 and a length of 51 mm to 84 mm; (b) 10 to 45 wt % of hollow conjugate fibers having a spiral crimp, and having a denier of 1.5 to 10.0 and a length of 51 to 84 mm; (c) 10 to 45 wt % of a first population of binder fibers which are elastomeric co-polyester binder fibers having a denier of 1.5 to 8.0, a length of 51 mm to 84 mm, and a bonding temperature of 110? C. to 180? C.; and (d) 1 to 20 wt % of a second population of binder fibers, which have a denier of 1.5 to 6.0, a length of 51 mm to 84 mm, and a bonding temperature of 80? C. to 135? C.

A needle punched carpet for use in a car is disclosed. The needle punched carpet comprises at least a needle punched facing layer defining a top layer and made of staple fibers. The staple fibers comprise hollow fibers having a hollow fiber content that is at least more than 45 weight % of the total staple fibers.

An apparatus for making a spunbond nonwoven laminate having a plurality of spunbond nonwoven layers has a row extending in a travel direction of two, three, or four spinning beams each emitting a multiplicity of multicomponent crimped continuous filaments with the filaments of each beam having a degree of crimp different from that of the filaments of each of the other beams. Respective extruders supply each beam with the components of the respective filaments and respective supply units feed each of the extruders with the respective components. The rate at which the components are supplied to the extruders is adjusted for varying the proportions of the components in each filament. A conveyor extends in the direction below the beams and receives the filaments as respective layers from the respective beams.

A method for manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane wherein a spinning stock solution containing 10 mass % or more and 40 mass % or less of a polysulfone-based resin, 1 mass % or more and 30 mass % or less of polyvinylpyrrolidone, and 1 mass % or more and 80 mass % or less of N,N-dimethylformamide is discharged together with a core liquid from a double-ring nozzle to produce a hollow fiber membrane by dry-wet spinning, and then the hollow fiber membrane is subjected to a dry heat treatment at a temperature of 80? C. or higher and 100? C. or lower for 48 hours or longer and 168 hours or shorter.

Nonwoven webs having excellent fluid handling characteristics are disclosed. The nonwoven webs are made from a combination of binder fibers and structure fibers. The structure fibers are made from multicomponent, hollow fibers. The structure fibers include first polymer component zones that alternate with second polymer component zones around the circumference of the fiber. The first polymer component zone is made from a polymer having a lower melting temperature than the polymer contained in the second polymer component zone. In this manner, the fibers have a three-dimensional conformation that produces significant void volume within the nonwoven web.

An external material for vehicles may include a non-woven fabric having a honeycomb structure and a wheel guard including the same.

An object of the present invention is to provide a biodegradable three-dimensional network structure having excellent compression durability and high compression recovery after heat compression. The biodegradable three-dimensional network structure includes a linear fiber including a polybutylene adipate terephthalate resin having a weight average molecular weight of 35000 or more, wherein the biodegradable three-dimensional network structure has an apparent density of from 0.005 g/cm.sup.3 to 0.30 g/cm.sup.3 and a thickness of from 10 mm to 100 mm, and the linear fiber has a fiber diameter of from 0.2 mm to 2.0 mm and a crystalline melting enthalpy of 16 J/g or more.

A disposable absorbent article is described. The disposable absorbent article has a topsheet, a backsheet, and an absorbent core disposed between the topsheet and the backsheet. A carded staple fiber nonwoven having a basis weight of between about 50 grams per square meter (gsm) and about 100 gsm, includes a blend of absorbing fibers, stiffening fibers and filler fibers. The carded staple fiber nonwoven has a pore volume radius mode of between about 60 m and about 120 m.