Provided is a cellulose fiber nonwoven fabric with compacted parts that is beautiful even when dry. The cellulose fiber nonwoven fabric is characterized in that: the fabric has compacted parts; the percentage of recesses due to the compacting is 9-25%; the transverse rupture strength is at least 15 N; the transmittance of the compacted parts when dry is 3-25%; and the fabric weight is 30 g/m.sup.2 to 110 g/m.sup.2.

A stretch laminate is disclosed. The stretch laminate may include a first layer; a second layer; and one or more elastic members disposed between the first layer and the second layer. The first layer may include a nonwoven web material bearing a pattern of thermal bonds, including a plurality of bonds each having a length and a width, the length being oriented perpendicularly to the stretch direction and being greater than the width, for a majority of the bonds. The elastic member(s) may be joined with the first layer and the second layer while pre-strained in the stretch direction; when the stretch laminate is in a relaxed condition, at least the first layer may include a plurality of gathers comprising elongate ridges and valleys oriented transversely to the stretch direction. A disposable absorbent pant having an elasticized belt structure including the stretch laminate, is also disclosed.

A stretch laminate is disclosed. The stretch laminate may include a first layer; a second layer; and one or more elastic members disposed between the first layer and the second layer. The first layer may include a nonwoven web material bearing a pattern of thermal bonds, including a plurality of bonds each having a length and a width, the length being oriented perpendicularly to the stretch direction and being greater than the width, for a majority of the bonds. The elastic member(s) may be joined with the first layer and the second layer while pre-strained in the stretch direction; when the stretch laminate is in a relaxed condition, at least the first layer may include a plurality of gathers comprising elongate ridges and valleys oriented transversely to the stretch direction. A disposable absorbent pant having an elasticized belt structure including the stretch laminate, is also disclosed.

A disposable absorbent pant having an elasticized belt structure including the stretch laminate is disclosed. The stretch laminate may include a first layer; a second layer; and an elastic member disposed between the first layer and the second layer. The first layer may include a nonwoven web material bearing a pattern of thermal bonds, including a plurality of bonds each having a length and a width, the length being oriented perpendicularly to the stretch direction and being greater than the width. The elastic member may be joined with the first layer and the second layer while pre-strained in the stretch direction; when the stretch laminate is in a relaxed condition, at least the first layer may include a plurality of gathers including elongate ridges and valleys oriented transversely to the stretch direction. A is also disclosed.

Provided is a cellulose fiber nonwoven fabric with compacted parts that is beautiful even when dry. The cellulose fiber nonwoven fabric is characterized in that: the fabric has compacted parts; the percentage of recesses due to the compacting is 9-25%; the transverse rupture strength is at least 15 N; the transmittance of the compacted parts when dry is 3-25%; and the fabric weight is 30 g/m.sup.2 to 110 g/m.sup.2.

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.

An absorbent article comprising a first nonwoven material joined to a second nonwoven material by at least one bond area, wherein a polymeric filler composition is disposed within the bond area and the composition comprises at least one polymer selected from the group consisting of polypropylene homopolymers, propylene-ethylene copolymers, and mixtures thereof, wherein the composition is substantially free of tackifiers. It was found that such polymer filler compositions having a Toughness of at least 25 MPa, as measured according to the Extensional Test Method described herein, provide bonds with good resistance to peel creep force.

The present invention generally relates to composites and articles made from nonwoven structures. One aspect of the invention is generally directed to nonwoven structures which are heated and/or pressed to form a substantially rigid article. In some cases, the nonwoven structure may be heated to temperatures greater than the glass transition temperature but less than the melting temperature of a polymer within the nonwoven structure. Such articles may exhibit creep of the polymer around other fibers in the nonwoven structure, but without any evidence of melting and/or flow. In addition, in some embodiments, such articles may have relatively large void volumes, or exhibit properties such as low flammability, smoke resistance, or acoustic insulation. Other aspects of the present invention are generally directed to systems and methods for making such articles, methods of use of such articles, kits comprising such articles, etc.

The present disclosure is directed, in part, to webs or topsheets for absorbent articles and methods of making the same. The webs and topsheets include bicomponent fibers having a first component and a second component, wherein the first component has a different hydrophilicity than the second component. The webs and topsheets include a continuous land area and discrete zones of modified surface energy. One of the first and second components forms an outer surface of the fibers in the continuous land area and the other of the components at least partially forms an outer surface of the fibers in the discrete zones of modified surface energy such that the discrete zones of modified surface energy have a different hydrophilicity than the continuous land area.

A method of forming a nonwoven article comprising receiving fibrous material comprising thermoplastic fibers; processing the fibrous material to produce short fibers, wherein the processing step comprises granulation using at least one granulator with a screen; distributing the short fibers approximately evenly across an area to form a short fiber web, wherein the distributing step comprises a use of a recyclate spreader; heating the short fiber web to fuse the short fibers to form a nonwoven material; and forming a sheet of the nonwoven material.